Description
Give a brief synopsis of the film’s content, noting main points.
After your brief summary, highlight any content that stood out to you as significant. Were any sections particularly complementary to class readings, lectures, etc? Did any content contradict class readings, lectures, etc?
Did any content challenge your preconceived notions of Buddhism?
Were there any particularly fascinating points in the film, and why did those points interest you?
*Each submission must be at least 300 words (approx. 1 page). Be sure always to make connections to our readings and lectures, and cite your sources, author and/or title and page number — Example: (Powers, p. 83).
Some key names/terms in the film:
Mani Rimdu – (“the practice of mani pills”), a 19-day sequence of Vajrayāna (Tantric) Buddhist ceremonies in Nepal, culminating in a 3-day public festival and sacred dance, usually held between October and November
Sherpas – Buddhist mountain dwellers who live on the slopes of Mount Everest
Trulshik Rinpoché – head lama (priest) of the ceremony
“Lord of the Dance” / Chenrezik – Tibetan name for Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of compassion
Chiwong Monastery – site of the Mani Rimdu festival
Tupten Choling Monastery – Nepal’s largest Buddhist monastery, home of Trulshik Rinpoché
Lang Darma – 9th-century anti-Buddhist tyrant of Tibet, assassinated by a Buddhist monk named Pelkyi Dorjé
Padmasambhava – semi-legendary Tantric master venerated in Tibetan Buddhism as the “Second Buddha”
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SONGS OF THE SIDDHAS
53
SONGS OF THE SIDDHAS
The last centuries of Buddhism in India (roughly the ninth to
twelfth centuries) saw the rise of figures called siddhas, a term
which might be translated as ‘accomplished ones’ or ‘adepts’.
Their name derived from their possession of magical powers
(siddhi). The lists of such powers varied, but typically included
such things as the ability to extend one’s lifespan, to find buried
treasure, to fly, to become invisible and to transmute base metals
into gold. These would sometimes be classed as mundane
powers, in contradistinction to the supramundane power,
buddhahood. They gained these powers through the performance of tantric rites, sometimes performed in cemeteries and
other powerful places of pollution. These rites often entailed
the eating of flesh, the drinking of liquor, and engaging in sexual
acts with low-caste women – all considered contaminating deeds
in traditional Indian society. Those who are said to have attained
these powers came from all strata of Indian society, including
the priestly, princely and merchant castes, but also, and most
famously, from outcaste groups such as weavers, fishermen, ,
hunters, sweepers and even tribal peoples. The social class of
the siddhas and the deeds they performed suggested, among
other things, their disregard for and even transcendence of
worldly (and monastic) conventions of propriety and morality.
This was the source of their authority, and their powers attracted
the patronage of kings and princes. Stories of their lives circulated widely and there developed standard lists of siddhas (some
of whom were certainly historical figures), the most famous of
which enumerated eighty-four such masters.
Numerous works attributed to the siddhas have been pre-
479
served. Some are commentaries on tantric rituals, others are
songs. They are often written in the first person, and in a
language other than the perfected language of Sanskrit – in
vernaculars like Old Bengali and Apabhran:zsa (as in the selections here). They were also often written in what has been called
‘coded language’ (sandhyabha~a), in which certain ordinary
terms were regarded as having esoteric meanings. Thus, a river
might connote the central energy channel that passes from the
crown of the head to the base of the spine. Like all codes,
however, some are easier to interpret than others, and traditional exegetes have sometimes used the notion of coded
language to discover scholastic doctrines in the most outrageous
statements, raising the perennial question ofauthorial intention.
Selections from two famous siddhas appear here, drawn from
texts called the Dohako~a or ‘Treasury of Songs’ and Caryagiti,
the ‘Songs of Practice’. The first is attributed to the siddha (and
monk) Kiit;ha who, according to one account, died in a violent
match of magic with a young girl; he dropped his guard when
onlookers protested that Buddhist yogins should not kill others
with their spells. More than sixty works are ascribed to him.
The other siddha is the famous Sarah a, a monk who is said to
have been expelled from the monastery for drinking alcohol.
He took a young woman of the arrow-making caste as his
consort and learned to make arrows himself; he is commonly
depicted holding an arrow. He is the author of some two dozen
works preserved in the Tibetan canon, the most famous ofwhich
are his songs (doha) delivered to a king and queen and to their
people.
Although the songs selected below are, compared to others
of the genre, relatively straightforward, they require far more
commentary than can be provided here. They make mention of
many of the most important themes of the genre. These include
the recognition of the natural purity of the mind; the description
of the ultimate reality as innate (sahaja); the goal of achieving
great bliss (mahasukha); and the importance of the sexual partner in the path to that goal. Other songs employ coded language,
referring to yogic practices in the vocabulary of the boat and
of the chessboard. But much here is also apparently familiar,
BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES
proclaiming, as in the ancient ‘Rhinoceros Horn Sutta’ (see
Chapter 28), that all fetters are made by the mind. Here, KatJha
compares the mind to a camel. When it is bound, it runs in all
directions. When it is free, it is still.
From Kal)ha’s Dohako~a
If the word of the master enters the heart, it will appear
like a treasure in the palm of one’s hand. Saraha says, ‘The
world is shackled by falsehood. The fool does not look into
his own nature.’
Without meditation, without going forth from the householder’s life, one may live in one’s own home in the company of one’s wife. ‘If one is not released while enjoying
the pleasures of sense,’ Saraha says, ‘what shall you call
perfect knowledge?’
If it can be perceived directly, what is the use of meditation?
If it is hidden, one will only fathom a dark abyss. Saraha
cries out repeatedly, ‘The nature of the innate (sahaja) is
neither existence nor non-existence.’
That through which one dies, is reborn, and moves from
one life to another, through that indeed one attains the
supreme great bliss. Although Saraha speaks these profound and mysterious words, this feral world seems to lack
all understanding.
What is the use of meditating on that which exists apart
from meditation? What is the use of explaining that about
which one cannot speak? The whole world is shackled by
the forms of existence, so that no one can penetrate his
own nature.
Not only the mantra or the tantra, meditation or concentrated states of mind, rather all of these, 0 fool, lead you
astray. Do not sully with meditation a mind that is already
SONGS OF THE SIDDHAS
pure. In a condition in which you are already happy, do
not cause yourself so much torment.
Eating, drinking, enjoying pleasures, bringing offerings
again and again to the wheel of the mandala – with the
practice of these dharmas one reaches th~·world beyond.
The world of becoming is crushed under the feet of the
master!
Where neither mind nor wind roam, where neither sun nor
moon enter, there, 0 fool, bring your mind to rest. This is
the teaching imparted by Saraha.
Make it be one, do not make it two. Make no distinctions
between the vehicles. Paint all of the threefold world with
the single colour of great pleasure.
In it there is no beginning, no middle, no end; no process
of becoming and no nirvatJa; in this supreme great bliss
there is no self or other.
In front, behind, in the ten directions, everything you see is
reality. If you become free from error today, ask nothing
more from others.
There where the sense faculties dissolve, where the innate
self nature is shattered, there, my friend, is the body of the
innate. Ask clearly of your venerable teacher.
Where mind dies, where breath stops, there you will find
the supreme great bliss. It is not found elsewhere, says
Saraha.
One does not know anything but himself. Oh! Make no
mistake about this. Existence and not existence are the
bonds and the good path as well. 0 yogin, know your own
mind exactly as it is; it is like water mixed with water.
BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES
Oh! Why search in vain liberation through meditation?
Why do you take on the net of illusion? Believe in the truth
of the instruction of the best among the masters. This is the
teaching imparted by Saraha.
SONGS OF THE SIDDHAS
If the mind is shackled, one is also shackled. When it is free,
one is also free. There is no doubt about this: that which
shackles the ignorant liberates the wise immediately.
Look at the sky and at first it seems clear, but the more you
look at it the more your sight becomes blurred. In the same
way effort is useless, the fool does not realize that the
problem is in his own mind.
When bound it runs in all directions, but released it stays
still. Consider the camel, my friend, to see the same
paradox.
The flaw of pride does not allow you to see reality. This is
why, like a demon, you vilify all the vehicles. Everyone is
led astray by meditation. No one looks into his true nature.
Sarah a
Caryagiti 22
One cannot see the ground of mind. In the innate, all three
are false. My son, dwell where this arises and ceases.
People of the world on their own again and again construct
existence and nirvar;a, creating non-existing shackles for
themselves.
The one who meditates on this groundless reality, will
attain it through the instructions of his master. Saraha says:
‘You must see that the variegated forms in the circle of
existence are a form of mind.’
Words cannot grasp its true nature. It cannot be discerned
by the eye, except with the aid of the master. It does not
have an atom of impurity, both dharma and what is not
dharma are made pure and enjoyed.
When one has purified his mind, the master’s good qualities
enter the heart. Saraha has known all this in his mind, and
sings paying no attention to tantra or mantra.
One is shackled by karma. When one is free from karma,
the mind is free. And he whose mind is free surely gains the
supreme nirvar;a.
Mind is the seed of everything, from which sprouts both
existence and nirvar;a. Pay obeisance to it, for, like the
wish-fulfilling gem, it gives you the fruit that you desire.
We cannot understand the inconceivable: how birth, death
and existence come about.
As birth is, so is death; between the living and the dead
there is no difference.
If one is afraid of birth and death, then one should base his
hope on the elixirs of immortality.
Those who wander on this earth inhabited by moving and
unmoving creatures, and those who wander in the heavens
will not be free in any way from old age and death.
Does karma arise from birth? Or is it birth that arises from
karma? Saraha says: ‘This dharma is beyond understanding.’
BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES
SONGS OF THE SIDDHAS
Caryagiti 3 8
From KiitJha’s Dohako~a
The body is the boat, mind is the oar. Hold steady the
rudder that is your good teacher’s instruction.
The whole world is intertwined with body, speech and
mind; it is pervaded from afar. The secret is that the great
bliss and nirvatJa are one and the same thing.
Hold your mind motionless, while steadily steering the ship,
0 boatman. There is no other way to reach the other shore.
The boatman tows the boat with a rope. Leave it behind.
Otherwise you cannot approach the innate.
This is a dangerous crossing: powerful pirates await. We
are flooded by the waves of existence.
There is one that sails against the swift current by following
the shore. Saraha says: ‘He has reached the heavens.’
Caryagiti 3 9
Even in dreams, 0 my mind, you delight in ignorance by
some inherent flaw of yours. As the master’s words blossom, how can you remain in this state?
How wonderful! The heavens arise from hiif!Z! You have
taken a wife in Bengal, and consciousness has gone to the
other shore.
Oh, the illusion of existence is marvellous! It appears as
both self and other. Indeed, the world, like a reflection on
water, is an inherently empty self.
Although you have ambrosia, you swallow poison. 0 mind,
you are a self at the mercy of others. At home or across the
sea, oh, what have you understood? I shall devour the evil
ones.
Saraha says: ‘It is better to have an empty stable than a bad
ox. Oh, alone after I have destroyed the world, I will roam
freely.’
One should not chant mantras nor carry out the rituals of
the tantras when one takes one’s own wife and makes love.
Waiting for the wife to enter the house, how much can one
enjoy the five colours?
Chanting and making fire offerings, carrying out the
matJqala consecration, in which practice do you dwell day
after day? Without your constant love, 0 young maiden,
how will he attain awakening in his own body?
For one who awakens and understands that which is innate
in this very instant, what good will the Vedas and the
Puraqas do? He has broken open the whole expanse of the
world of the senses.
He makes the jewel of the mind immobile when he takes
his own wife. Indeed he is the master Vajradhara. This I
have said is the ultimate goal.
Just like salt dissolves in water, in the same way dissolves
the mind of him who takes his own wife. Each instant has
the same taste, if he is always with her.
From KaQ.ha’s Caryiis
Caryagiti 7
The path is blocked by vowels and consonants. Seeing this
Kaqha feels dejected.
Where shall Kaqha go to dwell? The field where the mind
walked is now indifference.
BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES
‘They are three. They are three and they are not different,’
says Kar.iha, for whom existence has been cut off at the
root.
The very same that came, are now gone. Kar.iha feels
dejected with this coming and going.
0 Kar.iha, you must see that the city of the conquerors is
near. Kar.iha says, ‘It has not entered my heart.’
Caryagiti 9
Shattered are the solid pillars of the word evairz [thus]. Cut
off are the many bonds.
Kar.iha frolics, drunk with wine. He has entered the lotus
bed of the innate, he is at peace.
As when a bull elephant lusts for the female elephant, the
elephant of the mind in rut pursues suchness.
Beings in the six destinies of rebirth are all inherently pure.
In being and non-being not even a single hair is disturbed.
Stealing the jewel of the lord of the ten powers, tame the
elephant of knowledge. You will meet no hindrance in the
ten directions.
Caryagiti I 2
On the board of compassion play chess with the pawns of
existence. With the words of the true master the pawns are
defeated.
With a double move you crush the king. Moving towards
the castle, 0 Kar.iha, the city of the conquerors is near.
First, the pawns are destroyed. Then, defeated by the elephant, five pieces are thrown away.
SONGS OF THE SIDDHAS
The minister keeps the king in check; rendered powerless,
the pawns of existence are overcome.
Kar.iha says: ‘I have the upper hand. I have moved through
all sixty-four squares, and have gained possession of the
board.’
Caryagiti I 3
He takes the three refuges as a ship with eight compartments. His own body is compassion, emptiness his consort.
He crosses the ocean of existence, like a magical apparition
or a dream. In the middle of an ocean current he perceives
no waves.
He takes the five tathagatas as his oars. Kar.iha raises the
body from a net of magical apparitions.
Smell, touch, taste are just the way they are, like a dream
without sleep.
In the stern of emptiness, mind is the helmsman, with him
at his side, Kar.iha has gone to great bliss.
Translated by Luis 0. Gomez, from the apabhrairzsa text edn.,
in M. Shahidullah, Les chants mystiques de Kii1Jha et de Saraha
(Paris: Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1928), pp. 87-8, 111-16, 131-9,
229-32.
Buddhist Scriptures
Edited by DONALD S. LOPEZ, JR.
PENGUIN BOOKS
TANTRA ON
PURIFICATION OF NEGATIVE
PLACES OF REBIRTH
I 14 7
PRONOUNCING GLOSSARY
BUDDHIST TANTRA
RITUALS FOR A BETTER REBIRTH
TANTRA ON THE COMPLETE PURIFICATION
OF ALL NEGATIVE PLACES OF REBIRTH
(The Sarvadurgatiparishodhana Tantra)
Buddhist tantra, which began in India in the sixth or seventh century C.E., resists
description for a number of reasons. Scholars are unsure of its precise origins,
although it shares much with certain Hindu traditions of the same period. What
qualifies as “tantric” is also difficult to specify. In the popular imagination, its defining feature is sexual yoga. But this largely misunderstood practice, although present
in a number of important tantric texts, is hardly universal. Scholars have pointed to
various common elements, such as mandalas, mantras, and mudras (hand gestures),
but none of these in and of itself seems able to make a text or practice tantric. Even
the meaning of the word tantra remains somewhat elusive. Its usual sense, something
like “handbook,” offers little insight into its use as the name for a hugely influential
constituent of Buddhist practice in India, Nepal, Tibet, and East Asia.
Traditional Buddhist exegetes have argued at length about what distinguishes the
esoteric, or tantric, path from the exoteric, or sutra, path. There was general consensus, at least among the advocates of tantra, that the tantric path bestowed buddhahood more quickly. However, the reading of almost any of the famous tantras
reveals goals far more quotidian than buddhahood, as the tantra provides a handbook for their achievement. Indeed, the means for achieving those goals came to be
sorted into four categories: “pacifying activities” (rituals for purifying negativity
that appears in such forms as obstacles and illness), “activities of increase” (rituals
for increasing prosperity, lengthening life, etc.), “activities of control” (rituals for
subjugating the unruly or unwilling), and “violent activities” (rituals for killing both
individuals and enemy armies). Nowhere in this schema is enlightenment mentioned.
One work that sets forth such rituals is the Tantra on the Complete Purification of
All Negative Places of Rebirth (Sarvadurgatiparishodhana Tantra). Its earliest translation into Tibetan at the end of the eighth century of the Common Era provides the
latest date for the period of its original composition in India. At the beginning of the
text, Shakra (another name for Indra), the king of the gods, asks the Buddha about the
fate of a deity named Vimalamaniprabha who no longer resides in the Heaven of
the Thirty-three atop Mount Meru. The Buddha explains that he has been reborn
in the most torturous of the eight hot hells. Alarmed at this news, the gods ask the
Buddha how they can avoid rebirth in the three negative places of rebirth (in Sanskrit
durgati-literally, “bad migrations”): the realms of animals, ghosts, and denizens of
hell. In the remainder of the text, the Buddha sets forth a variety of rituals pertaining
to the four kinds of activities as well as the dead; examples are included in the selection from the tantra here. The text was widely commented on in Tibet, where it was a
major source of rituals for the fortunate rebirth of the dead.
Abhayamdada: a-ba-yam-da-da
paryanka: par-yan-ka
Akashagarbha: ah-kah-sha-gar-ba
Ratnadhara: rat-na-da-ra
Amkusha: am-ku-sha
sadhana: sah-da-na
Apar’.mitayuhpunyajnanasambharatejosamayamudra: sa-ma-ya-mu-drah
raJa: a-pa-ri-mih-tah-yu-pun-ya-jnyahSarvadurgatiparishodhana Tantra: sarna-sam-bah-ra-te-joh-rah-ja
va-dur-ga-tee-pa-ri-sho-da-na tan-tra
Avalokiteshvara: a-va-loh-ki-tay-shva-ra
Svaha: svah-hah
Bhrum: broom
Tathagata: ta-tah-ga-ta
Bodhisattva: boh-dih-sat-tva
Tr~ilokyavijayin:
trai-loh-kya-vi-ja-yin
Chakravartin: cha-kra-var-tin
VaJradhara: vaj-ra-da-ra
Devaputra: day-va-pu-tra
Vajrapadma: vaj-ra-pad-ma
Hrih: hree
Vajrapani: vaj-ra-pah-nih
Hrim: hreem
Vajraratna: vaj-ra-rat-na
Jambudvipa: jam-bu-dvi-pa
Vajrasattva
Samantabhadra: vaj-ra-satKalparaja: kal-pa-rah-ja
tva sa-man-ta-ba-dra
Karmavishva: kar-ma-vish-va
Vajravajra: vaj-ra-va-jra
mantrin: man-trihn
Vidya: vi-dyah
Mrityu: mriht-yu
Vishvadhara: vi-shva-da-ra
Padmadhara: pad-ma-da-ra
Mandala of the King of Long Life
The Lord Vajrapani1 once more looked at th . l f h’
The mandala2 of the assembly w·
de Circ eho is assembly and smiled.
·
d
.
as move muc moved
ammated, enthused much enthused
. ‘
‘ ammate ‘ much
very frolicsome Ma~y wonders d ‘ overJolyed, much overjoyed, frolicsome,
·
an marve s were see · th
Id
and others, the assembly of gods overwh 1 d . n m e wor . Brahma
themselves before the Lord and’ said· ‘O eL::d w~h a~azement, prostrated
smiling? The Lord Buddhas or B
w at is the reason for your
Let the Lord explain the reason fo~ h::::~:n not smile without reason.
The Lord Vajrapani list
d t h
d
g. ·
‘O gods, Brahma and th ene 1· o t e go s askmg for instruction and said:
dh.
d
?
:n
the previous Buddhas concernin~ rt~:’ f~~~~l:o :ti~~w;s,;xplai:~ by
power of the formula-mantra destroying untime~~ ~%~h’ rityu, the mighty
The Great Gods, Brahma and others, prostrated the~ 1
t~~; ‘~~:aJ.a~o~~~~~~6°~!~~’ t~~~
tingl~d
the~e r:::t~~f~~= :~~
hair
and
formula having the might
‘ g lo~d 0 Va1radhara, please explain the
shore, and by means of w~i~~~~r ~n. t e ~reat force leading to the other
those eclipsed by inauspicious M~t;:1:;ebf:~n~ fof short ~ife gain longevity,
e rom untimely death, those
who are born in misfortune are led
and those living beings who are ove::~yl fromd t~e path of all evil destinies,
e me with the fear of samsara turn
TRANSLATED FROM the Sanskrit and Tibetan by Tadeusz Skorupski.
~a·!TlehdeVb~dhdhisattva
who embodies power; also
a3ra ara.
th
2. Literally’ ‘”
I ” h
c1rc e ; t e consecrated space for
3. Literally, “Death.”
f
e per ormance of a tantric ritual
·
TANTRA ON PURIFICATION OF NEGATIVE PLACES OF REBIRTH
1148
I
1149
RITUALS FOR A BETTER REBIRTH
away from it, by using good methods and quickly understand the supreme
and perfect Enlightenment’.
.
The Lord Vajrapani, having listened to the beseechmg request of.Brahm.a
and the others, emitted from the Vajra of his Body, Speech, and Mrnd, this
4
spell-formula of all the Tathagatas :
OM MERIT MERIT, GREAT MERIT, MERIT OF UNLIMITED
LIFE. ACCUMULATION OF MASSES OF KNOWLEDGE
SVAHA. 5 This is the spell-formula.
OM HRIH SVAHA. This is the subordinate spell-formula.
OM BHRUM SVAHA. This is the subordinate spell-formula of the
spell.
.
.
OM KRUM SVAHA. This is the spell-1mpellrng formula.
OM TRAM SVAHA. This is the predominant spell (formula).
OM HAM SVAHA. This is the secret formula.
This is their mandala.
One designs the mandala with four spokes. In the centre ~ne :hould p~ace
the Tathagata called Aparimitayuhpunyajnanasambharate3ora3a (Glor10~s
King, the Bestower of Unlimited Life, Merit and Knowledge): The spell is
the syllable BHRUM. In front of him is Vajrapani. The spell is the s~llab~e
HRIH. To the left is Krodha. 6 The spell is the syllable KRUM. To the nght i.s
Akashagarbha.7 The spell is the syllable TRAM. Behind him is Noble Avalokiteshvaras known as Abhayamdada (The One Bestowing Fearlessness). The
spell is the syllable HAM.
The Vidyas9 are to be depicted in this brilliant Tathagata mandala. One
should place there a set of five or a set of eight vases blessed with the mantra
of Chakravartin 1 incense and the rest, and other items of worship blessed
with the wrathful mantra for all the rites, as well as the guardians in all
the gates.
The mantrin2 enters himself and summons the Most Blessed One surrounded by the host of his sons and attendants, and together with his Vidya.
The Vidya is to be depicted on the left side of the Blessed One.
.
3
He consecrates himself, sits in the paryanka posture and makes the recitation one hundred thousand times. In front of him he sees either the Tathagata or Vajrapani or Avalokiteshvara. He receives the boon according to his
wish. When he is well concentrating then he is able to perform every act by
application of his mind.
.
He should introduce his pupils by means of Vajradhara’s gesture. Generatmg
self-confidence he says: OM VA]RADHARA, RATNADHARA, PADMADHARA, VISHVADHARA, BY ADHERENCE TO THE TATHAGATA’S
PLEDGE I HOLD THE TATHAGATA PLEDGE. He should have them throw
flowers: OM ALL THE TATHAGATAS RECEIVE HOH, YOU ARE THE
PLEDGE. Putting the garlands on their heads he should give the consecration.
4. That is, buddhas; Tathagata (literally, “one who
has thus come/gone”) is the title of a budda most
often used by the historical Buddha to refer to
himself. “Vajra”: a kind of mythical thunderbolt,
a weapon capable of cutting through anything.
5. An interjection indicating the end of a man·
tra; om marks the beginning.
6. Literally, ((Anger.”
7. One of the eight great bodhisattvas.
8. The bodhisattva who embodies the compas·
sion of all the buddhas.
9. Consorts.
I. A wheel-turning monarch.
2. A person who recites mantras.
3. Lotus posture.
OM ALL THE TATHAGATAS CONSECRATE, VA]RADHARA
COMMAND HUM BHRUM
OM, VA]RAVA]RA CONSECRATE HUM HUM
OM, VA]RARATNA CONSECRATE HUM TRAM
OM VA]RAPADMA CONSECRATE HUM HRIM
OM KARMAVISHVA CONSECRATE AH HUM KAM
Then he should bestow the pledge, and the precept-consecration. The
pledge is this:
He will not abandon the Three Jewels, 4 the Thought of Enlightenment and his good teacher. He will not kill living beings, and he will
not take what has not been given. He will not say untrue things nor
approach another man’s wife. He will not despise his teacher nor
cross his shadow. He will not adhere to those who are not true teachers nor will he pronounce the name of his vajra-teacher. He will not
despise the mantras, the mudras, nor the divinities ever. If he despises
them he will certainly die of diseases. He will not tread with his
feet upon the remainders of the offerings, the shadows of the divinities, the mudras and the signs of the syllables, whether they are of
this world or of the world above.
The wise one should zealously slay those who are subverted in the
teaching of Buddha, harmful to the Three Jewels and the rest, and
intent on abusing the teacher. Out of compassion the mantrin by
means of the mantra should destroy those who hate the pledge, who
do not possess the Dharma, who are attached to sin, who always do
harm to living beings. Taking the wealth of the avaricious ones he
should give it to those who live in destitution. For the purpose of
hon?uring his teacher, likewise for accomplishing the pledge, for
use rn the mandala, for the benefit of those belonging to the pledge
and for worshipping the sons of the Buddhas, if he thinks it to be
just then he should take the wealth of the avaricious ones. The one
who delights in acting for the benefit of living beings is permitted
to speak deceitfully in order to protect those of the pledge, his teacher’s possessions and the life of living beings. The one who knows the
mantras may resort to someone else’s woman for the sake of his
sadhana, 5 for delighting the Buddhas and for protecting the pledge.
Abiding in the place of Vajrasattva, 6 whether one does everything,
whether one enjoys everything, one is successful without being in
fault; so how much the more if one is imbued with compassion.
Then he gives the precept-consecration: OM I GIVE YOU THE PRECEPT
OF ALL THE TATHAGATAS, ACCEPT IT FOR THE VAJRA-SUCCESS.
OM VA]RA ABIDE HUM. Handing him the vajra he should give the karma
consecration: OM PERFORM ALL THE ACTS OF THE BUDDHAS HUM.
In order to honour the teacher, the pupil should offer his own precious
hody, belongings, wealth and grain, horses and chariots best servants and
cities, his kingdom and sovereignty, sons, daughters, ~ife, mother, sister
4. The Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha (the
Buddhist community).
5. Tantric practice.
6. A tantric buddha.
1150
I
TANTRA ON PURIFICATION OF NEGATIVE PLACES OF REBIRTH
RITUALS FOR A BETTER REBIRTH
and granddaughter. With the thought of gaining benefit he should offer. to
his teacher everything else he asks for. Then he should ask for an effective
method which brings the enlightenment of the Buddhas and for any other
worldly prosperity which he desires.
.
.
.
The one who knows the mantras, without envy, with faith and loyal disposition should provide the effective method for the bene~t of his son.
Conceiving in his mind the non-nature of the dharmas he envisages a lunar
disc (arising) from the syllable. A, and concentrating his thought upon the
appropriate seed-syllable in its centre, he should envisage the samayamudra7 and so he transforms it (viz. the seed-syllable) by that process of yoga
relating to the divine forms. Then he should empo””.er the mudra by r:iea~s
of the appropriate seed-syllable and gesture and give the consecrat10n m
due order by means of the Buddhas as previously. Developing a sense of
confidence, the wise one should succeed, and if he succeeds in buddhahood how much the more in other successes.
Th~ Great Gods, Brahma and the others, prostrated themselves before
the Lord and said: ‘O Lord, what is the fruition in the case of the king, his
8
son or minister, warrior, brahmana, merchant, member of the fourth class,
or someone else, member of the host of low born, one born in a family of
border community, who enters this royal mandala?’
The Lord said: ‘Good good, 0 assembly of gods, Great Brahma and others,
good indeed is this question which you put to me for the benefit of future living
beings. Learn the maturation of the fruits in the case of the one who enters
this royal mandala of the assembly of gods, who is consecrated in it, draws it,
and having it drawn rejoices in it, reveres it and worships it. As for me, 0 gods,
in short I am unable to aspire to tell its benefits. Such merit as I have, although
multiplied many hundred thousand times does not come up to ~ts nur:ib~r, is
not capable even of its enumeration, does not even bear comparison with it. It
cannot be compared even with the merit of all the Tathagatas’. .
.
‘O Lord, it is wonderful, 0 Lord Vajradhara, it is wonderful, this maturation
of the fruits of living beings who enter this mandala. We are zealous, 0 Lord,
we are zealous, O Vajradhara, in entering this mandala and so on’.
The gods prostrated themselves in the same manner and sai~: ‘O L.or~, t?ere
are living beings in Jambudvipa 9 whose life is short and their ment hm1ted.
They are subject to evil destinies or they have been reborn in hells, ~mong tor;
mented spirits or among animals. 0 Lord, how are. we to act on thei~ b~half? ·
‘O gods, place them here in the mandala. Havmg placed t~em i? it, consecrate them and recite the Dharma-syllable. By means of this act10n those
living beings gain long life. Destitute of merit, they become possessed ?f
merit and they are freed from evil. As for those who have been r~born m
evil states, O gods, consecrate their name (card), consecrate their effigy,
consecrate their reliquary or the form of their divinity. At least, consecrate
their son, someone of their people or of their lineage, someone bearing their
name or their servant. Place (their representation) in the mandala seven
times for seven days and nights; they become freed from the obstructions of
evil destinies by means of the consecrations. 0 gods, recite it with his name
7. The visualized deity.
8. A shudra, or servant. “Brahmana”: priest, a
member of the highest caste (brahmin).
9. In Buddhist cosmology, the southern conti·
nent, on which ordinary humans dwell.
I
1151
two hundred thousand times, three hundred thousand times, four hundred
thousand times, as many as hundreds of thousands of times. Even those
who commit the five deadly offences 1 are liberated; how much more those
who commit minor offences’.
‘O Devaputras, 2 making a hearth for the pacifying rite, round in shape,
small, medium or large, one, two or four cubits in size, one should offer a
sacrifice one hundred thousand times using the representation of his name
and the seeds of white mustard. He is freed from every evil. Should one
sacrifice his flesh, bones, hair, ashes or anything else in accordance with
this rite, he becomes freed from every sin’.
In the centre (of the hearth) one should draw a circle whose eight spokes
blaze forth white light. All around on the circumference he draws fivetipped vajras shining with white rays. Next he draws a crossed vajra, a vajra,
a jewel, and a lotus. In order to destroy sins he should make the different
mudras. On the outside he should draw the mudras of the outer Vajra Family, the signs of the Planets, Lunar Mansions and the Guardians of the
World accordingly. He should place there an image of the Lord painted on
a cloth together with the vajra entourage, vases and bowls filled with offerings and food for divinities, white in colour. In short, marking with a cord
he draws the design in accordance with the rules.
Clad in a white garment, and having the appearance of a Buddha, the fearless one remembering that living being experiencing evil destiny should offer
a whole series of homa sacrifices3 in order to eliminate the obstructions of
sins, using clarified butter and milk together with honey, parched rice and
white mustard mixed together, or using his bones and similar things, or just
his name (card).
Once he is born in a happy state, the wise one should perform for him
the rite for gaining prosperity. He makes a square hearth, two or four or at
the most eight cubits in size, having an edge on all sides. In its centre he
should draw a lotus with a jewel radiating rays of golden colour. All around
he should draw jewels and on the edges lotuses. On the outside he should
mark the seals divided into sets of the Five Families. In the same way he
should draw the seals of the outer divinities, Amkusha 4 and the others.
Clad in a garment of golden colour, and remembering the one who is
experiencing a happy destiny, he should perform on his behalf and for his
prosperity the rite for gaining prosperity. He should increase for that embodied creature the length of life, fame, beauty, and good fortune.
Next he should perform for hi
