Key Points for the Practice of the Three Lower Classes of Tantra

When we talk about the spiritual paths, there are five: the path of accumulation, the path of application, the path of seeing, the path of meditation and the path of no more learning. Within the fold of Hinayana, there is the path of the shravakas (the listeners) and the path of the pratyekabuddhas. They both follow the same five paths. Likewise, in the paramita vehicle there is the presentation of the same five paths. In addition to the presentation of the five paths of the Mahayana perfection vehicle, it also has the presentation of the ten bodhisattva levels of mind. 

There are four classes of tantra: kriya tantra, which consists mainly of ritual practices; charya tantra, which consists mainly of behavioral deity practices; yoga tantra; and anuttarayoga tantra. Each of these four has the same presentation of these five paths: the path of accumulation, the path of application, the path of seeing, the path of meditation and the path of no more learning. 

In the perfection vehicle, we don’t have the presentation where we arise in the form of a deity in the context of the four purities. On the basic level, we have as a basis one of these four purities. Furthermore, on the basic level, we have the ordinary body and ordinary environment, and there are things that we make use of or enjoy and the activities that we engage in. The difference in purity is to imagine that the ordinary body is in the form of a pure body of a deity. There is the purified body, and all the beings around us are in the form of deities as well. Regarding the environment, instead of seeing everything in an ordinary form around us, we see the environment as the celestial palace and mandala of the deities.

The way to purify into the pure aspect of these things that we enjoy and make use of is similar to when we had the initiation yesterday. We had the offerings, and we transformed all the offerings of the things that we use and enjoy into aspects of nectar. Nectar is completely unassociated with any confusion. Similarly, we make use of these things that we enjoy in a form without any contamination or association with confusion. “Not associated with any confusion” is another way of saying “uncontaminated.”

To transform and purify our actions is to imagine that as a deity we do the actions of the deity. We visualize these three syllables on the three places of the body and emit lights from these. With these lights, we can fulfill all the purposes of all the beings around us; this is the way that we purify our actions. This is the special characteristic of tantra: we meditate on the kinds of minds that are in accordance with these four types of purity. In other words, we meditate with regard to these four states that we would have on the resultant level. This is a special quality of tantra in that it is a very speedy and quick path. This is because we meditate on these four pure aspects similar to what we would experience and be as a Buddha in this resultant state.

To change ourselves into a deity, to drop our ordinary appearance and imagine ourselves as a deity, we have to generate ourselves as a deity. This needs to be done in a proper manner. This is something that we can think of in an ordinary way, just as being aware of anything. We can be aware of something, and this is the same way that we can be aware of ourselves as a deity. 

We should have with certainty the understanding of voidness. This certainty of voidness takes on the form of a deity; the awareness of the form of the deity is the awareness of voidness. This certainty of voidness, which appears in the form of a deity, is important. Because of that, it’s based on this understanding of voidness, and therefore it acts as an opponent to ignorance and problems. 

The main thing that is involved here is working on the network of deep awareness, one of the two networks. The understanding of voidness is the basis for the network of deep awareness. The aspect of that understanding appearing in the form of a deity will build up the network of positive force. In this way, we build up these two networks of both deep awareness and positive potential at the same time. In the two networks, the network of positive potential acts as the main cause of being able to achieve the Form Body, the Rupakaya of a Buddha. Being this aspect would be an actual cause for the body of a Buddha. The network of deep awareness is the main cause to produce the mind, the Dharmakaya of a Buddha. 

In terms of voidness itself as an object to be understood, there is no difference at all between the sutra and tantra systems’ explanation of it. Each gives the explanation of voidness. We can find the primary texts coming out of the perfection vehicle, the texts of Nagarjuna, such as Mulamadhyamaka-karika, Root Verses on the Middle Way, and the texts of Chandrakirti, such as Madhyamakavatara, Engaging in the Middle Way. The deep understanding of voidness that we gain in tantra is all based on the explanation of voidness in these texts in the perfection vehicle. It’s the same. Also, there is the text Four Hundred Verses by Aryadeva.

There are the spiritual father and son, Nagarjuna being the master and Aryadeva was his disciple. Aryadeva was Chandrakirti’s master. The fourth text on voidness is the explanation of Bodhicharyavatara, Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior. Also, the important text on voidness, rTsa-shes rigs-pa’i rgya-mtsho, Ocean of Reasonings, was written by Tsongkhapa; it’s a great commentary on the root text on discriminating awareness by Nagarjuna. There’s also the great explanation of vipashyana (the exceptionally perceptive state of mind) in the Lam-rim chen-mo, Grand Presentation of the Graded Stages to Enlightenment, and it contains explanation of voidness. Then, there is Tsongkhapa’s text The Essence of Excellent Explanation of Interpretable and Definitive Meanings (Drang-nges legs-bshad snying-po).

There is no sectarianism in terms of the view of voidness in sutra or tantra. It’s exactly the same thing. Although there’s no difference in terms of the object to be understood, there is a difference in the type of mind that will have that understanding of voidness. The consciousness that understands voidness in tantra is a blissful type of consciousness or awareness. There is the presentation of four levels of the higher type of blissful awareness and tantras that explain each of these different types of consciousness. It is divided into these four stages of tantra: kriya tantra, charya tantra, yoga tantra and anuttarayoga tantra.

If we speak about a general presentation of the differences in the four tantras, first we have kriya tantra that emphasizes the external activities, behavior of ritual and deity practices. There are ritual washing and cleanliness and a deeper type of ritual bathing. The procedures and so on are explained in the texts. Between external activities and internal yogas, the one that focuses its main methods on the external is known as kriya tantra. 

The one that puts an equal emphasis on external activity and internal yogas is known as the charya tantra, behavioral deity practice. The one that puts the main emphasis on inner methods of yoga, or integrating practice, is known as yoga tantra. The one that has these inner methods of yoga that are peerless is known as anuttarayoga tantra, the peerlessly integrated yoga practices. This is a general way of explaining the four practices of tantra. If we think of the anuttarayoga tantra methods as the basis for differentiating all four classes of tantra, we have the presentation of the four levels of blissful consciousness that were explained before. 

There are different types of blissful awareness or consciousness: the bliss that comes from looking at our partner, exchanging smiles, holding hands or being in union with our partner, and the tantras that have deities with these aspects and ritual practices that involve that type of blissful awareness are the four different classes of tantra. 

Kriya tantra is the one in which the deities are in the form of looking at each other. The main texts that explain kriya tantra are The Tantra of the General Secrets (gSang-ba spyi-rgyud, Skt. Sāmānya-vidhīnām-guhya Tantra), The Tantra of the Forceful Buddha-Figure Susiddhi (Legs-grub-kyi rgyud or Khro-bo legs-grub, Skt. Susiddhi Tantra), The Tantra Requested by Subahu (dPung-bzang-gis zhus-pa’i rgyud, Skt. Subāhu-paripṛcchā Tantra) and The Tantra on the Subsequent Stages of Mental Constancy (bSam-gtan phyi-ma’i rgyud, Skt. Dhyānottarapaṭalakrama Tantra).

The first point in the outline of these texts regarding the explanation of kriya tantra is how to be a proper vessel for kriya practices, how to do the close approximating of the practice and so on. To be a proper vessel, we have to keep the vows and close bonds with the practices. Having done the close way of approximating, or coming close to the deity, we achieve the actual attainment of the deity.

All the classes will have the same outline presented. The way to train ourselves to be an actual practitioner for these teachings is to train in the common paths as described in the great and smaller versions of the lam-rim, as was explained the other day. If we don’t train ourselves in all these common paths, which are the cause, there’s no way we’re going to gain any realizations or accomplishments in tantra. We have to train in these causal practices. 

When some lamas give tantra teachings, they spend most of the time talking about lam-rim. Some people develop strange ideas about it because they came for tantra teachings and these lamas aren’t giving any tantric teachings: they are just talking about the lam-rim. But these lamas clearly understand the main points of tantra because they are putting the main emphasis on the most important point in tantra, which is to have a strong foundation in the common paths of the mind, as described in the long and short versions of the lam-rim.

These are the teachings of the three different levels of motivations: initial, intermediate and advanced. This gives us a very strong and stable foundation for our tantric practices, in which we will do very well. The people in Tibet told Atisha, “Please don’t teach us about the very deep and profound tantric practices; teach us instead about karma and cause and effect.” This is something that pleased Atisha very much. It is a result of this that The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment was composed. 

To begin, we need to keep the strict ethical self-discipline of restraining from the ten destructive or negative actions and to follow the laws of behavior and their results. This is the main foundation, and then we expand from there. There is a very excellent spiritual master here, and you can ask him to teach specifically about these points of cause and effect and karma. We should put the emphasis on learning about this not just to gain information, but to apply this to our daily lives and behavior.

The texts that teach about karma and cause and effect are the sutras that are contained in the Kangyur, the translation of the words of the Buddha. These points about behavior and results are things that we learn about by relying on the words of the Buddha. We have to rely on the scriptures and on the Buddha as a valid source of information about that topic. This is because at the beginning we’re not going to be able to establish the validity of this by logical reasoning.

There are many examples and accounts that are used to explain karma. We shouldn’t just think that they are fairytales; rather, we should listen to the examples that the Buddha gave and try to develop confident belief in the Buddha as a valid source of information. We should think a great deal about the various texts that the Buddha has given in terms of the correct view of reality and voidness; thereby, we will be able to gain confident belief in all of these teachings based on logical reasoning, inference and logic.

Examine with logic the teachings that the Buddha gave on reality and voidness and see that they are true. In this way, you will develop confident belief that the Buddha is a valid authority because you will have validated it yourselves with logic and reasoning. Based on the confidence that the Buddha is a valid source of information, likewise we will be able to gain confident belief in the things the Buddha has said about behavior and its results. If we act in a positive way, as a result of that, we will be able to experience happiness and a superior rebirth, whereas if we act destructively, it will result in unhappiness.

If we look at the teachings that the Buddha gave on how to develop single-minded concentration, and we practice accordingly, we will experience that we are actually able to develop single-minded concentration and gain confidence in what he said about that. If we follow the instructions correctly the way that they are given, it’s possible to achieve single-minded concentration. If we practice all the instructions that the Buddha has given, and we have actually gained that, likewise we can gain all the different types of extrasensory perception. If we haven’t developed single-minded concentration, it will be very difficult to have extrasensory perception. If we do develop single-minded concentration and actually achieve the various types of ESP, then we would have an extremely strong confident belief that what the Buddha taught was definitely true. In this way, we will be able to have confident belief in everything else that the Buddha said.

On the basis of following the ethics that the Buddha has given in terms of behavior and its effects, we can expand from there and go on to achieve the various other paths of the mind that come on that basis. It’s very important to train in all these various common paths of the mind, so they can act as a cause for success. This means to go through all the lam-rim teachings and develop them in their proper order. 

The lam-rim teachings begin with the way to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to a spiritual master. This is the root of the path, and Tsongkhapa made it a separate section in his lam-rim to indicate its importance. How do we recognize a spiritual master? First of all, the spiritual master has given us the various vows for an individual liberation. The Hinayana teachings that deal with the Vinaya, the rules of discipline, detail many of the qualifications that a master should have for being able to give vows. Before taking vows, it’s necessary to examine the spiritual master to see if he has all these various qualifications completely. 

For instance, if we want to receive an oral transmission of a text, it is important to examine the source; for example, if the text is from the sutra teachings, make sure that they are from the Buddha himself and that the lineage has been transmitted without a break to the person from whom we are going to receive the transmission.

There is also a difference in terms of the various vehicles in how the disciples regard the spiritual master. On the Hinayana level, we regard the teacher as being like a Buddha. As we advance on the spiritual path and develop a dedicated heart of bodhichitta, then we get involved in the various Mahayana teachings and practices. 

In terms of the Mahayana teachings, we follow someone who has the ten qualities of the Mahayana master as explained in the texts. Even if we can’t find a master who has all ten qualities, the teacher should at least have the main qualities of honesty and being very warm and kind-hearted. It’s important to examine the spiritual master to see if they completely have these qualifications, and based on that examination, we commit ourselves wholeheartedly to that master. Something to recognize is that this spiritual master is much more advanced than one in the Hinayana, in which we see the master as being like or similar to the Buddha. In Mahayana, we see the master as an emanation or manifestation of the Buddha.

Once we have trained ourselves in all these common paths of Mahayana, we enter into the tantric practices and rely on a tantric master; again, it must be someone who has the full qualifications. There are ten qualifications of outer activities and ten of inner qualities in each of the four classes described. It’s extremely important to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the spiritual master. The attitude that we have toward the vajra master is again much more advanced than we had before, even in Mahayana. Here, it is necessary to see the tantric spiritual master as being the actual Vajradhara, the actual Buddha. We shouldn’t have any type of feeling that Buddha or Vajradhara is in some high place and that the spiritual master is much lower than the Vajradhara or Buddha; rather, we should see the spiritual master as the actual Buddha, the actual Vajradhara. They are totally the same, and there is no difference.

We should regard and see our own vajra master who is teaching us the tantric path as being the actual Buddha Vajradhara, and if we have this very strong feeling of this with our mind, then it will be easier for us to gain realizations in tantra. Without that feeling, it will be extremely difficult to get anywhere in tantra. 

There are colleges that specialize in the tantric teachings, the tantric way of practice. The Lower Tantric College, the tantric college from the lower part of Tibet, no matter what type of ritual they perform, whether it’s Guhyasamaja, Yamantaka or Heruka, they don’t chant the praises to the lineage gurus. They just start immediately with their rituals of just arising as the deity. They don’t do the lineage homage. This is because they are in the presence of the abbot of the tantric college and they all recognize that the abbot is the actual Buddha Vajradhara. They are in the presence of the Buddha Vajradhara, and it’s not necessary to chant all the names and praises to the masters of the lineage but can just go directly into the main body of the ceremony. 

When we are a tantric master and are teaching, and other people have to regard us as a Buddha, we shouldn’t have any superstitious thoughts in our mind that “I’m not really a Buddha. I know that, and this whole thing is a farce. It’s pretending.” We shouldn’t have any thoughts like that. It’s important for our disciples to see us as a Buddha. It’s the business of the disciples that they need to regard their spiritual master as a Buddha; we shouldn’t have any concern about this. It’s their business, and it’s important for them to regard us as a Buddha. We shouldn’t worry about whether or not we are Buddha. We should only be concerned about our own attitude toward our own spiritual master. 

Regarding the sets of the ten outer and ten inner qualities that a tantric master has, it will take a long time to list all of them. We have a great teacher here, and we can ask him for all the details. The actual way to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the spiritual master is by following all the procedures that are explained in the Fifty Stanzas on the Guru. This is a text that is in 50 stanzas with all the main points from all the tantras, including how to devote and commit ourselves to our spiritual master. We can read the biographies of Milarepa, Marpa and Naropa, and that will also give a very good idea of how to commit wholeheartedly to our spiritual master.

In terms of the Mahayana sutras, we should look in The Sutra Spread Out like a Tree Trunk (sDong po bkod pa’i mdo, Skt. Gaṇḍavyūha Sutra) and also in the 8,000 Prajnaparamita Sutra that contains an account that explains devotion of a bodhisattva to his master. 

In kriya tantra, there are three Buddha-families that are discussed. There is the vajra family, the lotus family and the Tathagata family. In the Tathagata or Buddha family, we have the female deity Sitatapatra, the White Umbrella goddess. In the lotus family, we have Avalokiteshvara; however, the Avalokiteshvara initiation that His Holiness gave in Italy a few weeks ago was from the anuttarayoga class. This is different from this Avalokiteshvara in the kriya class. In the vajra family, we have Vajrapani. Before we can get into the practices of any of the mandalas of these types of deities from the three classes in kriya, it’s necessary to receive an initiation. 

To enter into any of these practices to protect the mind, an initiation is necessary. There is a difference between entering into the tantra in general and entering into the tantric paths. To enter into the five tantric paths, it’s necessary to develop unlabored bodhichitta and actually have a dedicated heart of bodhichitta effortlessly, all the time. That’s the same as for entering into the Mahayana paths. To enter the tantric paths, we need to enter the Mahayana paths, and for that we would have to have at least developed actual bodhichitta. 

On the other hand, to enter into tantra or these secret measures to protect the mind, it’s necessary to have an initiation. Otherwise, to try to practice tantra without it would be like trying to squeeze sand to get oil from it. Regarding the mandalas from which the initiations can be received, there are mandalas made out of powdered colored sand and some just pained on a cloth. Some qualified masters can give initiations from mandalas that are generated from concentration. 

The three lower classifications of tantra don’t have any presentation of body mandalas; because they don’t have that, there’s no giving of the secret initiation. Some may have a mandala of relative bodhichitta, but they don’t also have the term “mandala of ultimate bodhichitta.” Not only is there no giving of the secret initiation, they do not have deep awareness initiation or the word initiation either. All these types of mandalas and initiations are characteristics found only in anuttarayoga tantra, not in the three lower classes.

In the three lower classes of tantra, there is only the vase initiation. There aren’t the four initiations given yesterday. There is this difference in the number of initiations given in the four different classes of tantra. There is definitely a difference in kriya tantra, the first class. There are only the water and the crown initiations. We don’t have the rest of the initiations of the five Buddha-families.

The second class of tantra, charya tantra, does include the rest of the five Buddha-families. Therefore, it includes the vajra, the bell and the name initiation. That’s all five of the initiations of the five Buddha-families. In addition to that, yoga tantra has the initiation of the vajra master. Because it has the initiation of the tantric master, it has the taking of the tantric vows, the vows for the five Buddha-families. In kriya and charya, they don’t have the taking of tantric vows because they don’t have the vajra master initiation.

Anuttarayoga tantra has all four of the major types of initiations: the vase, the secret initiation (the initiation of the secret substances), the wisdom initiation (the initiation of deep awareness with knowledge) and the word initiation. Within anuttarayoga tantra, there’s a difference in Kalachakra, which has the presentation of the seven initiations of entering like a child and the four high initiations, the four higher initiations and then the initiation of the vajra master. That makes 16 initiations in Kalachakra, unlike what we have in other anuttarayoga tantras.

There is a certain text that gives a different opinion in which we do have the vajra master initiation in the lower classes; however, the most well-known initiations that are in the kriya and charya classes are the water and the crown initiations. In the kriya and charya classes of tantra, initiations don’t have the presentation of being empowered to practice a generation or complete stage. Rather, there is a presentation of being empowered to practice the yogas with and without signs. In order to practice the yoga with signs, it requires the water initiation. In order to practice the yoga without signs, it is necessary to receive the crown initiation. Without these two initiations, we aren’t empowered to do either of these yogas. 

In order to practice kriya tantra in general, it’s necessary to just receive the water and crown initiations and also the great initiation of the Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara. In order to become a proper vessel for kriya tantra, it is essential to train in the common paths and to receive the proper initiations.

The next part of the outline discusses the vows and close bonds to the practices that are essential. A vow is a restraint from that side of behavior that is disharmonious with the practices. A close bond is something that we shouldn’t transgress. It has the connotation of something that we wouldn’t go beyond or ignore. It is about restraint, restraint from the opposite thing, something we want to restrain from doing. 

Whatever type of pratimoksha (individual liberation) vows we have of the seven classes, at least we have as a basis the ethical self-discipline of refraining from destructive actions. Then, at the time of receiving the initiation, we have the very strong taking of the bodhichitta vows. These are the only vows taken at a kriya initiation. The bodhichitta vows refer to the 18 root bodhichitta vows and the 46 secondary vows. It’s very important to know these bodhisattva vows and be able to recognize them. You have a very fine spiritual master here, and you should ask him for teachings on this. The 46 secondary vows are divided into seven sets of vows – for keeping each of the six perfections and then for benefiting others. In kriya and charya, where there are no tantric vows, the bodhisattva vows are taken. Another way of classification is that the bodhisattva vows are the common vows to all of the classes, and the tantric vows are the uncommon ones. 

Although there is no taking of the tantric vows in these classes, there are a great many close bonds or samayas to the practice that must be kept. These are found especially in the Susiddhi Tantra. Among them, there are many close bonds pertaining to behavior that are supposed to be practiced. These are found very extensively in the Ngag-rim chen-mo (sNgags-rim chen-mo), The Grand Presentation of the Stages of Tantra Practice, by Tsongkhapa. For instance, when we are eating off plates made from leaves, as we do in India, we aren’t allowed to eat from the backside of the leaf. We’re also not supposed to eat garlic, onion or meat. There are many close bonds such as this.

If we have broken any of the vows, we should openly admit to this and purify ourselves in the appropriate manner. If we have broken them at night, we purify ourselves in the morning. If we have broken a vow during the day, we purify ourselves at night. If we keep these vows very well and never break them, even if we don’t do any meditation practice, we will achieve enlightenment on the basis of keeping the vows throughout the maximum of 12 or 16 lives. 

On the basis of keeping the vows, we first do the approximating practices. On the basis of that, we do the practices for gaining actual attainment. Approximating practices are divided into two. There are the methods of mental constancy that rely on recitation and the levels of mental constancy that don’t rely on recitation. The way to start the first of these is to generate as a deity; in kriya tantra, this is known as the six-fold or six-stage deity generation. The six stages are the deity as voidness, then the deity as sound, the deity as syllables, the deity as form, the deity as the mudra hand gestures, and then the deity as signs, referring to the rest of the practice. Thereby, we have the generation of the deity in the six-fold method. 

In the generation of the deity as voidness, this is to think that the person who is meditating, the deity being meditated on and the whole practice of meditation, none of these exist as separate findable things. All of them depend upon the other. In this way, we should become aware of the voidness or the absence of all fantasized ways of existence with respect to the practice that we are doing. In this way, we immerse ourselves in the realization of voidness. 

First, we have the generation of the deity as voidness, and within this state of voidness we imagine, for instance, that if we are doing the practice of Avalokiteshvara in the lotus family, all of space is filled with the sound of the mantra om mani padme hum, the long mantra of Chenrezig. In this way, we have the generation of the deity just on hearing the sound of the mantra filling all of space. This sound condenses and comes down to the place where we are sitting and appears in the form of the letters of the mantra. The letters are made out of gold, and this is the deity of syllables. 

Then, we arise as the deity, the deity as form. We transform, for instance, into the form of the thousand-armed, thousand-eyed Avalokiteshvara. We would arise with 11 heads. The first head would be white in the center, green on the right and red on the left. The second level of heads is green in the center, red on the right and white on the left. The third row is red in the center, white on the right and green on the left. That makes nine faces, and on top of that we have a wrathful face; then on top of that we have Amitabha, like a crown ornament. That way, we have 11 faces.

The first hands are held at the heart with a jewel. The one on the right is holding a rosary made out of white pearls. The third hand on the right is in the supreme giving gesture. The fourth one is holding a wheel. The second one on the left is holding a lotus. The first one is held at the heart with the jewel. The third one has a vase with a long spout. The fourth one has a bow and arrow. Then, we have 16 arms on the next row, which makes 32. The arms are arranged in six grooves coming out from each side. Each of these six grooves in the next row has 12 arms in it. In the next row out of that, each of the six clusters has 14 arms in it. After that, each has 16, then each has 18, and then each has 20. In this way, we have six clusters on each side with 16, 18 and 20 arms in each. In each palm, we have an eye, making 1,000 eyes. The upper garment is of a deer, and also there is a precious jewel ornament.  

There is also another lineage of the thousand-armed, thousand-eyed Avalokiteshvara and the one in the temple in Lhasa. This is in a different form in the anuttarayoga class. There, the three bottom faces are all white. These are the three faces for the peaceful aspect, and the next three faces on top are all yellow signifying the increasing aspect. On the next level, there are two red fearful faces for power. On top of that, we have two blue wrathful faces for the wrathful powers. Then on top of that, we have the Amitabha face for the crown ornament. This is another form. The first two arms are the same and are at the center with the jewel. The second on the right has a rosary and the third has a wheel. The fourth is in the mudra of the supreme giving. The other one has the opposite way of this. The fifth has an Amitabha in his hand, the fifth one down in front. Then, there is a lotus in the second on the left, as in the other form. The third one has a jewel. The fourth has the pitcher, the vase with the long spout, and the fifth one has the bow and arrow.

In the next row, instead of 16 on each side, there are 15 on each side. There are five on each side in the front, and then after that, the hands are the same as in the other form. There are six clusters of hands on each side; the first row having 12, then 14, 16 and 18. That explains for us the reasons for the anuttarayoga tantra of form.

The next is the deity as the gesture. There is a sealing gesture (mudra) that is used for each of the forms of the vajra family. The gesture for the lotus family is like that. Because we are dealing with Chenrezig, we only need to have the gesture of the lotus family, the two palms cupped together facing upward and the elbows bent facing up. The way that we do this is to say “Om utpalaya svaha” and move the gesture to the five points on the body. This describes the deity as mudra hand-gesture.

Then, calling forth the wisdom beings, and then the crown ornament and all the other procedures of the ritual, these are all the deity of signs, the sixth yoga. To repeat, the six-fold deity generation in kriya tantra is the deity of voidness, the deity of sound, the deity as the syllables, the deity of form and the deity as the sealing gestures, and then the deity as signs. If we look in the texts on White Tara, the explanation of the six-fold generation is very clear.