Why Tantra Is a More Efficient Method

It seems like cause and effect, our actions, one leading to another. Our positive actions build up positive force and our negative actions build up the negative force.

This is good; our actions drive them. When we speak of actions, we are speaking about karma. Karma is the compulsiveness of the actions. This can be a bit confusing because the Tibetan word for karma means action. Additionally, in some Buddhist theories, it isn’t the action itself but the compulsive shape of the action. This is quite important to understand. We need to get rid of and overcome karma. If karma only meant actions, that would mean that all we need to do is stop doing anything and we would be liberated. Obviously, it can’t mean that.

Our actions need to not be driven by compulsive habits, neither negative ones nor neurotic positive ones. The neurotic positive ones can be, for example, always correcting someone’s grammar. Someone wants to be helpful but is just annoying. We need to overcome this compulsiveness and have our actions be purely motivated by compassion and wisdom. Just as there is no beginning and we have acted compulsively since beginningless time, likewise, the network of positive or negative force has no beginning. 

Also, we can look at it from the point of view of the result. What is the result of positive and negative potential? For this, we need to look at the aggregates. We’ve always had the aggregates in each moment of the mental continuum. We have the aggregate of feelings, for example. We feel happy or unhappy based on negative or positive potential. Those are the two forms of suffering, suffering of suffering and suffering of change. We have a network of deep awareness because that is how the mind works; therefore, we have the aggregate of consciousness and so on. With this we have always had some level of understanding. Even a worm understands that something is food.

The sutra path is identified as the causal path and tantra as the resultant path. Sutra is the causal vehicle. With either, we need a body and mind. As karma works, the type of rebirth body results from positive or negative karma. We build up more positive or negative karma through the actions of the body. There is also the speech and mind but here we are focusing on the body. As said, we need to build up the causes for the body and mind of a Buddha together. Therefore, in sutra, we build up the positive force by constructive actions taken with our ordinary body. Each of the positive things that we do results in a different aspect of a Buddha’s body. We have the 32 major and the 80 minor marks of a Buddha’s physical body. 

The body of a Buddha with these 112 characteristics is also actually an infographic. Each of these marks or characteristics represents the cause. For instance, the Buddha has a long tongue and that signifies that as a bodhisattva the Buddha cares for others with as much loving care as a mother animal licking her young. The long tongue represents that type of cause. 

In sutra, when we practice to attain the body of a Buddha, the causes are a little bit remote from what the effect actually is. That is why it’s called the causal vehicle, in terms of the causes for the body of a Buddha.

In tantra, it is the resultant vehicle because although we are still doing positive things, we’re doing that while visualizing ourselves in the form a yidam, one of these Buddha-figures. This is more similar to one the bodies of a Buddha.

Building Up the Mind of a Buddha

For building up the mind of a Buddha, in general, we need to focus on the four noble truths, and more specifically on the voidness of these, the person experiencing the four noble truths, and the voidness of the mental continuum on which these truths occur. It’s on our mental continuums that we have true suffering, the true causes of suffering, the true stoppings and the true path – the discriminating awareness that will bring about the true stoppings. These are all our own mental continuum. The “me” is imputed on and is experiencing these truths. Therefore, we need to understand the voidness of the mind, the content, true suffering, true causes and the voidness of the person, “me,” on which these are all imputed. This is what we are always meditating on. That is the context.

We aren’t, however, just meditating on the voidness of the table. We want to build up the causes of the mind and body of a Buddha simultaneously to be closer to the result. In sutra we can’t really do that. When we are acting in a positive way, building up that network of positive force, it’s crucial that it’s done with the motivation of bodhichitta and the dedication toward enlightenment to benefit everyone. Otherwise, whatever positive things that we do just build up positive potential to improve samsara. We don’t want to just improve samsara; we want to attain enlightenment. Therefore, bodhichitta is absolutely essential. 

In sutra, when we are focusing on voidness, we aren’t focusing on bodhichitta. We are focusing on our not-yet-attained enlightenment. Meditation on voidness is focused on voidness held by the force of bodhichitta. However, we don’t have the two simultaneously manifest in one moment of consciousness.

In tantra, the way that it is usually stated, the mind that is focused on voidness appears as the yidam, or a Buddha-figure. What does that mean? First of all, we can’t have the mental activity to focus on voidness by itself. There has to be some sort of physical basis, a body. The mind that is focusing on voidness has as its basis a body in the form of a Buddha-figure. It’s not that it is appearing at the same time but it has as its basis a body that is a Buddha-figure.

In sutra, when we are focusing on voidness, the body that is the basis for it is our ordinary form. However, our ordinary form is not what will transform into the body of a Buddha. It’s different from having the basis, the body that is focusing on voidness be the body of a Buddha-figure, even though while focusing on voidness that body doesn’t appear. When we are focused non-conceptually on voidness, only the total absensce of self-established existence appears. There’s no ordinary appearance. In the Mahayana tenet systems, a total absence is what appears. 

This is why we speak of tantra as a resultant vehicle. We have a body similar to the result; we build up causes for a body and mind simultaneously, similar to the result. That’s the main reason why we call it causal or resultant vehicles. This is the most general reason why tantra is speedier.

Working with a Buddha-Figure 

There are many advantages to working with these Buddha-figures. When we focus on voidness, the absence of self-established existence, we can focus on the voidness of our ordinary bodies. This is always how we have to start. Then, with that understanding of voidness, then we appear as a Buddha-figure. Remember, we focus on voidness and only total absence appears. That’s voidness; basically nothing appears. This is with the understanding that “nothing” is not nothing. What does nothing look like? This is a question for everyone. It’s not just the absence of any phenomena. There is also the absence of the appearance of the false way a phenomenon exists. There are two aspects: what something appears to be and how it actually exists. 

For example, you appear to be a human being. What establishes that you are a human being? Let’s choose a much easier example. Take a series of photographs from when we were infants until now. What establishes them to be what they are? We can look at them and say that they are all pictures of “me.” Is there something on the side of the photographs that establishes that it is “me”? They all look completely different. Is it somebody else? No, it’s “me.” 

We have the concept or name “me,” and we can establish that it’s “me” merely in terms of what the concept and word “me” refer to on the basis of all the photos. There is nothing on the side of the photographs. It’s the correct labeling of “me.” It’s not somebody else. However, looking at them, there’s nothing on the side of the basis that establishes that they are “me.” For example, it’s not in the shape of the nose because it and all the body has grown. Still, it appears to be “me,” but there is a total absence of it being self-established from its own side by itself. Voidness is the absence of some impossible way of establishing what it is and that it exists as “me.” 

There are all sorts of impossible ways that we can imagine it. All we’re focusing on with voidness is that none of them correspond to reality. There is the absence of anything that corresponds to that manner of establishing that something exists and an absence of anything that corresponds to what we imagine, what the mind makes appear. For example, it seems as though there is something there that makes it “me.” However, we can’t find it. In our example, in the photos, it’s doubly strange, because they’re just colored shapes on paper. 

The point of all this is when we focus on voidness, it’s a total absence. There is nothing corresponding to what we imagine exists, as “me” experiencing the four noble truths. 

Explicit and Implicit Apprehension

“To apprehend” is defined as cognizing something both correctly and decisively. We can have explicit apprehension, in which something appears, and implicit, when it doesn’t appear. For example, when I look at my hand, explicitly it appears as a hand. Implicitly, I know it’s not a foot; a foot doesn’t appear and I know it’s not my foot. It’s my hand. 

Voidness appears, but there’s nothing implicitly apprehended. The basis doesn’t appear. In sutra, we focus on our body, for example. Now, we focus on the total absence of any way of establishing that it is a body. What makes it a body? Is it all the cells, all the liquid and blood and so on? There’s a concept and a word “body,” and it refers to something. Nonetheless, there isn’t anything on the side of all this stuff that makes it a body. There’s no little label inside saying “body.” Where is that? Still, we have the concept of a body and we have a word for it. 

As a subsequent attainment, implicitly we know voidness. The body appears like an illusion and implicitly we know that it doesn’t exist the way that it appears. It appears to be established, like all the photographs appear to be of “me,” but implicitly we know that it doesn’t correspond to reality. It appears as though there is something inside that we can recognize as “me.” We can distinguish it correctly as “me.” However, it is not as though there is something from its own side making that true. It is a correct labeling in that if we asked a correct source, in this case, our mother, she would confirm that was what we looked like as a baby and so on. However, it’s not like on the back of the photo there is a name; maybe there is, but certainly not on our actual body. Thus, implicitly we know voidness.

The Advantages of Having a Buddha-Figure as the Basis

In sutra, we focus on our ordinary body and the voidness of the body. The body appears like an illusion and we understand illusion-like voidness. In addition, we implicitly understand the voidness of it. Then, after that, in tantra, instead of the focus on the ordinary body, the basis is the Buddha-figure. When we focus on illusion-like voidness, it is as this Buddha-figure; we understand the voidness of that. In tantra, we are always focusing on the voidness back and forth of the Buddha-figure. There are many advantages to that.  

In any tantra sadhana, we start first with inspiration from the spiritual teachers and then the voidness of our ordinary form. This is often translated as “out of voidness,” but it isn’t some box “voidness” that it pops out of. It means “within that understanding or taste of voidness,” the actual Sanskrit word, out of the context of voidness we appear as a Buddha-figure. There are many ways that this can happen, and we don’t need to go into the details. Then, we appear as the Buddha-figure and that is illusion-like voidness. Implicitly we understand voidness and later on, we will focus on the voidness of that explicitly. Appearing as the Buddha-figure, with the understanding of that Buddha-figure, has these many advantages as compared to the voidness of our ordinary form with that understanding of voidness. 

When we understand the voidness of a basis implicitly, a Buddha-figure doesn’t change in the sense that it doesn’t grow old organically, doesn’t get hungry, doesn’t have an itch, and its legs don’t hurt and so on. If we’re focusing on the voidness of the body, our body is changing all the time so the basis is not stable. It’s much more conducive for getting single-minded concentration when focusing on an object that doesn’t change. On the other hand, every day when we focus on our body, it feels differently. This is one advantage of focusing on ourselves as a Buddha-figure.

Also, we usually have quite disturbing associations with our ordinary bodies. We might think, “I’m too fat, too skinny, not pretty, too ugly, too old, or my nose it too big,” and all these types of things that we might be self-conscious or uncomfortable about. There are no negative associations with the Buddha-figures. That is another advantage. Underlying our understanding isn’t some uncomfortable feeling about our body.

In addition, it is more obvious that the Buddha-figure is like an illusion because we are imagining and visualizing it. In this way, it is easier to understand illusion-like. With the ordinary body, it seems concrete. To repeat, these are advantages of working with the Buddha-figure and how on this resultant vehicle it becomes speedier and more efficient. 

Let’s spend a few minutes to strengthen our understanding of this. Think of some Buddha-figure, whether Chenrezig, Tara or whatever with the understanding that working this way is much more efficient than just thinking in terms of our ordinary bodies. In addition, the Buddha-figure is an infographics, with every part representing something else. This makes it even more effective. 

It feels much safer and more stable to imagine myself as one of these Buddha-figures.

Yes, that’s it exactly. It does make us feel safer and more stable. It has many benefits. If we identify a solid “me” with the Buddha-figure then we are crazy. We might think we’re Tara and run around the streets taking our clothes off, thinking that we are Tara. There were people like that in Dharamsala. We aren’t talking about schizophrenia. That’s why the understanding of voidness is so crucial. It would be like a disturbed person thinking that they are Jesus Christ, Napoleon or Cleopatra. 

Imputation of the Self

The self can be imputed on our ordinary body validly now. It’s me and it isn’t you. It can also be imputed on that not-yet-happening enlightenment. We can validly impute the “me” on this body or the body of a Buddha-figure; however, it’s like an illusion. It appears to be self-established but it’s not. “Me,” as a Buddha-figure is just another picture, way at the end of the line of photographs as long as we understand the not-yet-happening. Using our example of the photographs, they’re not happening now just like the photograph of the baby is no-longer-happening. 

It’s very important to understand voidness and how these Buddha-figures provide us with many benefits. It isn’t weird. Whenever I would use that word with my teacher, he would always correct me and say that it was different, not weird. It’s something else. “Weird” is a judgment.