Brief Review
Tantra is a very advanced Mahayana practice aimed at the goal of attaining enlightenment in order to be of best benefit to everyone. There are three levels of tantra practice.
Basis Level
On the basis level, working with our Buddha-nature, we can further our development of the two networks, positive force and deep awareness, often called the collections of merit and wisdom. There is the conventional and deepest nature of the mind, and because of the fact that the mental continuum can be stimulated, these networks can also be stimulated to grow.
On the basis level, these networks give rise to our ordinary samsaric limited body, mind and experiences. This is because the networks are mixed with unawareness of reality or ignorance.
Pathway Level
On the pathway level, we want to try to generate in our meditation the body of a Buddha figure, or yidam, instead of this ordinary samsaric body. At the beginning stage we do this with our imagination, and on the advanced or so-called complete stage we are able to generate it from our subtle energy system. We generate a semblance of a body of a Buddha from our subtle energies. We practice with these bodies of Buddha-figures because they are much closer to the body that we wish to attain as a Buddha. This comes from the network of positive force.
From the network of deep awareness, we want to generate understanding of voidness or emptiness instead of the ordinary confusion. This will be either conceptual or non-conceptual, depending on how advanced we are. The conventional deepest nature of the mind, of the mental continuum, allows for this process to occur. Again, the mental continuum can be stimulated to give rise to this through the processes of initiation or empowerment and through the relation with the spiritual teacher.
Resultant Level
On the resultant level, these networks transform and give rise to the actual bodies of a Buddha, the form body and the omniscient mind of a Buddha.
These Buddha-figures are very helpful for our progress on the path. Each of the arms, legs, faces, the different figures and architectural features in the mandala palace have several levels of meaning of what they represent. They each stand for different aspects of the path, our insights and our understanding.
As mentioned, tantra is very advanced because of how can we weave together all the different insights, understanding and realizations that we develop without actually having completely attained them? Although we might receive initiations prematurely, before we are actually ready to put all the different aspects of our sutra training together, nevertheless we should at least try to put as much together as we can. We need to at least understand the theory of tantra.
This completes a brief review of what we discussed in the first session.
Buddha Bodies and Omniscient Mind
If we regard the Buddha bodies, it is explained that the attainment of the omniscient mind of a Buddha fulfills a Buddha’s own purposes and aims. What is the aim of a Buddha? It is to be able to benefit everybody. That necessitates having an omniscient mind to be able to completely know cause and effect. A Buddha knows all the factors that lead up to the present situation of each being and also the effect of anything that a Buddha might suggest to teach. A Buddha knows what to teach and how to lead others to liberation and enlightenment. Having that type of mind fulfills the Buddha’s own purposes.
To fulfill the purposes of others, to help them overcome their suffering and limitations, then a Buddha manifests in various form bodies. In tantra, we have the Nirmanakaya and Sambhogakaya, the physical body and speech.
Why Does a Buddha Manifest in These Forms?
Why would a Buddha manifest in one of these multi-arm, multi-leg and multi-face forms? A Buddha can appear in any form; why in these types of forms? Think about this and answer it for yourselves. This will help to train the mind by trying to figure things out. Analyze and think about it and put things together. This is how development and insight occur. Don’t just passively take things in.
It’s a fairly straightforward question. Why would a Buddha want to manifest in these conventionally weird forms? Why would we want to do that? Do we want to help others? We have already explained the purpose for these figures having all these arms, legs and faces. Why would we thereby manifest in one of these forms as a Buddha?
I feel identification with the form and having all the faces and arms is to be able to help so many people. For example, the thousand-armed Chenrezig has that ability. Different forms have different qualities and make the qualities present.
You are explaining it from the point of view of a Buddha. A Buddha, using the example of Chenrezig, can help everybody with one thousand arms and that’s why he would appear in that form. If we imagine these various forms with their specialties of what they represent, then it helps us to develop that by identifying with these images and qualities. This is true.
However, what I am asking, based on what I have explained, is why as a Buddha, would we manifest in these forms? A Buddha doesn’t need a thousand arms to help others. A Buddha can help others with no arms or with a million arms. How would we fulfill the purposes of others by manifesting in all these different forms? A Buddha can appear as a Nirmanakaya; a Buddha can appear as a bridge. Why these forms? Think in terms of basis, path and result.
I think it’s because it’s effective.
Okay. How is it effective?
It suits all the different people and their different ways of learning. People can go to the left or the right or in so many different ways.
Therefore, a Buddha needs to appear in many different forms to suit the dispositions of others. That’s the reason why there are so many different ones. However, in general, why would a Buddha appear in one of these forms? Do you want to become a Buddha that has four arms or six arms or twenty-four arms? Is that the whole point?
It feels a bit odd at first; however, when we have studied sutra and have all these different things, then we need some sort of form to put it together simultaneously.
This is very good; we learn all the topics in sutra and we need something to put them all together simultaneously, as we have called it, an infographic. Each part of the image represents another aspect of the Buddha’s teachings. For example, the four arms of Chenrezig represent the four immeasurables; the six arms in Guhyasamaja represent the six perfections. It’s a way to help us as sentient limited beings to generate them.
It takes what I have already gathered on the path and makes it concentrated and intensified.
Yes, it is a way of intensifying the various qualities that we’ve developed in sutra so that we can concentrate and put them all together in one mental hologram, one mental state. A Buddha wants to fulfill the purposes of others. To fulfill a Buddha’s own purposes, he or she becomes omniscient. To fulfill the purposes of others, a Buddha provides them with a path to liberation and enlightenment. We are talking about method and wisdom, which are usually referred to in discussion of the path. With wisdom, we have the omniscient mind of a Buddha who knows how to help others.
With method, we can look at it from two sides: not only from the side of a Buddha having a method to help others, but also how others will have a method to attain liberation and enlightenment. That is what Buddha is providing others by manifesting in these forms. This is why, as a Buddha, we would want to manifest in these forms. It provides a pathway for others to be able to put together all the various insights gained in sutra and that can then transform into the body of a Buddha.
As mentioned, a Buddha can appear in different forms because people have different dispositions. This form can emphasize compassion, clarity of the mind, the four immeasurables or the six perfections. Each person needs to work on all of them; however, one or another of these aspects might be more essential to our development on the path right now.
How Does Transformation into a Buddha Body Take Place?
We don’t want to continue in a limited body, generated out of ignorance that gets old, sick and dies. Also, there is the fact that we are going to need to manifest in these sorts of bodies to be able to interact with others. We want to manifest in the type of body that can become the body of a Buddha. This is driven by compassion, not by selfishness and with the understanding of voidness, not with ignorance.
Through non-samsaric methods, ultimately, as explained in tantra, the body of a Buddha is generated from the subtlest energy of the mental continuum. We want to go in that direction of accessing the subtlest energy. The first step is our imagination. The second step is the subtle energy that goes through the channels and chakras in the body. Ultimately, the subtlest level of this energy will actually transform into the body of a Buddha.
As a Buddha, we want to offer this pathway to others so that on all these different levels it will be more efficient for them to be able to achieve liberation and enlightenment more quickly. That’s why as a Buddha, we would manifest in all these seemingly weird forms.
As a practitioner, we want to use these forms not only to help us attain enlightenment, but also to manifest in all these various different forms to help others. This fulfills the purposes of ourselves and others. In order to practice tantra with any level of success, we need to overcome the obstacle of thinking that this is really weird.
Seven Gems of the Aryas
The seven gems of the aryas is a very important teaching, one that we won’t go into in detail due to time constraints. The first of these is usually translated as faith. This isn’t the most clear or helpful translation. It is the confidence that one believes that the teachings of the Buddha, based on understanding and reasoning, are correct and make sense. We need this in order to practice both sutra and tantra as well. We have to have confidence and understanding.
Regarding tantra, we have to see clearly that it is a perfectly rational system of infographics to be able to put everything together and work with a body that is much closer to the form we need to attain as a Buddha. It makes perfect sense and isn’t weird. It’s very sophisticated.
Think about this for a moment in terms of the method we have discussed. Review it and stay focused on the understanding. Do that with the focal object, for example the four-armed Chenrezig to represent tantra and understanding why a Buddha would want to manifest in this way. Understand how it fulfills the purposes of others and how practitioners can use that.
Questions and Answers
You said the Buddhas manifest and help us. Who does this? Is it the Buddhas, the highest Sangha, our own Buddha-nature? I thought the pictures were teachings; however, when you say they manifest, I am confused. Are you saying that they really manifested like that?
Remember, the conventional nature of mental activity is giving rise to mental holograms and some cognitive engagement. That’s what is going on with our mental activity, and the Buddha’s is the same. For sentient limited beings, what is arising, these mental holograms are coming from karmic potential. Karmic potential ripens into the actual physical form that we appear and manifest in, our rebirth state, and also all what we encounter and how we respond. These are the basic teachings on karma. This is in general, not introducing the complication of arhats and what occurs with them. The basic body that we have, all that we see and hear, smell and taste, all of that comes from karmic potential. This is not in the Chittamatra sense, but interacting with external circumstances as well. This is dependent arising, Madhyamaka style.
As a Buddha, the mechanism is the same in terms of the mental holograms; however, it’s not driven by karmic potentials or karmic habits. One mental hologram that can arise will be the form based on circumstances. A Buddha manifests in any sort of form that will suit the external circumstance of someone who is receptive to being helped by a Buddha. It’s driven by understanding and compassion, or method and wisdom. It isn’t driven by karma, but by what will be of benefit to others.
Buddha Activity Like Rays of the Sun
A Buddha is like the sun in the sky. This is described in the sutra text, Uttaratantra, The Furthest Everlasting Stream. This texts talks about the same thing, from the same word, tantra. There, it describes the so-called Buddha-activity as being like a sun. The sun shines without any conscious effort, and whoever is receptive enough to come into the sunlight benefits from the sun. The sun doesn’t say that it will shine only on this or that one. It just shines. A Buddha emanates these countless forms all the time.
Not all the Buddhas teach tantra. There are only certain Buddhas in the thousand of this eon that will teach tantra, and Shakyamuni was one of them. As it says in the sutra teachings, the sun by itself doesn’t cause fire. In order to produce fire, we need a magnifying glass, a filter. That’s the guru or spiritual teacher. Through the tantric master, the lineage masters and the one actually giving the empowerment, then we are introduced to these Buddha-figures. We imagine the tantric master who is giving the empowerment in the form of the yidam.
Bodhichitta
Next, in this explanation we add bodhichitta. What is bodhichitta? It is a mind focused on our own individual enlightenments. It is not Buddha Shakyamuni’s enlightenment or enlightenment in general, but it’s our own individual specific enlightenment, which has not yet happened but can happen on the basis of our Buddha-nature factors, these two networks. We can impute this not-yet-happening enlightenment on the basis of the causes. When there is enough potential built up, these two networks are strengthen to the point that they will give rise to our enlightenment. This has not yet happened, but, driven by compassion, love and the exceptional resolve, we focus on the not-yet-happened enlightenment with the intention to attain it, because of compassion to benefit everyone through this. That is bodhichitta.
Not-Yet-Happening Enlightenment
How is this not-yet-happened enlightenment represented in a physical form? It is represented by the yidam or Buddha-figure. We have the sun shining with all these Chenrezigs coming out. Then we have the magnifying glass of the guru. Through that, the Chenrezig comes to the mental continuum with initiation and empowerment. Our networks are stimulated so that they can give rise through our imaginations something representing our not-yet-happening enlightenment. Now, we can visualize ourselves as Chenrezig. Otherwise, we would have never heard of Chenrezig and if we saw a picture we thought it was a piece of art and nothing more.
It’s not that Buddha is coming down with his thousand arms and helping us. It’s not like that. It’s much more sophisticated. Think: sun, magnifying glass, mental continuum and Buddha-nature, and we can impute way down on that continuum our not-yet-happening enlightenment. It can happen but it’s not inevitable. We need to put a lot of force into this for this to become a presently-happening enlightenment. However, we can impute it on the causes now, if all the circumstances are complete.
Working with Yidams
Once again, Buddha, sunlight, rays of light in the form of Chenrezig or Tara, etc., through the magnifying glass of the guru, onto our mental continuum, and from that potential, and now we can imagine ourselves as the form of Chenrezig. In this way, the enlightening influence and activity of the Buddha help us. Now we have a method to put things together and to attain a physical body of a Buddha that can likewise help others in the same way. It is already like an illusion and not so solid. We can make a pictogram out of that in our minds or just put it together with words. It doesn’t matter how we represent it in order to focus on it.
Try to get this idea of what is happening and how these yidams work and how they function. In tantra practice, when we imagine ourselves in the form of one of these figures and, as we say the mantra, we imagine light rays going out from us like the sun, on the tips of all the rays of lights that go out are all the tiny forms of the Buddha-figure to benefit all beings. It can be done on a simple level such as giving everybody food, shelter and essentials like that. We can also benefit others imagining that we are giving teachings and wisdom to attain liberation and enlightenment. It fulfills both the worldly and the higher purposes.
Try to focus on this understanding using the image of the sun. We can visualize this in front of us, or if we have actually received an empowerment, then we visualize ourselves as the sun. We know that there is not-yet-happening enlightenment, but we imagine that it has happened. Take a moment to do this and we will continue in the next session.