Tantra as a Mental Continuum and a Loom

Defining Tantra

The first thing in discussing tantra is to have some idea about what it is. Tantra comes from a Sanskrit verb which means “to stretch.” This has two meanings: one is referring to something with a long continuity. The Tibetans translate it with that meaning of the word. The second is stretch in the sense of the strings utilized in a loom with which someone can weave carpet or cloth. Both of these etymologies reveal a great deal about tantra. 

A continuity or a continuum in this context is an everlasting one, one that goes on forever. We have three levels that are discussed in general in Buddhism. They are the basis, the path and the resultant level. 

The basis level is the continuum of Buddha-nature. The word “Buddha-nature” is made up by Western scholars or Buddhist followers and practitioners. There is no actual term that is being translated into “Buddha-nature”; we aren’t talking about the nature of a Buddha. The term is describing the various factors that we all have, the characteristics of a mental continuum that can change and allow for the transformation into the body and mind of a Buddha. These are the things that will transform into the body and mind of a Buddha.

Three Types of Buddha Family Traits

There are three types of Buddha traits or characteristics that will allow us to become a Buddha. This is perhaps a more accurate and helpful way of expressing Buddha-nature. 

• First, there are evolving traits, ones that can grow.
• Next, the abiding factors that refer to the nature of the mind.
• The third point is that these evolving factors can be stimulated. 

In the discussion of the evolving Buddha-nature factors, we have the teachings on the two collections or networks. We have a network of positive force or potential, sometimes called the collection of merit; and we have the network of deep awareness, sometimes called the network of wisdom. 

We all have some positive potential or positive force. This can be demonstrated by examining if we have ever had even the most minuscule feeling of happiness. If we have, this means that we have positive force because this is where happiness comes from. We all have this from beginningless time. Obviously, we also have a network of negative potential or force because we feel unhappy a lot of the time as well; however, that isn’t a part of the discussion of these evolving factors. As for the network of deep awareness, we all have this, because it accounts for us being able to understand some things. This is how the mind functions. 

If we talk about our current samsaric situation, our uncontrollably recurring rebirth, it is the result of the network of positive force that we get whatever limited samsaric bodies that will go through birth, sickness, aging and death. Lifetime after lifetime we are reborn with a body that has an expiration date and goes bad as time passes and eventually wears out. That is the result of the networks of positive and negative force. We have a mixture of that, which accounts for the mixture in each lifetime of happiness and unhappiness. Sometimes it is a human body, sometimes a chicken or sometimes a ghost. How horrible to live a life as a chicken and be chopped up and made into dog food or whatever. As a result of the network of deep awareness, we will also have a limited mind, completely filled with varying levels of confusion, disturbing emotions and so on.

In other words, because these two networks are mixed with ignorance or unawareness and confusion, they will go on forever like this unless we do something about it. We will continue to have a limited body and mind. That’s what a sentient being is, someone with these limitations. This is our working material to begin with. We can also describe this in terms of body, speech and mind. However, there are many different ways of dividing this. The point is that we have these two networks and we can evolve and get better and better, or it can also get worse.

The next type, the abiding Buddha-nature factors refer to the nature of the mind. We can discuss the deepest level of the mind, the voidness of the mind; however, in many presentations we can also talk about the conventional nature of the mind and how it actually works. 

The last of these Buddha-nature factors is that these networks can be stimulated to grow from the influence of Buddhas, spiritual teachers and so on. It is not just from our own efforts but they can be given a boost. 

This is an introduction to the basis tantra. Next, we have the path or pathway tantra.

Through our practice, our meditation on the path, we want to generate from the network of positive force, rather than a samsaric body, a simulation of a physical body of a Buddha. Through practice, we can give rise to a Buddha-figure, in Tibetan a yidam. We can generate this either in our imagination or – on a very advanced level – from the subtle energies of the body. Rather than a samsaric body coming as a result of the network of positive force, we can have this simulated body on the path that can eventually transform into the actual physical body of a Buddha.  

Out of the network of deep awareness, in meditation, rather than confusion, we want to generate some understanding of emptiness or voidness. The nature of the mind allows for that because it’s not self-established as something inherently stupid and confused. 

Conventional and Deep Nature of the Mind

Remember the conventional nature of the mind. The term “mind” means the mental activity and not something that is doing it. That mental activity can de described from two points of view. First, it is the arising of a mental hologram. This is similarly explained in science. For example, photons hit the cells of the retina and they get changed into electric and chemical impulses and go to various parts within the brain. Seeing is actually the mental hologram that gets transformed into the experience. In this way, subjective experience is like a mental hologram. It’s a similar mechanism with sound, smell, taste, physical sensations and thought. The term for this mechanism is usually translated as the “aspect” of the object, but that doesn’t convey very much. We are talking about these mental holograms. From one point of view, this describes subjective experience.

The second point of view is that seeing, hearing, knowing and thinking actually are a cognitive engagement or activity. It’s not that a visual hologram arises and then we see it. Furthermore, it’s not that a thought arises and then we think it. It’s one activity. This occurs without a separate “me” and a separate “mind” that is making it happen. It’s not that there is some little person sitting in our heads with the machine called “mind,” and by pressing buttons sights, holograms and thoughts arise. It’s not like that. What does this indicate? A mental hologram can arise of an ordinary body of a human or a chicken, or a mental hologram can arise of one of the Buddha figures such as Tara or Chenrezig. Part of the nature of the mind is that it allows that to happen. This process is part of mental activity. From the deep awareness network we can gain an understanding of that, the voidness or emptiness of that. 

The conventional and the deepest nature of the mind, the mental activity allows for these two networks to give rise not just to the basis level of samsaric experience with a limited body and mind, but it can also give way to this pathway level which is in essence tantra practice with these yidams or so-called deities. These Buddha-figures also have the quality of no beginning and no end. They don’t get tired, old, hungry or sick. It is something that we can maintain in a much more stable continuum. That’s the pathway level.

On the resultant level, from the network of positive force, it transforms into and gives rise to the body and speech of a Buddha. The body of a Buddha is the Nirmanakaya. In the highest class of tantra, anuttarayoga tantra, the Sambhogakaya is the speech of a Buddha. 

From the network of deep awareness, this is going to transform and give rise to the omniscient mind of a Buddha. The deepest nature of the mind, the voidness of the mind, continues as the Svabhavakaya. It is the same void nature as before that, as the voidness of the mental continuum is always the same. That deepest nature doesn’t change. 

This is a very profound explanation of tantra and what it involves. To review, we have two networks: positive force and deep awareness. Positive force along with negative force gives rise to a limited samsaric body and speech over and over again that is confused, gets sick and dies. We have to feed these bodies all the time, wash them, brush the teeth, and they require sleep. It’s really horrible and boring. If we think about it, more than half of our lives is being a servant to our bodies. We don’t have to do that as Tara or Chenrezig. 

On the basis of this positive force we can give rise to a samsaric body, or in our imagination we can have it give rise to a Buddha-figure form. Working with that, eventually it will give rise to Buddha-figure from out of our subtle energy. Working further and further, it will give rise to an actual body and speech of a Buddha. First, we do this by imagination and then with subtle energy. In the end we have an actual body and speech of a Buddha.

On the basis of the deep awareness network, rather than just giving rise to a limited mind mixed with confusion, on the pathway level, it gives rise to some understanding of voidness or emptiness. It can be conceptual or non-conceptual and we can’t sustain it all the time. Eventually, we achieve the omniscient mind of a Buddha. 

The conventional and deepest natures of the mind allow for this entire transformation to take place. In all of these levels – basis, path and resultant – there is mental activity. This means that the nature of the mental activity is the same: rising of a mental hologram, mental engagement and no separate “me” and mind doing it; it’s just happening. We can impute a “me” on it, but there is no separate “me” doing it. Throughout the entire process there is no separate “me” or a machine called “mind” doing this. It’s just moment to moment. Again, there is no separate “me” sitting inside our heads.

Within this entire samsaric situation, we can get a boost of stimulation, also a Buddha-nature factor, through receiving initiation or empowerment, and it’s our relationship with the spiritual teacher that gets it started. The vows and close bonds to the practices, the samayas, damtsik, make the structure and give it stability.

That’s what tantra is about in this presentation. These three levels come from the Buddha-nature factors that we all have. Because of the voidness or emptiness of the mind, it can transform. It’s not that the mind is self-established and stuck in one solid condition that can never change. It can be influenced, not only negatively by other samsaric beings, but also influenced in a positive way by initiation, Buddhas, gurus and so on. This is dependent arising, causes and conditions and results.

Let’s take a few moments to review that and get some idea of the entire process. It’s a continuum that can work on different levels, and tantra is the tool to raise the level. On one hand, we have the body of a human that has a cold, is getting old and so on; or the body of Tara, with some understanding of voidness, progressing until the mind and body of a Buddha. Try to understand and appreciate that. It may take a while to get used to this. To have any success in tantra one has to understand and have confidence in it. Then, we can have trust in the method. Otherwise, it just seems crazy. Why would we be visualizing ourselves as these weird figures with all these arms and legs?

Perhaps, it might be helpful to elaborate a bit on how someone would actually proceed when told to think about this for a moment. Often, we want to think about Dharma topics, and it’s not so obvious how to do that. First, we hear about something, maybe for the first time or maybe we have heard it before. The next step is to repeat in our mind what we have heard, not just sit there blankly. Review it very briefly in our mind and let it settle in.

To do this, regarding the material just presented, for example, first we would need to identify within ourselves the Buddha-nature factors. To put it in very simple terms, we can see that there is positive force and deep awareness. We can experience happiness and unhappiness, positive and negative force, and we know that our minds are working because we can understand some things. This is all happening simultaneously. When we review the nature of the mind, we can think about mental holograms and that nothing exists in some static, self-established way. We might be reviewing with words, but some people do this with images. It doesn’t matter. Recognize that we have these factors. Review all of this so that it becomes conscious.

Then, we can think in terms of how it can function on different levels – the samsaric level, the tantric level, and the Buddha level – but the mechanism is the same in all three. We get some mental picture or feeling of that.

Shamatha-Style Meditation

With shamatha-style meditation we just focus on that with a general understanding. Shamatha has to have understanding. It’s not just quieting the mind. By understanding the process, we stabilize it. Sometimes we might need to refresh the so-called analytical side. We aren’t just talking about being quiet. Of course, we don’t have mental wandering and things like that. Shamatha is a general understanding, a general feeling. Any meditation has to be free of mental wandering and dullness. However, that is beside the point. Even if we can just get rid of mental wandering for a few seconds, that’s okay. The thing is to get something, to understand something. 

As His Holiness emphasizes over and over again, it’s understanding that gets rid of ignorance. It has to have understanding even if just for a few tiny moments. Then, we can lengthen the time of that understanding; however, first there needs to be understanding.  First, with the shamatha style, we have the general feeling and understanding that we have these factors and that they can grow. Then we stay with that.

Vipashyana-Style Meditation

When we have the understanding stabilized, then we add the detail. That’s the difference. One is general and one is detailed. It isn’t detailed in the sense that we list twenty different points. It is just in focus with all the details. 

That’s what we are aiming for in our meditation. It is the same thing in our tantric meditation. First, we have the general form of the deity and then as we progress, the detailed form of the deity. When someone says to think over something, these are the steps. Try to get just a general feeling of a degree of understanding of what it is. 

To repeat once again, on the topic of Buddha-nature, we think:

• There are these factors and we have them. 
• Everybody has them. 
• That’s the general characteristics of the mental continuum. 
• Also, they can grow and transform to different levels. 
• If we really want to become a Buddha, this is a good method. 

This next meaning of tantra introduces and explains why we have all the arms, legs and faces. It must be understood that tantra is a very advance practice. One must have a very firm foundation in sutra, otherwise tantra practice is just children playing and going off to Buddhist Disneyland. Tantra is like a loom. We need the foundation of the lam-rim and many other sutra teachings. We need a good basis in all of these things, and then, with tantra, we want to weave them all together simultaneously as we would do as a Buddha.

How would we do all these things at the same time? Tantra presents a very good method. We represent all the various things that we want to have simultaneously in a graphic form. It’s called infographics, like a chart that represents things. For example, the four immeasurables: immeasurable love, compassion, joy and equanimity. In graphic form, we have the four arms of Chenrezig to help us keep in mind all at once, all four. Many Buddha-figures have six arms; there are the six perfections or paramitas. There can be three faces to represent the body, speech and mind of a Buddha. 

It goes on and on, and each of these graphic representations has several different levels of meanings. Every little thing in the visualizations represents some understanding. Even the mandala, the palace and every architectural feature represent something. One aim is, of course, to train the mind to keep a tremendous amount of detail simultaneously. As a Buddha we need to have tremendous detail of everybody. However, additionally and in particular we want to keep in mind the understanding of what it all represents.

On the pathway level, where we use our imaginations not just to visualize, but using all our senses, we want to get all of it going in our minds all at once. It’s a method of expanding our minds to include simultaneously more and more aspects of what we’ve trained in during our sutra studies. It’s weaving it onto the strings of a loom; in this case, weaving it on all the arms, legs, faces, figures, mandala buildings and architectural features. That’s the loom on which we weave all our insights. 

Cultivating an Appreciation of Tantra

We gain an understanding of tantra from the two meanings of the word. Try to absorb and meditate on that. In sutra there are all these practices and topics, like the six perfections, understanding of the two truths, the four immeasurables, renunciation, voidness, dependent arising and bodhichitta; with tantra, we are weaving it all together. We need to be able to have it all simultaneously plus attain a body of a Buddha. If we think of these Buddha-figures, the general idea is that they represent great deal of meaning. It is not just a weird trip of imagining that we have a thousand arms and eleven heads. With shamatha style, we know that it does stand for something. We have respect for it. With vipashyana, we add all the details.

Try to cultivate an appreciation of the method. Take some time to do this. 

[Pause]

Are there any specific questions on what we have been discussing? Can you repeat in your minds in a few sentences, in general, what we have been discussing? That’s the test. 

In general this is quite clear. However, in the final stages of practice, if we have a visualization of Chenrezig with four arms, it can be quite clear, but I wonder if simply by visualizing the deity are the positive qualities transferred or how does the identification of the positive qualities work with the visualization of the form of the deity? How do we achieve the results? Is it purely by visualization or is there something else missing?

We want to achieve a body and a mind of a Buddha. To do that, we need to practice. This is one of the benefits of tantra, in that we are practicing causes for a body and mind simultaneously. A visualization without any understanding is only working on the side of the body. That has to be accompanied by the understanding of what it all represents. The understanding is working on the side of the mind. We need both to attain either of them as they support each other.

Perhaps an analogy will be helpful. Think of speech. We can say the words, but we also have to have the meaning. Having just the words is similar to only visualizing the body. Adding the meaning to the words is adding the understanding of the different parts of the body. It’s the same thing with mantra. Just saying the sound of the mantra isn’t enough, especially if we lack any understanding of voidness and dependent arising. Recitation of mantra isn’t like a sorcerer saying magic words. It’s the same thing with visualization. There is a difference between a crazy person thinking that they are Mickey Mouse and tantric practitioners visualizing themselves as Tara. “As Mickey Mouse, I am going to lead all beings to Disneyland.” How nice.

Thank you. I want to understand a bit better the use of terminology. With the term “hologram” what do you have in mind? Also, why do you prefer the term “network” over “collection”?

This is a very good question. I like the term “hologram,” because if we imagine something, it’s not physical. What we are seeing from a scientific point of view are photons; and with hearing, there are vibrations of air coming in. Nonetheless, it takes a form, and that form is mental. We could call it a mental aspect or a mental image. I prefer “hologram” because it isn’t solid. It also has the connotation that it’s like an illusion. It introduces slightly the non-concrete aspect of it. It seems to describe in some way the voidness of perception and thought. That’s the reason why I prefer the term “hologram.”

I prefer the term “network,” because it gives the flavor of dependent arising. In other words, with the term “collection,” it seems static, like a collection of stamps. Network implies that all the different aspects are interacting with each other to give rise dependently to different experience. In each moment, different pieces network with each other to give rise to something else in our experience. It’s much more active. Everything that we have ever done, beginninglessly, has left some amount of positive or negative force. Parts of that positive or negative force network together to give rise to each different moment of experience. This is also dependent upon varying external circumstances. “Collection” sounds like the marketing tool in stores of collecting points based on how much we purchase and if we have enough points we win a prize. That’s definitely not the meaning. 

Terminology and the connotation of words are very important. Even if we aren’t aware of this consciously, there is an effect. For example, that’s why I prefer the term “safe direction” to “refuge.” Safe direction is active; refuge is passive and we aren’t describing something passive as in, “Oh Buddha, save me.” Buddhism is very active. There is no savior that we just surrender to. Our future is in our own hands, as the Buddha said. That’s why we need to develop our own minds.

Let’s end with a dedication. We think whatever understanding, whatever positive force has been built up by this discussion, may it grow stronger and stronger and act as a cause for everybody to reach enlightenment. We don’t just dedicate it for ourselves but for everyone. This is Mahayana, Shantideva style. Remember, the two networks; we are dedicating the positive force and the understanding.