External Kalachakra

Kalachakra: The Clear Tantra

Let us look briefly at some of the vast material in the Kalachakra Tantra itself. It is not necessary to study this material in depth in order to take the empowerment or attend as an observer. Nevertheless, some acquaintance with it helps to develop an appreciation of the wide range of topics included in the Kalachakra teachings and a respect for their value. This ancient text contains a great deal of practical advice for people and societies that is still relevant today. It is a veritable encyclopedia of not only sophisticated methods for attaining enlightenment, but also thought-provoking social commentary and scientific analysis.

Kalachakra is called the clear tantra, while the other anuttarayoga tantras are known as obscure. The main reason for this differentiation concerns the fourth initiation, which empowers us to perceive simultaneously and straightforwardly the two levels of truth concerning reality. The Kalachakra system formulates the two truths as clear light mind generated as an unchanging blissful awareness of the voidness of everything, and the appearances to which such a mind gives rise. In other anuttarayoga systems, the words of this stage of empowerment do not explain the unity of the two levels directly, just by analogy. The Kalachakra empowerment, on the other hand, explains this union explicitly. In fact, although Kalachakra differs significantly from the other anuttarayoga systems on many points, studying Kalachakra often clarifies enigmatic points of texts from those systems. Furthermore, the entire Kalachakra Tantra is written in clear language, unlike the other tantras which require an elaborate scheme to decode the many levels of meaning hidden behind their terse, poetic style.

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