Kalachakra Guru-Yoga: Preparation, Safe Direction, Bodhichitta

As for the place to do this practice, it would be the same kind of place that would be conducive for performing meditation, namely a place with favorable conditions and good friends around. If you have the proper location, this is extremely helpful. There are different places in accordance with the type of action or activities you wish to accomplish, whether it’s the power to pacify situations, increase, gaining control and influence or very forceful and wrathful actions. In terms of that, there would be practices done in cremation grounds, cemeteries and so forth, but for beginners this is perhaps not applicable. It should be a place blessed by a holy person, such as this place here, which was blessed by His Holiness. You have this working in two directions: you have the place itself inspiring and bringing blessings to the practitioner, and you also have practitioners bringing inspiration and blessings to a place. An example of a person bringing inspiration and blessing to a place would be like here, where His Holiness came and blessed this place. When we come to a place such as this and engage in practice, we receive inspiration and blessing from this place. It should also be a place that is free from illness, a place where the things needed to support oneself are available and where there are no dangerous animals or poisonous snakes. There are some who might practice where water is polluted or contaminated, but this would cause serious problems for your health. That wouldn’t be appropriate, as you need a place where you can be healthy. 

Likewise, it’s important to have the right type of friends or people around you. They shouldn’t be people who would cause you to become angry or upset. They shouldn’t act wildly, since if you stay with such people, you yourself will act wildly and become affected by them. It is important in general to consider the type of people that you associate with. They should be very peaceful-type people. There is a story from Tibet of one person who was a teetotaler, and he went on a pilgrimage with some people who drank a great deal. By the end of the pilgrimage, he himself became a heavy drinker. There is also the example of someone who was a heavy drinker who associated and went on a pilgrimage with a group of teetotalers. By the end of the trip, he had given up drinking. It is very important, the company you keep, for the type of influence they exert upon you.

The way you approach the practice is to set the proper motivation and intention as soon as you arise. You then go through all the procedures for cleaning and dusting out the area for meditation. Extremely important is to check whether you have any faults in your motivation. You sit in the proper seven-part posture of Vairochana and examine your motivation. If your motivation is based on having some sort of disturbing or deluded attitude, your practice will not go well. If you find you are under the influence of a disturbing attitude, such as anger or hostility, then there are methods for being able to pacify this that deal with breathing exercises. These include the nine rounds of breathing (rlung-ro dgu-phrugs) and so forth. Whatever type of disturbing attitude you have strongest, you will find when you first sit down to do intensive practice that it will arise in a strong fashion. When you find this disturbing attitude arising, you shouldn’t indulge it and allow it to linger but should forcefully curb it. In this way, you will find that a great difference will occur in the future concerning this disturbing attitude.

As soon as a disturbing attitude arises, you should use forceful means to remove it. If you find that you are under the influence of a disturbing attitude, such as hostility or anger, you should do the breathing practice as follows. Breathe in through one nostril and out the other nostril. You do this three times and then switch the nostrils for three breaths. Finally, you breathe through both nostrils three times making a total of nine breaths. Another method is to count the breaths for a round of twenty-one cycles of inhalations and exhalations. At first, it will be difficult to completely eliminate and block the disturbing attitude that has arisen, but this will lessen its influence over you. If you are very angry and you do the rounds of breathing, you will find that the duration of your anger will be less, as well as its strength. If you find that you are not in a disturbed state of mind, it will not be necessary to do the breathing exercises. There is a presentation of a seven-part and eight-part posture of Vairochana. The eighth part refers to breathing, and this is optional, while the first seven are requirements. 

The actual place where you are doing the practice is important, and the way that you sit is likewise important. If you sit cross-legged, you should raise your backside with a cushion. If you are not used to sitting cross-legged, you can sit in whatever manner you find comfortable, such as sitting in a chair. Once you have assumed this posture, you should then set the proper motivation. It is extremely important to work yourself up to having this proper motivation by thinking that now you have achieved a precious human rebirth with all the respites and rich opportunities that allow you to practice now, and that you will not waste this opportunity as long as you live. During a retreat, one vows to practice hard for the duration and not come under the influence of any disturbing attitudes that one might have. In this way, you should set a very strong and sincere motivation when you engage in these practices.

It is possible to find that you are a very hard-working individual in terms of normal worldly tasks and activities, but when it comes to Dharma practice, you find it quite difficult. This comes about due to a lack of familiarity and a lack of having built up these practices as a habit of mind. You should not force doing these practices but rather approach it in a very relaxed and easy-going manner. You shouldn’t make it so that you feel negative about practice. You need to cultivate the attitude of being happy about practicing. Practice this way with many short sessions, and in this way you will be able to increase the duration without making it a difficult or painful experience. These are some points concerning the type of place and external things, which are conducive for practice.

The following attitudes are helpful in terms of the actual type of person who is required to practice successfully: someone who takes relatively little interest in things of this lifetime and puts the main emphasis on future lives, someone with a very strong motivation to be concerned with and benefit others, and someone who wishes to achieve the state of enlightenment in order to actually benefit others are some of the mental attitudes that make the practitioner the proper type in order to succeed. Such a person with these attitudes must first receive the initiations. I will explain in terms of this text.

The practice begins: 

From the Buddhas and masters from whom I’ve received the highest empowerments, the Dharma of inseparable method and wisdom they show, and both Sangha divisions abiding in it, I clearheadedly take safe direction.

The practice starts by taking safe direction or refuge from the perspective of having received initiation. This type of guru-yoga is something extremely important in general. If you don’t have a spiritual master, you will not be able to attain all good qualities and reach the state of Buddhahood. Mahasukha, who was the teacher of Saraha, used an analogy of relying on a spiritual teacher as similar to relying on a mode of transportation to reach a destination. By relying on guru-yoga, you will be able to achieve realizations beyond your imagination. This type of practice where you integrate yourself with your spiritual master is extremely important. Therefore, this is a practice of seeing the guru as being inseparable from the personal deity Kalachakra. This is an important and crucial practice. The practice starts with taking safe direction and then dedicating your heart to others, or developing bodhichitta. 

First, the text discusses the objects from whom we take safe direction. In the above passage, this refers to seeing the spiritual master as the same as the Buddha, as the source of initiations. As for the spiritual master, this is someone who has the complete two sets of ten qualities. The two sets are referred to are the set of ten inner qualities and the set of ten outer qualities. The ten inner qualities would include being able to perform the practices of the protection wheel and to be able to turn away any interference. It has to be someone who is extremely skilled in being able to set up a wheel of protection, which has eight spokes in the major directions with one at the zenith and nadir, making a ten-spoked protection wheel. The master can emanate wrathful protectors from this and chase away and eliminate all non-conducive circumstances or situations to accomplish the various activities of pacifying, increase, gaining control and forceful actions. This is the first inner quality. 

The second is being able to draw various circles and geometric configurations within which various protection mantras are written. These are then given and tied around the necks of various disciples as well as various places on the body. Through these protection devices, which are empowered with mantras, one can gain invulnerability against bullets, for instance. The master should be skilled in making these protection devices, which are empowered by mantras and placed on different parts of the body to turn away harm. There were people in Tibet who wore such protection devices and, even though they were shot at point blank with a gun, were not hit by the bullets.

The third quality is that the master must be skilled in being able to confer the first and second initiations – the vase empowerment and secret initiation or secret substance empowerment. The fourth quality is being skilled in the third and fourth initiations – the wisdom initiation (the empowerment of deep awareness with a knowledge partner) and the word initiation.

The fifth quality is the ability to separate enemies from their protectors. Various enemies have their own protectors that were working with them. The spiritual master must be skilled in various techniques for causing these two to part from each other; the enemy will no longer have their protectors. 

The sixth quality is skill in all the rituals involving the making of torma or ritual cakes which are used for gaining influence for pacifying, increase and so forth. 

The seventh is skill in reciting mantras. The type of activity involved in being skillful in recitation of mantras would be, for instance, mental repetition. Mental repetition of a mantra is nonverbal: it is not pronounced with any sound but is visualized in the heart on the various discs. For instance, the syllable HUM having around it the mantra HAM KSHA MA LA VA RA YA HUM PHAT and having your mind reading this without any verbalization of this mantra around your heart.

The master should be skilled in doing this. He should likewise be skilled in the vajra recitation, which is the ability to have the breath not be separate from the sound of mantras. In other words, when you breathe in, the breath resounds with the syllable OM, when the breath is retained, it gives off AH, and when you breathe out, it resounds with the syllable HUM. In this way, the nature of the breath is inseparable from the sound of mantra. There are many practices involving vajra recitation, and the master should be skilled in these.

There is also what’s known as the recitation of the close bond or samaya. This would be having a visualization of lights going out from the syllables of the mantra and bringing back vast arrays of physical forms of deities, their mantras, their seed syllables, hand implements and so forth. These dissolve back into the mantra. All of these would be included in the recitation forming a close bond.

The recitation like a necklace, or revolving recitation, involves reciting the mantras and visualizing the syllables coming out of your mouth into the mouth of your consort, going down and coming back into you through your navel, thus making a revolution like this around you. There is a very forceful or wrathful type of recitation, which involves reciting and visualizing very fierce types of black lights going out from you and destroying negative forces.

Another type of recitation is called the loud or forceful recitation. Normally, when you recite mantras, it’s done in a very soft voice so that only you can hear it, but others can’t. In this way, you recite in a hidden fashion. In the loud, forceful recitation you recite the mantras with an extremely loud and powerful voice as is the custom of the monks in Gyume Lower Tantric College.

There is the globe-like recitation in which you imagine the mantras in the aspect of being a globe of light, like a flame inside a butter lamp, and you do the recitation with this kind of visualization. 

The eighth quality is skill in the various ways of enhancing disciples’ practice. This refers specifically to giving various instructions that are the exact opposite of normal practices. These startle the practitioner out of their malaise in order to gain realizations more quickly. In other words, normally you might have a practice of imagining a white drop of bodhichitta coming down from the crown of your head and a red drop coming up from the navel and joining at the heart. To enhance the practice of one who was having difficulty or malaise concerning this, the lama might prescribe that they do the exact opposite. This kind of technique provides a method to enhance the disciple’s practice so that they gain speedy realizations.

The ninth quality is proficiency and skill in performing the various consecration ceremonies.

The tenth quality is skill in being able to actualize the various mandalas. This would be particularly in terms of self-initiation and also being able to construct the various mandalas out of powdered stone or drawn on cloth. The master must be skilled in being able to do all the rituals for actualizing all the different types of mandalas.

A spiritual master who is teaching anuttarayoga tantra should have primarily these ten inner qualities. If the master is specifically teaching in terms of the kriya tantra, they should have primarily the ten outer qualities. 

The first outer quality is skill in drawing the external mandalas and also being able to meditate on the internal mandalas.

The second quality is being able to maintain the three types of single-minded concentration or samadhis: the single-minded concentration of the first application, the single-minded concentration of the supreme victorious mandala and the single-minded concentration of the supreme victorious actions. The master must be skilled in all these single-minded concentrations.

The third quality is skill in making various mudras or hand gestures. This is important, for instance, in the practice of the deity Kunrig, or Sarvavidya in Sanskrit, in which there are more than one hundred different mudras that must be done properly. If you leave out any of the mudras, there is the fault of the ritual being incomplete. 

The fourth quality is to be skilled in the various ritual dances like those performed at last year’s Kalachakra initiation.

The fifth quality is skill in sitting in the proper postures – the full-lotus or vajra posture, the posture of a great being and other types of meditational postures.

The sixth quality is knowledge of the various presentations of the stages with signs and without signs in the three lower classes of tantra, which are analogous to the generation and complete stages of anuttarayoga. There are also divisions of practices with recitation and without recitation. The master must be skilled in all the various aspects of these teachings.

The seventh quality is skill in the fire pujas or offerings.

The eighth quality is skill in all the ritual procedures involved with making offerings.

The ninth quality is skill in activities of pacifying, increasing, gaining control and wrathful or forceful means. 

The tenth quality is skill in calling forth the deities of deep awareness, the actual deities of the actual mandalas, both calling them forth and sending them away.

Since this is something that will perhaps be beneficial in terms of your practice of recitations, I explained this as an aside. It is important to have a spiritual master with all the above-mentioned qualities. The actual ten qualities of a Mahayana spiritual master were discussed previously in the lam-rim teachings.

The root for being able to achieve all of the actual good qualities through any of these paths is a wholehearted commitment to the spiritual master and the practice of guru-yoga. This is the actual lifeforce of the path. There are many different types of guru-yoga in terms of seeing the spiritual master as inseparable from all the various personal deities of all four classes of tantra. Here specifically we’re dealing with the guru-yoga of Kalachakra and with this text composed by His Holiness along with his two tutors. 

In order to fit into this text the essential points of the generation and complete stages, it is first necessary to have a general idea of what these two stages are. In addition, the person who is practicing needs to know in general about the internal and external situations. In other words, it is necessary to know the external and internal situations that are the basis for what is being purified, what is going to do the purification of these and what the result of that purification will be. It is necessary to have a clear idea of what is the basis, path and the result. 

On the external level, the things being purified are the five elements: earth, water, fire, wind and space. Also, the various units of time, such as years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds, breaths and the divisions of the breaths, are to be purified. It also includes the various stars, planets, constellations, the presentation of the five planets and so forth.

It is also important to have a general understanding of the presentation of astrology. The word translated as “astrology” also includes astronomy and mathematics. Now, in terms of mathematics, we are all familiar with multiplication, division, addition and subtraction. In terms of the way years are calculated, there’s the system of the number of years that have passed, or chronological years, and there is also a system of cyclical years. These cyclic years run in a cycle of sixty years, and the first of these starts from when the Kalachakra teachings were brought to Tibet. In the way of calculating or enumerating a sixty-year cycle, first of all, there are twelve houses or years that are named in terms of animals. Included are also the five elements or spheres. The sixty-year cycle starts with the Fire Hare year. The hare resembles a rabbit but has horns, so it is unclear exactly what animal this refers to. At the present (1982), we are in the sixteenth of these cycles, and a famous astrologer declares the start of a new cycle.

For making the astrological calculations, it’s done in terms of five units, which are placed in two categories and undergo the three processes of multiplication, division and addition. From this, the calendar is calculated, as well as auspicious and inauspicious days that are good for doing certain activities or not good for doing other types of activities. All the calculations of solar and lunar eclipses are made in terms of this, and this is not a difficult subject to learn. There is a text named Rigden Nyingtig for the study of these astrological calculations. Using this system of calculations, one can determine the lunar calendar, when the first month of the year will begin, what day this will fall on, what day of the week that will be, what star it is associated with and whether it will be an auspicious or inauspicious type of day. All these things can be calculated based on this system. The Rigden Nyingtig was written at the time of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama by the very learned Khyenrab Norbu. There is another great master of astrology whose name is Khedup Norzang Gyatso who lived at the time of the Second Dalai Lama. At the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, there was Desi Sangye Gyatso. They are the “three Gyatsos,” all of whom were masters of astrology. 

As was mentioned the other day, due to the common type of impulsive behavior, in which everyone has engaged, you have the comprehensive result of the environment, which everyone is sharing. This environment goes through various cycles, such as the planets, days of the week, the stars, constellations and so forth. This is the external basis to be purified.

The internal basis to be purified is in terms of an individual person’s body. This is composed of the various elements, the five aggregates, the stimulators of consciousness and the cognitive spheres. The subtle body has the breaths, the energy-winds, the channels, drops and so forth. You must be certain of this internal system. In this internal system, just as externally, things go through cycles of time, such as the 21,000 breaths during the course of one day and so forth. It is necessary to be learned in both the external and internal bases to be purified.

In addition, there is a basis to be purified in terms of our own future rebirths and the womb of our future mother. This is taken in terms of the element of space. This is to be purified also. In the body of one’s future mother, from the crown of the head to the forehead, is the mandala of energy-wind. Down from there, to the throat chakra or nerve center, is the mandala of fire. From there, down to the heart, is the water mandala. Down to the navel, is the earth mandala. Your future mother’s spine is Mount Meru or the core mountain. This is also a basis to be purified. 

In the actual practices, you meditate by analogy on these bases to be purified. On the generation stage, you visualize the various mandalas of the elements and on top of that Mount Meru. On top of this, you visualize a moon disc, sun disc and then the discs of Rahu and Kalagni, which are the North Node and South Node planets. On top of all this, you visualize the celestial mansion or palace of Kalachakra. All of you are aware of what the Sun and Moon are, and the North Node and South Node planets would be included in the gods of the class of Four Directional Protectors. Therefore, these are the bases to be purified on both an external and internal level. The alternative Kalachakra is what actually does the purification of the external and internal Kalachakras. The alternative Kalachakra refers specifically to the generation and complete stages.

The generation stage is what will ripen into the ability to achieve the complete stage. The definition of a generation stage is a practice that will have as its fruit or result the ripening into the ability to achieve the complete stage. The generation stage involves practicing in accordance with an analogy of how the external and internal worlds are created or generated and how they are destroyed or fall apart. The generation stage involves meditating in analogy to these external and internal processes of creation and destruction. One also meditates with imagination, or the powers of the mind itself, in accordance with a way to generate a Form Body or Rupakaya, as well as a Dharmakaya or Mental Body Encompassing Everything.

The complete stage is what will actually do the purification of the external and internal bases. You want to purify these external and internal bases, and you do this in terms of meditating in analogy on the generation stage. This ripens into the ability to achieve the complete stage, which actually does the purification. As a result of this, you achieve the state of enlightenment, which is referred here to as the “state of mahamudra (the great seal) of the devoid form, the great attainment of Buddhahood from first of all.” The essence of being able to do this is in terms of the practice of guru-yoga, and therefore this entire system and practice will be explained in terms of the guru-yoga.

As for the actual first part of the practice, the generation stage, this has its own steps and divisions. The first of these is the meditation on the protection wheel. In analogy with building up the positive potential in order to be reborn as a human being, one does the practice of building strong merit. This is done by first calling forth and visualizing the bountiful field, or the field of assembled figures, and then collecting merit by the different practices with this field as your object. It is at this point that one gets into the actual guru-yoga, which is discussed in this text. In other words, if you put aside the protection wheel practices, which would come first in the sadhana, the next step is building up positive potential. You do this by visualizing the bountiful field of your spiritual master as inseparable from the meditational deity, and then you do the various practices as outlined in this guru-yoga text. In this system, there is an extensive, middle and abbreviated protection wheel practice. This can be discussed later when it comes to the listing of the stages of the generation-stage process. The supreme type of protection is obtained by meditating on voidness.

In the prayer of Kalachakra in this Guru-Yoga, there are three verses on this:

By the force of the vastly expanding ocean of my bountiful network of constructive acts, which has come from continuously gathering into the lake of my mind, a stainless stream of water of meditating, repeating mantras, and making offerings, flowing from the snowy mountain of my pure and exceptional resolve like this, combined furthermore by my mind into one with my entire network of constructive acts gathered throughout the three times, may I be cared for, in life after life, by spiritual masters of the superlative vehicle as holy guardians.

By learning, from the guidelines they happily impart, the methods gathered together in the three vehicles’ Dharma, and putting their meaningful points into practice, may I mature my mind-stream with their paths shared in common.

First, one must rely on a spiritual master. You take all the merit built up by this practice and dedicate it in order to be protected and taken care of by a spiritual master of the supreme vehicle, or Tantrayana. In the lam-rim teachings, the way to make a wholehearted commitment to a spiritual master was outlined. Specifically for a tantric master, one must find a master who is fully qualified with the ten external and internal qualities. As we are dealing with a master of anuttarayoga tantra, the master should specifically have the ten internal qualities. It is necessary to ripen one’s mind-stream by practicing all the common paths.

The Guru-Yoga begins:

From the Buddhas and masters from whom I’ve received the highest empowerments, the Dharma of inseparable method and wisdom they show, and both Sangha divisions abiding in it, I clearheadedly take safe direction.

The procedure begins with taking safe direction, generating bodhichitta and then the four immeasurables. 

The first is taking safe direction, and for this you visualize or call forth the objects from which you take refuge. These objects include the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. Starting with one’s supreme spiritual master from whom one has received initiations, seeing them as inseparable from the Buddha, is the way of seeing all the objects of safe direction incorporated into one. One combines all the Three Rare and Supreme Gems into one, the spiritual master. As for the objects of safe direction, it begins with the spiritual master as inseparable from the Buddha.

Taking Safe Direction from the Buddha

In terms of the various Buddhas, we have come in contact with the teachings of the fourth universal teacher of this eon, Buddha Shakyamuni. Among the different types of bodies or corpuses of a Buddha are the Sambhogakaya or Body of Full Use and the Nirmanakayas or Emanation Bodies, which include the Supreme Emanation Body, the Emanation Body as an Artist and the Emanation Body as a Personage. Those are three different types making all together four, if you include the Sambhogakaya, and Buddha Shakyamuni is an example of the Supreme Emanation Body. An example of the Emanation Body as a Personage would be the great and inconceivable His Holiness the Dalai Lama. An example of the Emanation Body as an Artist concerns a class of beings called gandharvas in Sanskrit, those who sustain themselves on fragrances. They are celestial musicians, and the king of them was skilled in playing the lute and had a great deal of pride and arrogance about this. In order to tame this proud king, the Buddha manifested himself as an artist who played the lute better than this king and humbled him as a way to tame him.

To meet such an emanation body of a Buddha as an Artist or Personage requires karmic potential for this, and many of you have this, as you met His Holiness. However, to meet a Supreme Emanation Body having the thirty-two major signs and the eighty exemplary features is extremely difficult, because building up such positive potential is rare. As for meeting the Sambhogakaya, this is only for bodhisattvas who can perceive reality directly. Only they have the fortune to meet with and see such a body of the Buddha. If we work steadily and slowly to rid ourselves of our various obscurations and stains, we will gain the direct perception of reality. Eventually, we will meet with and see more and greater emanation bodies of the Buddhas and eventually meet a Sambhogakaya. As for the Dharmakaya or the Body Encompassing Everything, this refers to the omniscient mind of a Buddha, and except for Buddhas themselves, no one else can become aware of such a corpus, not even highly realized aryas. 

Therefore, it is necessary at our stage as beginners, while we are practicing, to see the various representations of the Buddhas as the actual bodies of a Buddha and make offerings to them on that basis. When we become bodhisattvas and develop the actual spiritual pathway minds, first of which is the building-up pathway mind (path of accumulation), which is divided into small, medium and large, and namely achieve the large building-up pathway mind, we will receive teachings from and hear the actual enlightening voice of the Buddhas. At that point as a bodhisattva with a great accumulated path of the mind, you have the attainment of a samadhi known as the Stream of Dharma. When you achieve that samadhi, at that point you will be able to recite by heart all the teachings you have ever listened to, so it is important to listen to as many teachings as possible. 

The great Vasubandhu, Asanga’s brother, had the ability to recite by heart all the sutras of the Buddha. He would do all this at one time, which would take fifteen days. In the process of reciting this, an imbalance of the wind energy in the body would occur. To counter this, he would sit in a large copper tub filled with oil. While he sat in the tub and recited, there was a caged pigeon overhead who overheard all that was said. The pigeon was reborn in a border area as Sthiramati, and as soon as he could talk, he said, “My master, my master!” When asked who his master was, he responded, “Vasubandhu,” and they searched him out. They were reunited, and once, when he was still young, Sthiramati found some peas and placed them on the lap of a statue of Tara. They kept rolling out of the lap of the statue, and the statue kept picking them up. Sthiramati became very learned and was famous for his knowledge of abhidharma.

If you make offerings to statues with the proper full recognition of them as being the actual Buddhas, this is very beneficial. You visualize a Buddha, from whom you receive refuge, and should recognize that all the yidams and Dharma protectors are all emanations of the Buddha. In this Six-Session Guru-Yoga, if you visualize His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the aspect of the deity Kalachakra, this will have the special benefit of bringing you quick inspirations and blessings. You shouldn’t feel that the Buddha is separate over here, His Holiness over there, and Kalachakra somewhere else. You should recognize that in fact His Holiness is Kalachakra, and you should have deep faith in this. You should see His Holiness as being Kalachakra – not only Kalachakra but also as all personal deities and all spiritual masters. When you meet with His Holiness, you should see him as being this, and this is an easy habit of mind to build up in respect to this. As you have all met His Holiness, it is easy to meditate on His Holiness, and any picture you see of him will reinforce this feeling.

You have all seen images of the Buddha and Kalachakra. Due to the propensities in your mind, you will tend to visualize them as solid figures. However, the visualization shouldn’t be like that. It should be a living figure, which is difficult for the full Kalachakra deity with all his arms and so forth. Instead, for now you can just visualize His Holiness as he is a lively figure in your mind. If you are trying to visualize the full Kalachakra deity, even if you can’t achieve complete clarity, this is alright. As long as you can form a rough outline and feel that it is the real Kalachakra, then that will do. You can also visualize Kalachakra in a simple form with one face and two hands holding a vajra and bell. You should see the object of safe direction – the Buddha Kalachakra – not only as alive but made out of clear light. He is transparent and radiant, glowing with light. Thus, the first object from whom we take safe direction is the Buddhas.

Taking Safe Direction from the Dharma

The second object of safe direction is the Dharma or the teachings. This we should think of as the various teachings the Buddha has indicated. There are two types of indications of the measures: the scriptural indications and the realized indications. You are considering what are the real sources of safe direction in terms of the Dharma. This would be the qualities of abandonment and realization on the mental continuum of the Master Kalachakra. Out of the four noble truths, this refers specifically to the true cessations and the true pathway minds. The actual Dharma that gives us safe direction is the true cessations and true pathway minds on the mind-stream of Kalachakra.

Words that are often used for the Buddha are clear-minded and fully evolved. “Clear-minded” is someone who has completely abandoned all the things to be abandoned, and in the process of doing that, has obtained all good qualities. In this way, he has cleared out all the obstacles and is “clear-minded” and “fully evolved,” in that his actions evolve out. The various indications of the teachings are the very measures he has taken in order to obtain or reach his exalted state. He doesn’t teach or indicate anything that he himself has not actualized and achieved. If we rely on the same measures as he has, there is no reason why we can’t have the same achievements. “Clear-minded” also refers to the Buddha’s having cleared his mind of all mental obscurations, so that in this clear-minded state he has deep awareness of everything, or is omniscient. On the basis of being omniscient, he is able to become “fully evolved” in the sense that the teachings evolve from him, out of his state of clear-mindedness. The salutary verse that begins the Abhisamayalamkara or Filigree of Realizations describes what the Buddha is able to indicate on the basis of this. The text here states:

…the Dharma of inseparable method and wisdom they show

The word translated as “show” can also be translated as “indicate.” On the basis of his omniscience, he indicates the various preventive measures he’s taken. It’s only on the basis of being omniscient that a Buddha is able to indicate everything that will bring one to that state. This is the Dharma refuge.

The actual Dharma that the Buddha indicates is referred to in the text as undifferentiable method and wisdom. Method refers to bodhichitta, and wisdom refers to the deep awareness of reality that resides in the mental continuum of the Buddha. It is his attainment of enlightenment that is held by the method of a dedicated heart and the awareness of reality, which are the actual measures he is indicating. When we think in terms of the combination of method and awareness, this is taking safe direction at the time of the cause, or causal refuge. You look at the method and the awareness, which is on the mental continuum of Kalachakra, and you take safe direction from that. This will act as a cause for you to be able to progress along the path and achieve the same state. When you look at your own future attainment of combined method and awareness and take safe direction from that in terms of your practice, this is taking safe direction from the result, or resultant refuge. There are these two aspects of taking safe direction. Either one takes safe direction from looking at the attainment of others, which will be the cause for your attainment, or you take safe direction from your own future result as a Kalachakra yourself.

The great Milarepa had gone to study with Marpa and studied with him for a long period of time. When he was ready to go back to his homeland, Marpa said to him that there were many instructions he had received and that they should perform a tsog offering together. Marpa manifested many mandalas of Hevajra from his heart. Milarepa saw his master emanating all these mandalas of Hevajra and resolved that he too would practice to the point where he could also manifest mandalas in a similar fashion.

The preventive measures of the Dharma refuge referred to the indications of inseparable method and awareness on such a being’s mental continuum. 

Taking Safe Direction from the Sangha

The next line reads:

…and both Sangha divisions abiding in it

This refers to the integrated practitioners, or yogis, who live by or are in accordance with the indications of the Dharma. This refers to the Sangha. As for the actual refuge of the Sangha, this refers to those who are aryas – highly realized beings who have beheld reality.

In the discussion of the paths and stages, the actual spiritual paths are referring to the pathway minds of the shravakas, the five pathway minds of the pratyekabuddhas and the five pathway minds of the bodhisattvas. This makes fifteen pathway minds, or spiritual paths. There is also a presentation of five pathway minds in terms of tantra – a tantric building-up pathway mind, applying pathway mind, seeing pathway mind and so forth. In the discussion of outer, inner and alternative Kalachakras, the alternative Kalachakra is referring to these tantric paths of the mind. The pathway minds of the alternative Kalachakra are the realizations of the alternative Kalachakra. A “path” is actually a pathway mind because it is a realization.

Of these spiritual pathway minds, the first is the building-up pathway mind, the path of accumulation. The second is the applying pathway mind, the path of application. When you divide beings into ordinary and highly realized or aryas who have beheld reality, the first two pathway minds are the paths of ordinary beings. At the goal of the applying pathway mind, when you actually behold reality and have a direct perception of voidness, at that point you start on the arya path. The third is the seeing pathway mind, the path of seeing. “Seeing” has the connotation of the first glimpse of reality, or voidness. As the mind accustoms itself to the perception of reality, one enters the fourth path – the accustoming pathway mind, or path of meditation. When the mind becomes completely accustomed to the perception of reality and one becomes omniscient, there is no further training left to be done, and one enters the fifth path – the pathway mind needing no further training, or the path of no more training.

The first two pathway minds, building-up and applying pathway minds, are paths of ordinary beings and are also called the worldly or perishably-based paths. When you speak of the highly realized or arya paths, “highly” connotes that these are above-the-worldly paths. These are the two types of aspirants referred to in the text. The actual discussion of the five pathway minds and the ten levels or bhumis will come in the discussion of the complete stage. The Rare Gem of the Sangha, or intent community, refers to the aryas. This is the connotation of the word “intent” in the community of those who are intent on what is positive. When you speak of the Rare Gem of such a community, that is referring to any highly realized being. When you speak of the intent community in general, this is referring to at least four monks. If you have two or three monks, that does not constitute a Sangha – only a group of monks. When we are practicing, we consider all who are on the path as the intent community from which we take our safe direction. When you hear the term the “Rare Gem of the Sangha,” it does not need to be an ordained person, since a householder can gain the experience of emptiness. Such a person would be a Sangha refuge, and even a householder who had not gained a direct perception of voidness, but who had a practice of inseparable method and wisdom, would be fit to be included as one of the two types of aspirants.

The text reads:

…I clearheadedly take safe direction.

With the proper causes – dread of lower states of rebirth and full confidence in the objects of refuge to provide a way out of this – we take refuge in terms of entrusting our minds to going in the direction indicated by the three objects of refuge. Taking safe direction is extremely important and crucial. It involves knowing the objects from whom you take this direction, the causes for taking that direction, benefits of taking that direction, the trainings to be undertaken, knowing the qualities of the objects of safe direction, the differences among them, the distinguishing features that separate them from other sources of safe direction and so forth. Taking refuge properly requires knowing many things and requires study. Abhisamayalamkara, in its first chapter, presents this extensively, and also Uttaratantra, The Furthest Everlasting Stream, has an extensive presentation. It is important to know well how to actually put a safe direction in your life, how to actually take refuge. 

Thus, you have in the visualization all of the objects that can provide a safe direction in life, including the two aspects of the intent community, referring to those who still have training to do and those who have no more training left to be done. With full confidence, with clearheaded faith in the object’s ability to provide safe direction, you take that direction. One follows this direction until the attainment of enlightenment. Therefore, you take safe direction until you achieve a state of enlightenment. In the text what comes next is the dedicated heart of bodhichitta.

The text reads:

From this moment on, till my purified state, I reaffirm my bodhichitta aim, heighten my pure resolve, and get rid of grasping for “me” and “myself, the possessor.”

The very pure thought is the four immeasurables. You could also say the very pure thought refers to renunciation – the determination to be free from problems. The last line refers to obtaining the correct view. In this verse, you have the three principal aspects of the path. Another way to gloss these lines is that these three points mentioned here are referring to the three things indicated in the Madhyamaka teachings: bodhichitta, compassion and the wisdom that discriminates voidness. This stanza serves for one to rededicate their heart. The first stanza indicates the safe direction to go, and the second indicates a differentiation of the Mahayana path from the Hinayana. These two stanzas together indicate the entranceway to the vast-minded Mahayana practice. The dedicated heart of bodhichitta indicates the difference between the modest-minded Hinayana and the vast-minded Mahayana, as it is the entryway into the Mahayana.

In the various practices or trainings to bind one closely to the Buddha-families, or samayas, there is one pertaining to taking refuge three times each day and three times each evening. Reciting these verses fulfills the requirement of taking refuge six times in a day and binds us closely to Vairochana. 

For someone who is going to practice the vast-minded measures of the Mahayana, it is necessary to have extremely sharp wits, particularly if one is going to practice tantra. Someone with extremely sharp wits, when taking refuge and generating bodhichitta, will recognize the great meaning of this practice, as the force given to their practice from these two will outdistance those of a more modest-minded practice. 

Such a practitioner does a strong, intense practice of taking safe direction, generating bodhichitta and finally dissolves the objects of safe direction into themselves. The reason for this is to show the practitioner that the only way to accomplish their goal, given its vast scope, is to become enlightened themselves. The Buddhas have intense concern for all living beings, even greater than that of a mother for her only child. The Buddhas are concerned when others are treated poorly and pleased when others are treated kindly. When we take refuge and dedicate our hearts to helping others by wishing to achieve enlightenment, we are generating warm, kind thoughts towards others, and this pleases the Buddhas. Therefore, when you dissolve the figure of an enlightened one into yourself at this part of the practice, you should imagine that the enlightened one is extremely pleased and happy with you. After dissolving the figure into yourself, you should imagine that you become an enlightened being. As you do this practice, you should imagine that you are surrounded by living beings and all of them take refuge along with you. As you imagine all the various life forms around you, you should reflect on the suffering of their life forms, but you visualize them in the form of humans. You should imagine that they are all in a desperate situation and that they are taking a safe direction with you. If you imagine the entire surface of the world and the sky above filled with the objects of refuge, your practice will become very vast.

Furthermore, the line on abandoning the inherently existent “I” and “mine” refers to the two levels of bodhichitta, the apparent bodhichitta or relative bodhichitta and the ultimate bodhichitta. At this point, one can become mindful of these two levels of bodhichitta.

The text reads:

I shall meditate now that all beings be endowed with happiness, parted from grief, have the joy of remaining always blissfully aware, and equanimity toward everyone as equal. 

You imagine that the figure in front of you, be it Buddha or Kalachakra, dissolves into you and you transform into an enlightened one, like Kalachakra. You send forth rays of light to all the limited beings around you, eliminate all their negativities, and they transform into Kalachakras. You should keep in mind that this is imaginary. You reflect that all living beings are still suffering and how wonderful it would be if they could all become happy; this is the pure intention. This establishes the prayer of pure aspiration that all beings in fact become happy. The next step is “May I bring them all to happiness,” and this is the pure exceptional resolve. You then request the spiritual master to inspire you to be able to do this, and this is the pure request. Immeasurable love has these four divisions. This process of wishing all sentient beings to be happy fulfills the definition of love and meets the close bond of giving love. This is one of the four types of giving, and doing this six times a day fulfills one of the close bonds to Ratnasambhava. Therefore, this should be done with feeling and thought.

The next thought you develop is that of immeasurable compassion. You look again at all these beings around you and see that they have terrible problems and suffering. You think, “How wonderful it would be if they were free of all their problems.” You again follow the four-part sequence, as described for love.

Next is immeasurable joy or happiness. You think, “How wonderful it would be if all these beings had happiness all of the time.” You again go through the four-part sequence. This is immeasurable happiness or joy. This is wishing that they never have a fearsome state. Giving freedom from fear to others is one of the types of giving, and doing this six times a day fulfills one of the close bonds to Ratnasambhava.

Now you look around and realize there is no such thing as the truly existent category of “me.” Then reflect on the ignorant grasping of “mine.” On the basis of this, one experiences feelings of attraction or hostility, and impulsive actions or karma arise from these feelings. All of one’s problems and difficulties arise from one’s karma. You reflect how all beings are similarly affected with this unequal attitude toward others and how wonderful it would be if everyone had equanimity. One also takes this through the four-step sequence, and this is immeasurable equanimity.

The previous verses deal with the mere aspirational bodhichitta. The next stanza deals with the pledged bodhichitta, in which one actually vows to develop bodhichitta through the specific practice of reaffirming one’s dedication six times in a day. The text reads:

To free from the fears of samsara and complacent nirvana all wandering beings, I take hold of the mind that wishes to gain an enlightened state, and from this moment on, till becoming a Buddha, I shall never forsake it, though my life be at stake.

This reaffirms your dedication six times in a day. Therefore, when you recite this stanza, if you do this thoughtfully and with feeling, this fulfills your commitment to dedicate your heart six times a day, which is given ritually with the bodhisattva vows.

Having dedicated one’s heart to others and enlightenment, you must involve yourself in the actual practices. This includes the vowed restraints. You promise to take these vowed restraints, the bodhichitta vows, by reciting the verse:

Gurus, the Triumphant, and your spiritual offspring, please pay me heed: just as the Blissfully Gone Buddhas of the past reaffirmed their bodhichitta aim and lived by the stages of bodhisattva training, I too reaffirm my bodhichitta aim, to help those who wander, and shall train in the stages of bodhisattva training. 

You are making requests to the triumphant spiritual masters and so forth to listen, “Just as the Buddhas of the past have dedicated their hearts and engaged in the various trainings, I shall also engage myself.” After having reaffirmed your intention to actually involve yourself in the trainings, you should feel great joy. This is expressed by reciting the next stanza.

Now my life’s become fruitful, for having wonderfully attained a human existence, today I’ve awakened my Buddha-nature and now have become a Buddhas’ spiritual child.

Now your life becomes meaningful by dedicating it to others and involving yourself. The second line refers to the fact that now you have a truly meaningful human existence, in that you are putting this human life to its full use. By developing bodhichitta, one is born into the line of Buddhas. As it says in Bodhicharyavatara, there is no way to achieve enlightenment without the dedicated heart of bodhichitta. When you do dedicate your heart to others, this is the way to become closer to enlightenment. Likewise, there is the advantage that you are now one of the spiritual offspring of the Buddhas.

The next stanza:

Now, in whatever way possible, I shall undertake actions that accord with its traits, and never defile this impeccable nature that lacks any flaw.

The verse refers to our realization that, by dedicating our hearts, we place ourselves into the family of Buddhas, and that now we are going to act in accordance with this family. In other words, we will always act like those within the Buddha family in terms of helping others, working to benefit others, and we will never defame the family by acting in ways that will cause harm to others. 

The last two stanzas are part of the training to always remember the benefits of having the dedicated heart of bodhichitta. The various trainings that come from having a dedicated heart entail constantly rededicating oneself to others, being mindful and recalling the benefits of so doing. Building up the networks of positive potential and deep awareness constitutes another training that comes next in this practice through visualizing and making offerings. Likewise, you should be mindful of never deceiving others, training in the four lustrous actions and abandoning the four murky actions. The practice of a bodhisattva of the building-up pathway mind is to constantly be mindful and reflect on these points. All these verses constitute the taking of refuge and rededicating one’s heart. One has visualized the objects of refuge and now will dissolve them. This dissolution can be done in different ways: you can dissolve them into the center of your brow or into the bountiful field, which will be visualized next, or you can have the objects of safe direction go back to where they abide.

The type of working basis that is required for being able to practice and gain success on the paths of anuttarayoga tantra is that of a human born from a womb on the Southern Continent and having the six constituent elements in their body. The difficulty of being born as a human in general with the eight respites and ten enriching factors has been explained previously during the initiation. This basis is very easily lost, its causes are having practiced the six paramitas, having had stainless prayers and specifically having kept strict morality. To have this rebirth, one must build up a great positive potential, and this building up of positive potential comes next in the practice. It is totally necessary for a practitioner of tantra to be a womb-born human being from the Southern Continent and possess the six constituent elements or substances. Therefore, when you practice the various paths, it is necessary to practice a path that is analogous to the process of taking such a birth. Just as you would have needed to build up the causes for taking such an excellent rebirth, likewise in the practice of the paths, you practice building up the two networks (two collections). The first network you build up is the network of positive potential, or a collection of merit. In order to do this, first you visualize the bountiful field, or field of merit, and you build up this potential by relying on it. You visualize the bountiful field and offer to it the seven-part basic practice and a mandala offering in order to build up a network of positive potential.