Archive Result

Gelek Rimpoche

19860330GRJHNLIT1

Introduction of Tantra

Transcribed by Kimba Levitt

[0:00 – 02:40]

[Instructions to the Umdze: hard to hear but sounds like Refuge, Mandala Offering, Heart Sutra. Prayers done.]

[comments and joking in Tibetan and with the audience]

[03:23 Rimpoche recites a prayer in Tibetan]

[03:50]

Well, first of all, I have to say that I’m very happy to be back, and back in the same institution here I was a year ago almost, maybe less than that. [laughs] Almost a year ago. And I’m very happy to be seeing every old friends and I can also see that you have some developments and I’m very happy to see all of them.

[04:38 You have to translate or what?

Umdze: I don’t know, I would like to ask …

Rimpoche: Without? OK]

[05:05]

Then, secondly I am going to speak to you about the introduction of the tantra. That was the subject what I am supposed to talk to you for this weekend. And as a matter of fact, I was very happy to receive your letter in Malaysia mentioning this and particularly about the trips and all this sort of thing.

So now, before, we talk about introduction of the tantra…

[05:56]

Introduction of tantra is some sort of very – I do not know really how to sort of handle this. It is very interesting and very tricky subject and if I did not explain you enough so then you know nothing about it, tantra. And if I over-explain to you this is also something which is not right. So it is [laughs] a bit sort of you know difficult thing. But one thing I would like to make very clear – I am sure most of you are senior students so you have no sort of funny ideas about it, but still those of few, maybe, new ones or something like that if we have, so I would like to make very clear first. So the word of tantra is very romantic word but don’t attach any romantic to it, OK? Otherwise you will be very disappointed. There is nothing funny about it. Particularly, the word tantra it is, it gives you very funny ideas to person to person, place to place. Now if I say tantra in South East Asia, that’s where I just come from, just like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Manila, Philipines, all this, they will straight way understand two things: either black magic and to try to charm the other people, try to damage somebody else, or try to make somebody ill or try to take their properties away or something of the black magic. Or, very, very, very highly developed and everything works on the fingertip like this (snaps fingers several times to indicate quickly). So there are two sort of straight way they have two different understandings.

[08:45]

If I talk tantra about in the west people may get very funny idea or something to do with sort of sexual religions [? relations] type of thing. You know, very funny idea people do get. So that is also totally wrong understanding. Do cut that out first. Then another thing some people make instant, some kind of instant events. Tantric is such a thing that everything happens like [snaps finger] this thing, instant. So you may get that idea also. So these are the totally wrong idea. So just totally cut out.

[09:39]

So then what is really tantra? That I will sort of try to talk to whatever, little bit I know, various things, for this weekend. But one thing you have to know is tantra is nothing but very important and very serious method which leads individual to enlightenment much faster, much better than any other method which is known in Buddhism. It is very, very important and very serious matter. And also very dangerous too. So that is what tantra is briefly.

[10:43]

Tsongkhapa, the great scholar and founder of the yellow hat sect had said,

[TIBETAN]

[11:07]

So in order to lead individual to ultimate enlightenment, Buddha has given two methods. One, the sutra part of it, and the other is tantra part of it. So the tantra part of it is much more important and more profound and more quick method which is known to all the learned peoples. I mean if anybody - there will be nobody who doesn’t know sun and moon, so similarly Tsongkhpa is saying that there will be no learned person who doesn’t know sutra and tantra, and particularly tantra is more important and quick and profound than that of sutra. Not only this, tantra is also very, very rare thing, very rare. It doesn’t really comes very often at all. For example, we say during this fortunate eon we have …

[12:20 asking someone on the side, how many buddhas, 22,000, right? [laughs] Tibetan conversation with someone.]

[12:41]

In this eon there are 22,000 buddha supposed to be appeared. OK, 22,000. [Audience: I hope so]. It is. Out of 22, three had already appeared and gone and us - we are during the period of the Buddha Shakyamuni’s period. So, [Tibetan 13:17] every time when Buddha appeared as a full-fledged Buddha, otherwise there are tremendous amount of buddha always there, but when I say full-fledged buddha, it appears as Buddha and then develops and then it shows, you know, development and started teaching and with all this, there are 22,000 full-fledged buddhas will come, out of which, every time, every time, whenever the Buddha comes there are very special flower which supposed to appear the moment Buddha was born there was a very special flower called uttamwara, it is a Sanskrit word. Uttamwara. Uttamwara will be appeared when Buddha was born and when Buddha showed fully development and started teaching the flower will be bloomed and when that Buddha passed away the flower will just die out. So just like that, that is very rare, very, very rare. [14:32 Tibetan] It appears once, once sort of, in other words in English you say once in blue moon you comes, right, once in blue moon. So it really appears once in blue moon appearing of the Buddha once in blue moon. But appearing of the tantra teaching is even more rare than this because out of 22,000 which I am just talking of this eon so the first which carries the tantra teaching is Buddha Shakyamuni and 11th the Lion’s Roar Buddha or something which maybe carrying, maybe, and the last one, the last one is hopefully carrying the tantra teachings. So in-between the other buddhas does not carry the tantra teachings at all. So it is very, very important and very rare also.

[15:55]

So what does this tantra do? Why it is so important? So important. It really gives you a very sort of quick method. Normally when you are try to develop total enlightenment, total enlightenment, it take a number of eons to accumulate merit, to purify, to purify and to meditate and it take a long, long time. But the tantric has a very special technique, very, very special technique, which makes the things what you do for a number of eons will just be covered by a few years. A few years. Not only that, it has very [long pause 16:50-17:02] OK, not only that if you are practicing maha-anuyoga tantra, maha-anuyoga tantra makes the people to be able to obtain enlightenment within short sphere of our lifetime. Our lifetime. Not only that, if all the purposes, if all the practice is perfect, and with the great method of the Tsongkhapa’s teaching, the people have been able to obtain enlightenment within three years and three months period. That has been done and it is possible. Why it is so special – I’m not making a Gelugpa propaganda, so saying that Tsongkhapa’s teachings, but there are many reasons which I intend to, or try to, give you tomorrow or whatever day after. Why it’s so important. If I can. Some of them maybe I may not be able to understand myself so that’s why I may not be able to tonight they are not Gelugpa propaganda but there are definite reasons. That’s why tantric has become important and very effective and quick method.

[18:41]

The most important reason is when you practice tantra, you will be able to practice the base, you will be able to practice the path, you’ll be able to practice the result together. So instead of taking time to be able to do something on the base level or path level or result level separately, but instead of that you’ll be do them together. That is another important reason to. It is important.

[19:32]

But no matter how important it may be, the practice, it really does not depends on the practice itself. It does depend on the person who does. That is really the real trick is this. It depends on the person, not on the practice. It does not depend on the teaching, it does not depend on the ritual, it does not depend on anything but it depends on the individual person who does it. Tsongkhapa had said [19:59 – 20:14 Tibetan] so in the lam rim chen mo Tsongkhapa had mentioned, it is not enough, the dharma what you practice is the Mahayana practice, but the person who practices should be a Mahayana-in. So that goes here too. So it is not enough things what you practice is the tantric practice but the person has to be a great, fit to be practicing. That is the real important thing. Every benefit, everything mentioned in the books, benefits and everything, will work out if the person works out perfectly. If the person doesn’t work out perfectly, no matter whatever you do, the ritual doesn’t work. There are, for example, there are rituals which will try to bring rain, which will try to stop the rain, and all this, and you follow the ritual, you read the book, you do the ritual and it doesn’t work. We try to blame to the ritual. It is not the ritual’s fault. It the person who does it’s fault. This is simple work I’m telling.

[21:38]

Similarly, similarly it is the real enlightenment is also how it comes through the tantric practice it also depends on the individual people. Totally. You cannot - you know dharma practice is one thing. Dharma is dharma. Tantric is tantric. It’s perfect. But it works for some people and it does not work to some people. And that question you have to raise and think and [? someone coughs and word is unclear] you have to think. Because the person who does has something wrong. That’s why it doesn’t work. What was wrong with the person. Not normally wrong with the ritual at all or the ritual what you say. But you always find something wrong with the person when he was doing the preliminary arrangement. OK, preliminary arrangements. During the preliminary, if you go something wrong, then if you make mistake on the first you will make a mistake ‘til fifteenth so same way. If you make a preliminary mistake somewhere then until the end it will go that way. And that is the wrong part of the person when you are making the preliminary arrangements.

[23:15]

Preliminary here when I say preliminary it has two things. One, the common preliminary, which is the normal development of the dharma practice of the Three Principles or Lam Rim or whatever. That is the preliminary of the common preliminary and particular preliminary. Particular preliminary here will be the initiation or doing retreat or something like that and there if you go something wrong then thereafter whatever the ritual you try to do, whatever the work you try to do, it goes wrong because we have something wrong at the preliminary level. So it is – anyway I am glad we are doing this tantric introduction really. Because we are able to talk it is better what it is. It is really something interesting anyway. Anyway, OK, so that’s it.

[24:35]

So now, the major essence of the aim, first I have to tell you that. The aim of the tantric practice is nothing to gain anything. It should not be to gain a small benefit here, there, here, there, like flying in the air, walking over the fire, walking over water, or sitting under the ground. All this should not be aim of the tantric practitioner at all. I mean, it is easy through the tantric practice to do that. But that should not – Oh, particularly I forgot one thing and that is the – what do you call – levitation. OK. Because the levitation people are very interested so it should not be the aim of the tantric practice at all. If you do so, then you are wasting a very precious method for such a small achievement. Such a small achievement. We have a saying in Tibetan: [TIBETAN] so you use the sandalwood just for getting ordinary heat or you use very expensive brocade to rub the table. So that is a waste, right? So similarly if you try to use tantric practice to only gain small matter like that, that is waste. That is a waste. So therefore, the aim of the tantric practice should be the ultimate benefit whatever you can get. The ultimate benefit.

[26:15]

What ultimate benefit can you get? Ultimate benefit is? [side conversation, laughter in audience]. Who is saying that? OK, you’re right. It is an ultimate benefit. Whoever is saying it doesn’t matter. It is enlightenment. Ultimate benefit is enlightenment because we are such a life, life which is very valuable, very important, very, very valuable and important, and particularly this very life what we have today which was made out of the five or four elements and all this are very important for tantric practice. It is more important than from sutra point of view, it is more important in tantra point of view, much more important from tantra point of view because most of many of later techniques has been used on the basis of the nadis and the basis of the energy and nadi and consciousness - different consciousnesses, so therefore the persons who are having this structure of the nadi and this elements are much more suitable to tantric practice then any other life and so it is valuable life and this life can definitely achieve enlightenment and even you look it back great persons like Naropa, or Tilopa, or the Indian scholars, or that of if you look in Tibetan tradition Marpa, Mila, Jamgon Lama Tsongkhapa all they have achieved enlightenment within their lifetime and you and me and those of the great persons, the body what they have and body what you and I have, and the mind what they have and mind what you and I have. And the opportunity what they have and the opportunity what you and I have, it is equal. Moreover, we are better off, not only equal, we are better off. We are better off because they have gained and they have recorded their experience. They have taught. So we have more ready-made TV dinner than they had. They have to sort of collect every one of them individually but we don’t. We have everything ready to go. So there is no reason on this life we cannot attain enlightenment. It is simply it is our own fault of our laziness or whatever the excuses we may have. That has been holding us back. Otherwise, we can definitely achieve. Not only we can achieve it, and we have every possibility is there. Everything. Really, truly speaking, every possibility, every method is there. Everything. There is available. Really it’s available.

[30:31]

And this tantric practice I tell you it is something really great. Really great, because this really can give a tremendous result. For example if you look in the sutra, these ten bhumis in Mahayana level, if you look there are ten bhumis, from the 1st to 8th bhumi it just brings one stretch [snaps finger] go in tantric practice. Even concentrated meditation. Even guru yoga practice, even the root of all development, what we call it guru yoga devotion, even from that level, that level to the 8th bhumi level it can really bring in one stretch [snaps finger again]. This is the quality what this tantric practice really does. If you really want to know what really tantra is that’s what they do. So we are lucky. In addition to that, there are certain things, certain - OK, this may not be a place to mention …

[laughs]

[31:40]

So, that is the tantra.

OK, so therefore the aim what you should aim is actually you should really aim to total enlightenment. The aim should be total enlightenment. OK. Now the Tibetan Buddhist way of teaching is always aim people to practice through tantra. A lot of people say Tibetan Buddhism is tantra. No, that’s not right. Tibetan Buddhism is nothing but Buddhism, OK, and that is same Buddhism whatever the Thais practice, Chinese Mahayana practice, whatever it is it is the same Buddhism. But if you look from the Tibetan Buddhist angle, I am sorry I am saying Tibetan Buddhist. I should not say that. There is no such thing called really a Tibetan Buddhist But if you really look from the - I mean if there is Tibetan Buddhist then there has to be Chinese Buddhist, and Thai Buddhist, and Dutch Buddhist and American Buddhist and all this. [laughs]. It’s not really. It’s whole Buddhist. There’s nothing there.

[33:09 – 33:24 Incident occurred off-tape and Rimpoche asks what happened. Laughter.]

OK, so from the vajrayana point of view, from the vajrayana angle if you look, and you can definitely find – this I am telling you with my own experience, this I can very proudly say, really - from the vajrayana angle if you look, you will see all of them fits part and parcel. Everything, the Chinese Mahayana practice, the Thai and Ceylonese, what they call it Theravada practice, all of them are been focused for one individual to lead to. Really, you can definitely see this. And it exactly show you what level you can reach to and what step to take. It really works perfectly. But when you look from the Theravada angle then you see different, you know, you will only see a certain level and beyond that you don’t see as Buddhism anymore so they think, very simple nowadays if you go in Southeast Asia and see them all very clearly. You look at the Thai or the Ceylonese or Burmese buddhists and they will accept only therevada as Buddhism and nothing more than that. And they think the Chinese mahayana Buddhism is not Buddhist. They may not say it openly but they will think it is not buddhist. They will think the Tibetan and Chinese and Mongolian that practice the vajrayana they will certainly consider not Buddhist at all because their view is narrowed. Their view is narrowed. They’ve been taught only the Theravada part of it so their aim is taught only to arhat level of. Their method is only taught at discipline and there are certain colors and color meditations, mindfulnesses and this and that and of the few techniques which we sort of see in the normal prajnaparamita teachings are there and that’s what they do. And beyond that whatever they see it does not consider.

[36:03]

Then you see Chinese Mahayana and you look down, the Chinese mahayana will cover all these Theravada teachings are there. In addition to that they teach the bodhicitta and they teach altruistic mind and they talk six paramita activities in addition to that. And so you can really see them as Mahayana sutra pure. But moment they see something to do with tantra they think it is something strange. It has nothing to do with Buddhism. [laughs]

[36:35]

But when you look from the vajrayana point of view you can only see them, all of them, as part of preliminary arrangement and everything sort of really streamlined for one individual how to go. So that’s it. And that is really what you can really see it clearly. So that shows how the vajrayana practice how complete all buddha’s teachings. It is complete. Not only this, and vajrayana practitioners – yeah, those of the people who are having a vajrayana background, when the beginning, beginning when they even introduce Buddhism, from the beginning it is already geared toward vajrayana path. Because they avoid, don’t call it unnecessary, but they will only put you to the absolutely to be practiced and the lower levels are introduced. And whatever is not absolutely necessary are avoided. So it was sort of geared towards introduction of the tantra. Why? Because it’s important and it is the greatest thing that human beings can really practice. And it is the method which gives the enlightenment only, well I can say safely, this is the only method which gives enlightenment within lifetime. Within not only one lifetime, but within a short sphere of our lifetime to give enlightenment, I think this is the only method. No other. That also, out of four tantras, so maha-anuyoga tantra only does. Below that, kriya and charya and all this, first practitioner be able to obtain enlightenment within the lifetime but not within the short sphere of lifetime. What they do is they extend their lifespan and live about 200 or years or a little more than that and then obtain enlightenment. But maha-anuyoga tantra you obtain the enlightenment within the short sphere of an ordinary lifetime.

So that is why [39:40 TIBETAN] so … OK, OK, that is also not right. I have already said it so might as well say it, [TIBETAN] so the praise to the guru the guru is also [TIBETAN] the great, the ultimate blissful enlightenment which will bring within the matter of second so that’s what it is. Within a matter of second is our short lifetime. Our short lifetime is mentioned as a second because we have so many lives that we’ve been going around so this life, whatever we have, is like one second. Out of whole life that we are going. That’s why [TIBETAN] sort of one able to bring the

enlightenment within short lifetime. That is really what tantra is.

[40:58]

Now briefly I can tell you what I intend to talk.

I will give you brief introduction to the general tantric and then little practice and vajrayana path. Sort of three divisions we can put it.

Out of the first divisions, the general introduction to tantric …

[41:58]

There was a short text, one very short text, by Suma Khenpo Yeshe Paljor. I think I’ll talk on that basis. Suma Khenpo has given 14 different divisions to introduce the tantric. So that is, [TIBETAN 42:25 – 42:50]

So, there are 14 divisions, sort of 14 outlines, on which you can introduce briefly to tantric. So, rather, it is rather introducing tantra to you then [laughs] it is actually how trantra is functioning, you know. So out of 14 different, sort of 14 different divisions, the first is, when you talk about tantra a lot of people do say, “the tantra is buddha’s word,” and “tantra is not buddha’s word,” and all this sort of thing are there. A lot of Buddhist people, as I just mentioned to you, particularly where the Theravada alone is, they will not consider tantra as Buddhist at all. Even the Chinese Mahayana will not consider tantra as Buddhist at all, Buddhism at all. So in order to make clear that, the buddha’s teachings are always included into, what, three pitakas, right? Three pitakas. So what is this tantra, out of three pitakas, where does it belongs to? This is the question a lot of people do raise. And people do sort of keep on looking at it and really doesn’t seem to be answering much. It doesn’t belong to duwa, and it doesn’t belong to (?nongma), and it doesn’t belong to vinaya and it doesn’t belong dorje denda. [TIBETAN] So tantra has to be included into this sutra [laughs]. Sounds funny, yes, but it is out of these three pitakas it includes in this what we call, dode, sutra pitaka. Why? What proof do you have? When I say tantra has to be included in sutra pitaka what proof do you have? This is in the Triya Tantra, there is a tantra called triya, I do not know whether you people are familiar, it is not four tantras, but Triya has sort of 42 different deities and its mandala and its own tantra, in the triya tantra it said, [TIBETAIN 46:18] there is a word, there is buddhas’s word, so in that Buddha himself had clearly mentioned in that text all the tantras are included in, out of three pitakas, in the sutra pitaka.

[46:54]

So second, another question arises similarly, buddha’s teachings are included either in Mahayana or hinayana, and they don’t call it third yana at all. But nowadays there are certain people who are counting vajrayana, Mahayana, and hina/theravadayana. OK, theravadayana. There are certain people who are calling this three different yanas. They try to call this three yana. Which is totally misunderstanding. OK. Three yanas does not mean vajrayana, tantrayana, oh sorry, vajrayana, Mahayana and theravadayana. No. Three yana means prakshikabuddhayana and sarvakabuddhayana, and Mahayana. Two theravada levels has to be divided into two. I mean, this has become necessary because people do write books now and people do have societies called three yana and people do publish all things like this and when they count they’ll count Mahayana, vajrayana and theravadanayana. I mean it is even quite well-learned, well-respected Buddhist masters also now started saying that way. So that’s why it is important to make clear. So when Buddha mentioned in any Buddhist texts in Tibetan or Sanskrit if you look it when they mentioned three yanas, Theravadayana has two divisions, two divisions, and sarvaka and prakshika and then Mahayana. This is how three yanas counted. Not vajrayana.

[48:52]

In that case it raises another question. Where does this vajrayana belongs to then? Is this a part of the Mahayana or theravadayana. What is it? So it is definitely part of the Mahayana. OK, now, try to say out of three pitakas it is the sutra pitaka. Second point is the out of two yanas it is Mahayana. Even the Mahayana has been divided into two. It is the causal Mahayana practice and result Mahayana practice. I don’t know if the causal is right or wrong but the cause part of it, the cause yana and result yana. So the vajrayana is the result yana, OK?

[50:08]

Now the third point is, what is it? Why it’s called sang nga? Vajrayana in Tibetan is mentioned sang nga. Sang is ‘secret’ and nga is ‘mantra’. So why it’s called secret mantra? In other words it’s called secret mantra, so why it’s called secret mantra? It has nothing to hide. I mean, it’s nothing to hide and nothing is wrong with there but why it’s called secret? That is a very important question. It is such a thing that you have to, even you practice or whatever you do with this, it is by nature you have to keep it secret. Particularly, if a person who are not fit to be understand this, person who are not fit to be knowing, practicing or seeing or things, they might develop some kind of misunderstanding. If they develop some kind of misunderstanding, it creates tremendous amount of non-virtuous acts. And person who talks, or person who listens, or person who acts, or person who looks and all of them are committing tremendous heavy non-virtuous karma. Because this is an important path and when you look at the wrong way and when you get wrong impression of it and then it really creates tremendous bad karma for it so that’s why it’s always kept as secret. And particularly practitioners will also - not like nowadays. Nowadays, I mean we have the - luckily we don’t have. Nowadays we have even the vajrayana different deities we hang up, thangkas been shown, and the practitioners will also make as high noise as possible. You know, even there is a bell they have to ring it and if there is a drum they have to do and everything. You try to make everybody to know what you are doing it and this is not the way it has been practiced at all. Many of the great Kadampa lamas, if you are familiar with the lam rim background, many of the great Kadampa lamas are found to be a vajrayana practitioners, but nobody knew in their lifetime they do practice vajrayana at all. Nobody knew. And when that lama passed away, Kadampa lamas, when they passed away, when they started going through their articles then they find bells and vajras and certain texts and then in some corner there’s thangkas and things like that they find. So it has been practiced very, very, very lower-key. It may be dangerous for the teaching itself sometimes. It has proved to be dangerous.

[53:36]

For example, the vajrayana practice has been very popular in China in the 16th and 17th century. It is the imperial court religion so it was only allowed to practice inside the court and the royal family members and a few of very important generals might have permitted to do a little bit of this and that. So otherwise it has sort of very special practice inside the imperial court. So kept very secret. As a result it died in China, of course. Yeah, it did. So that way it may not be very good for the teaching itself however for a practitioner it’s perfect. Because more this confidential you can keep and the more this confidential you can practice it is better, of course. So it is even named as a secret mantra. Why it is called secret because you practice it very secretly. Don’t misunderstand. There are certain - in the West I have found certain religious societies, which has certain secret practice and then they involved certain funny rituals. I mean, we see in the movies and things like that. It is nothing like that at all. [laughs] There is nothing to hide. Nothing to hide. It is open, clear, clean teaching. There is nothing to hide. But, I mean, to keep it secret in such a way, even the names of the deity, even the sadhana, of course the mantra, of course, but even the names of the deity, and everything, is supposed to be kept secret. Even you know when you do the initiations and things like that earlier it’s totally done in secret and practitioners also practice in secret.

[55:58]

For example, I can give you a very simple example. The great Ra Lotsawa, great Ra Lotsawa who had this Yamantaka practice from his guru, Lama (?) Bero Chagdu. Ra Lotsawa’s master was Bero. It’s a very funny story it has. Lama Bero was Nepali. Nepalian. He behaves very funnily. And he has no – his two arms cut off and two legs cut off so it’s called Bero Chagdu. Bero Chagdu. So he has been cut off because of the, because he broke some laws. So the Nepalese King cut off both legs and both arms. He sits up in the Yambo area where this great Ra Lotsawa came and started taking the teachings. And Ra Lo had a lot of problems. Ra Lo needed the Yamantaka teachings. Ra Lo had tremendous problems. The problem because Ra Lo himself is very proud person. Very, very proud person. Are you familiar with Ra Lotsawa? I hope so, otherwise it’s [unclear word]. Anyways Ra Lo himself was a very proud person. So when he was going through Yambo he met one of this anti-buddhist master. Very powerful spiritual, I mean the magical power, very, very powerful master, anti-buddhist master, he met on the public collection. When he met him, so this master look at Ra Lo and tells Ra Lo that, “You seems to be very fortunate and very capable person and if you follow me I can give you something very special teaching and you can be one of the top persons.” So Ra Lo looked at him and he said, “I am just now riding a horse. So I don’t want to get off from the horse and ride a donkey.” He indicated him that you are a donkey. So he was very angry and he said, “If I do not destroy you within seven days, don’t call me (whatever the name it is). So Ra Lo is a bit scared because he is very powerful and well-known, too. A bit scared. And he went back to Lama Bero and told Lama Bero. Lama Bero also had a very bad dream and the moment he saw Ra Lo, “Oh, did you get some commitments or what happened? I had a bad dream, this, this, this.” And Ra Lo explained to Bero that he has no commitment broken and this and that. However, he met this master and he said this and I told him you are a donkey and he told me “If I don’t destroy you within seven days don’t name me. So what to do.” So Lama Bero said, “Now you made a very bad mistake. He is very powerful. You shouldn’t have said that. You should have looked after your mouth. I mean, you shouldn’t say like that.” And this and that. And finally he said, “However, it doesn’t matter.” So he told him “on the 7th day you get one big huge clay pot and get yourself inside the clay pot and that clay pot should be covered up with a slate and on which a certain mantra has been written and covered up and waited there.” So that’s it. On the 7th night about the 11th hour that big dagger came flying with fire and hit the door and the door broke into two pieces and it came up and hit the pillar. The house collapsed. However, he was hiding on the pot and somehow it sort collapsed such a way that the pot didn’t break. The dagger came second time – OK, I’m sorry, I’m telling you wrong. First time broke the door, second time hit the pillar, third time dagger came and hit the mantra and then returned. The dagger returned.

[1:01:30]

So like that – if I go, this is a bit long, sorry. The dagger returned and when the dagger returned, and then within a few days that fellow died. Because whatever the magical power he had applied has returned to him so he died. So Ra Lo becme more proud [laughs] and went to Tibet, back to Tibet, and he started sort of playing everybody. Started playing everybody. Everybody. Ra Lo started playing magical powers there with every master there available at that time including the great Kadampa lama Geshe Chekawa and all this. And Ra Lotsawa playing tricks with them. Not only tricks, but they die, you know. They die. So Ra Lo is like that so he has become …

[1:02:37

Ra Lo is funny, very funny. You know. Maybe a very great - He is of course known one of the greatest powerful mahasiddhi of Tibet and with our Yamantaka lineage first comes at Ra Lotsawa, and all this. However, Ra Lo is a very proud person. I believe he wears such a - even his dresses are sort of tip-top, there is not even a single dust around. It all has to be very clean, tip-top, everything. And very proud. And he totally ignores the great Kadampa geshes of those days. Totally ignores Kadampa lamas, like Drom Rinpoche, Geshe Chekawa, Ban Rinpoche, all of them there those days. And beside that, I do not know what explanation it is, but Ra Lotsawa used to even give sutra vows like bikshu vows and he give bikshu vows and all this and not only, he himself is a married person with children. So he gives bikshu vows to a lot of Tibetan monks. I mean a lot of them. So Geshe Chekawa is one of them. And Ra Lotsawa came to Lhasa so Geshe Chekawa went to him and told him, “whatever you may be, whatever you do is OK. but giving the vow is totally wrong and you are doing a tremendous damage to Buddhism so do have good compassion to yourself and don’t do this.” That’s what Geshe Chekawa told him. So Ra Lo got so angry and told Chekawa, “ If I don’t destroy you within seven days, don’t name me Ra Lotsawa.” [laughs] So Geshe Chekawa got a bit upset and all Kadampa geshes got together and they brought Prajnaparamita texts and they built up Prajnaparamita texts completely around Geshe Chekawa, all the texts around, and they kept on saying the Heart Sutra and Prajna paramita texts. But on the 7th day Ra Lo sent one of those daggers and cut off Geshe Chekawa’s head. So Ra Lo’s like that. [audience laughs] So later he had a lot of challenge. Then he was also challenging everybody.

[1:05:39]

So then Lanlup Changchup Dorje was giving another teaching somewhere. So Lanlup Changchup Dorje wherever he is teaching Ra Lo started sending his daggers and things like that at wherever Langlup’s teaching. So it hits many disciples, hit by the Ra Lo’s daggers. So Langlup returned all Ra Lo’s daggers and everything returned back to Ra Lo and also, what he did, he sent some sort of thunders, some thunderbolts, a few of them, on the Ra Lo. And even Ra Lo himself was hit by Langlup’s thunderbolts and he’s been unconscious for a while. Ra Lo himself. So then Ra Lo started running back to his, again, to his master, this Bero Chagdu in Nepal. He returned again. So went back to Bero Chagdu and said, “You have something more than that. Something definitely more than that.” He is saying it. So, then Ra Lo kept on watching. But every evening Bero Chagdu was not there. Every evening he was missing. When he watched carefully then he found, every evening he doesn’t find him there. So he said, “this fellow doesn’t have legs, this fellow doesn’t have arms. Where does he go? What does he do every evening?” So he become very curious. So he started waiting outside. So in the evening he finds Bero Chagdu walks. He walks to the forest. He always walks to the forest. So then Ra Lo followed him, gradually you know followed him. So behind him followed him. And when Bero Chagdu goes, he goes right deep inside the forest. And there is a small cave. And in the small cave there is a Yamantaka drawing and then Bero practices there. He says his sadhana and practices there. So this is how Ra Lo had discovered the practice of Yamantaka. So only by many years and many years and after following him, you know, into the forest and finally. But the moment he saw the Bero practicing there so he got a hold of Bero and he said, “Whatever you are doing here, you have to give me this teaching. This is the exactly what it is.” So the moment Ra Lo hold Bero, and Bero become fire and there is no person. It become fire and - all this now long story. So to cut the long story into short, cut the long into the short, how Bero practices Yamantaka nobody knows. He goes right deep inside the forest. When you look at him, he has no arms, no legs, nobody thinks he can walk around, but he practices into the forest. Not a single person knows. This is how he had kept secret.

[1:09:22]

And it is a secret. So therefore, secret nature if you practice secretly it works better. If you make it public it is public. It doesn’t do any good at all. So that’s why it is called secret. And mantra secret. That’s why it has to be secret. Two reasons I give you. One, if a wrong understanding comes then everybody – I mean, you cannot make worse mistake than this. By getting wrong understanding, wrong views, thoughts, really we talk in the sutra five limitless non-virtues. OK, five limitless. And having a total wrong thoughts on tantric practice is worse than committing five limitless non-virtuous together so therefore it has become important. One point. Second point, it works better and you want to get benefit out of it. If you keep it secret practice and do secretly then it benefits better. So therefore with two reasons, with benefit to your own reason and with both reasons it is recommended to be practiced as secret. That’s why it’s called secret.

[1:11:10]

Mantra is yee kyap, it is protected through a mind. What does really mantra means, protected through the mind. It is the mind work. It is not the mantra what you say from mouth and shout, but it is the mantra what you think, concentrate, and say it, and it works through the mind rather than through the sound so therefore it is called mantra, the word, yee kyap, [TIBETAN] sang nga secret mantra.

OK, so that is the generally why it is call it sang nga or secret practice. Secret mantra, why it call it secret mantra. And then also this has very special thing, what we call it method and wisdom inseparable. There are method and wisdom inseparable practice, which makes the person to totally develop. The actual method, the actual technique what you apply here is the method and wisdom. And method and wisdom are normally you have method and you have wisdom, but here what you do is method and wisdom inseparably you have to practice. You have to practice inseparably. You have to practice inseparably and it becomes union. Method and wisdom union, not the male and female union. OK? So you see the figure male and female union. Why? Figures are represent the wisdom and male figures represent the method and the female figures represent the wisdom and combine them together. Combine them together represents the wisdom and method together. In other words, body and mind together. Again, body represents method, mind represents the wisdom, and body and mind combined together. This is the real union how it works. By doing this you will obtain your benefit by practicing method and wisdom combined together. So that’s why it is called secret practice, right?

[1:14:10]

I think I will stop here today. Is it OK? Stop here today and then we continue tomorrow. I think I will talk on these fourteen points and probably you will have fairly good idea of what really tantra is without going into much detail of certain important points. So, OK, that’s all.

[1:14:50 TIBETAN dedication]

[1:15:00 – 1:20:32 Prayers]

[Long pause, 1:20:32 - 1:21:20]

[1:21:20]

In general when we discuss something about dharma, there are two things always you have to keep it in mind. One, we discuss dharma as the discussion and another we discuss dharma as the teaching form. Then the teacher or master who talks the dharma will also think, “I am teaching,” and then the person who listens will also think, “I am listening,” and then it becomes actual dharma teaching. And another thing is, the master whatever he or she may think is a different matter but in the individual will just think, “I wanted to learn what is in here so therefore it is only I am interested to learning and I would like to listen” but not as a teaching, then it becomes a dharma discussion, and doesn’t become a dharma teaching. The reason why I would like to mention this this morning is two things because dharma teaching and dharma discussion we must differentiate. Particularly in the West you have to differentiate. If you do not, if you take every dharma discussion as a dharma teaching then you will have countless spiritual masters. And if you have countless spiritual masters then you have a problem. The problem, is if you look at just now as it is, it doesn’t seem to be a big problem when you just look at it, but when you go into deeply into dharma practice or particularly into the vajrayana practice, then the spiritual master will become a very, very, very important source of development. So therefore it is even normal in lam rim – all of you are supposed to be familiar with it – even in normal lam rim teachings even it mentions as a root of all development guru devotional practice, the root of all development. And particularly in vajrayana practice it becomes much more important than that of even the sutrayana practice, though it is the root of all development. Even then in vajrayana it is more difficult because in case of any broken commitments with vajrayana master it really I mean then totally you won’t finish almost. That’s why it is like this. So always you have - you should, you should always try to - if you have sort of disciple spiritual master before then it’s different no matter whatever you may call it. Otherwise if it is newer one at the first you should always see to it whether, whether … - first always take it as a discussion. It will be more profitable for you, rather than taking as a teaching. It all depends on your mind how you take it. It doesn’t matter how you sit. Seating has been done on the organization level of whatever the organizers will organize accordingly people will sit. We don’t want to do different things to cause trouble so, but what you do is within your mind and that’s why how you have to do it. And the first thing is learning. Learn it. So that’s why this introduction is becoming important. In the Tibetan tradition we don’t have such a thing called introduction. In the West we do. And that’s a good thing. Because you will know what’s in here, but you won’t know detailedly, but much about particularly important points you are won’t know much but still, you will know a lot of things. And what are the advantages and what are the disadvantages and that will make things are fairly easy for individual what to do about it.

[TRANSLATION 1:26:23 – 1:28:27

The translation continues beyond the 1:28:27 marker but the time marker ends.]