The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness

by Chogyam Trungpa

  Studying with an elder is not exactly the same as dealing with a schoolmaster, but you begin to enjoy the practice of sitting with the teacher. You enjoy meditating together, listening to their teachings, and sharing a sense of humor with such a person. When the teacher teaches you, you develop respect and reverence.

  Mahayana Transmisison

  At the mahayana stage, you begin to relate with the teacher as your spiritual friend. But this friend is not on the level of a buddy. In the mahayana, it becomes more joyful to learn from your teacher. You begin to learn how to relate with others, how to relate with yourself, and how to appreciate the world.

  Mahayana transmission is nonconceptual—there is a slight quality of being “zapped.” According to the traditional teaching, you are zapped six times by the six paramitas. You learn how to be open and generous, how to discipline yourself, how to be patient and control your aggression, how to develop exertion, how to control your subconscious gossip through the development of meditation, and how to read and hear the dharma, or teachings. You learn how to experience egolessness.

  Vajrayana Transmission

  In vajrayana transmission, you learn how to give up everything totally, how to completely surrender your body, speech, and mind. You learn how to relate with the teacher, and you give in thoroughly and utterly. Giving in or surrendering means not holding back anything that you cherish: any personal pride, personal anger, personal jealousy, personal passion, personal ignorance or delusion. Once you let go of all that, you begin to feel a sense of relief and joy. It is as if you had taken off your heavy sweater in the hot sun of midsummer—you begin to feel coolness.

  SPIRITUAL ORGASM. Giving in or giving up does not happen just because the student wants to give in on an intellectual level. Something else has to happen: as you give in, you have to have an orgasm, so to speak. That is, vajrayana transmission happens in one powerful shot. It is not a process of intellectual decision-making, but rather it is a kind of spiritual orgasm. This happens because of the student’s relation with the vajra master; it certainly would not happen otherwise. In the process of giving in, it does not rain if the rain clouds don’t gather. Or you might also say that the rain clouds don’t gather if it does not rain. Intellectually, that does not seem logical, but on the level of experience, it makes sense. That is the orgasm.

  The interesting point about orgasm, if I may say so, is that the experience happens now, but the realization of it comes later. When an orgasm happens, it shocks you. Whether you want it or not, it is a shocking thing. But it is pleasurable nonetheless. However, it makes you smile after it has occurred, not during. You may not understand what is happening right at the moment, but you do not have to understand. First the orgasm has to happen; then you will understand.

  In some sense, an orgasm is very ordinary and not a big deal when it happens. It is intrinsic, built into you. Likewise, with this kind of spiritual orgasm, we do not put any new things into you. It happens by itself, because you have it intrinsically. The teacher makes a contribution, but essentially the teacher is just telling you about it and helping you to see what is there.

  GIVING UP PRIDE AND RESERVATIONS. The vajrayana approach to relating with the teacher is like relating with an emperor. It is based on giving up our pride and our reservations. Without doing that, we cannot receive transmission. In the process of surrendering or giving in, we might feel that too much is being demanded of us. It may almost feel as if we are being raped. Personal pride and personal anger are extremely valuable to ordinary people. We are willing to pay lots of money in order to keep those so-called family heirlooms. But if we look closely at ourselves, we see that we are simply cherishing our pain. However, this is something you have to experience for yourself, rather than just hearing somebody tell you about it some kind of message.

  REMOVING YOUR GLASSES

  All aspects of transmission occur due to finding the teacher and completely surrendering your body, speech, and mind and following that teacher’s teaching. Without that connection, we cannot understand or experience reality. We were born wearing glasses, and we have never seen the real world: we have to take off those glasses in order to have true vision.

  The idea of being born with glasses on is that we have been conditioned, right from the beginning, from the first time we took milk from our mothers. This leads to obscuration or bewilderment. We do not know where we are or who we are. Therefore, when we are born, we cry for the first time. We complain about the rest of the world and we do not, or rarely, smile. The idea of glasses is quite different from the concept of original sin, which would be more like having bad lenses in your eyes, which are a part of you. In this case, the glasses or obscurations can be removed.

  RESHAPING IRON WITH FIRE

  After you receive vajrayana transmission, you may have to suffer or go through an arduous process of transformation, so devotion and respect for the teacher are very important and necessary. The process of transformation is like reshaping iron. When you want to reshape a piece of iron, you first have to put it into the fire, so that the blacksmith can use a hammer to reshape the iron while it is still hot. That might be a horrific analogy, but at the same time, it is a story of relief.

  ABHISHEKA: SPRINKLING AND POURING

  A vajrayana empowerment is a kind of baptism or coronation. It is the coronation of the student as a would-be king or queen. The Sanskrit word for empowerment is abhisheka, which means “anointment.” Specifically, abhisheka means “sprinkle and pour”: sprinkle means “to bless,” and pour means “to accept the blessed substance into your system.”

  Photo 16. Trungpa Rinpoche bestowing the Vajrayogini abhisheka.

  In an abhisheka ceremony, you are sprinkled and washed, with water poured from an abhisheka vase. In that way, you are included in the guru’s world and in the world of the deity, which is saying the same thing in some sense. The idea of sprinkling and pouring water is similar to the practice of christening somebody in the Christian tradition: it is a form of purification. The Jewish practice of mikvah is a similar concept. In the mikvah, you are completely naked, and you get into holy water that has been blessed and provided for you. You are completely and thoroughly soaked in holy water.

  In Tibetan, an abhisheka is referred to as a wang, which means “power” or “strength.” The Tibetan word carries more weight than the Sanskrit; it goes beyond sprinkling and pouring. In the Tibetan tradition, when we say abhisheka, we are talking about performing an empowerment. This is slightly different from the Sanskrit meaning, but it does not contradict the original notion of abhisheka at all.

  THREE CONFIRMATIONS: WANG, LUNG, AND TRI

  An abhisheka is one of three types of confirmation: lung, wang, and tri. The first one, lung, confirms that you have access to the powers of a particular abhisheka. The second one, wang, is the abhisheka itself, which means that you not only have access to powers, but you also have the potential to become a teacher yourself in the future. The third one, tri, is the detailed instructions on how to proceed. Ideally, you receive the lung first, so that there is a chance for someone to tell you how to conduct yourself in the wang. And after the wang, you receive the tri, or the instructions.

  These three confirmations are very important. Usually what happens in a lung nowadays is that the teacher reads a book very fast and you just listen. People attending a lung bring their own little things to do: they could be doing handicrafts or crocheting or writing or typing or some other thing. So the students just sit there and the teacher does the whole thing. But the original idea was to listen and to try to make sense out of what you heard.

  A lung is the first kind of confirmation. It confirms that you have possibilities, that you have the okay from the lineage, and that you have begun your approach towards tantra. Beyond that, you have to go through the abhisheka, or wang. Finally, having gone through the abhisheka, you receive further training in how properly to conduct yourself so that you do not miss the point of the abhisheka or initiation.
So with the tri, you receive the actual practice instructions.

  BEING CONFIRMED AS ROYALTY

  By the time you receive abhisheka, you have already begun to become a part of the royal family of vajrayana practitioners, as either a prince or a princess; and in the abhisheka ceremony itself, you are confirmed as a king or a queen. Royal in this case means victorious: you are victorious over the five skandhas and the five kleshas. That is the general abhisheka process.

  DRINKING THE SAMAYA OATH WATER

  At the beginning of the ceremony, before you become a would-be monarch, you take a vow that you will not discuss the teachings you are receiving with people who have never experienced such a thing. You take the samaya vow by drinking what is known as the samaya oath water. This vow binds together the teacher and the student. If you violate your samaya vow, that oath water becomes poison or melted iron: it burns you from within and you die on the spot. But if you keep your vow and your discipline, the oath water acts to further propagate your sanity and your experience of the glory, brilliance, and dignity of the vajra world.

  In an abhisheka you are bound by the samaya of the guru, yourself, and the deity. The samaya vow is a way to bind yourself to the tantric discipline and to the vajra master, or guru principle. If you go through an abhisheka ceremony without taking the samaya vow, it is just a blessing: it is just a confirmation on a light-handed level.

  RECEIVING A PRACTICE

  When you receive abhisheka you begin to realize that your basic, intrinsic goodness could be manifested as the five buddha principles. As part of the abhisheka, you usually receive the transmission of a tantric sadhana or “practice.” Each abhisheka and sadhana is connected with the mandala of a particular yidam, and sometimes with more than one yidam.

  The Tibetan word for sadhana, or druppa,1 also means “practice” or simply “being industrious.” It means working along with the particular practice or technique that is given to you. A sadhana or druppa is a practice that binds together the world, oneself, and the mind. A person who practices a sadhana is known as a sadhaka in Sanskrit, or in Tibetan, a druppapo. (The po is added to druppa to make it “a person who is doing the druppa.”)

  THE MEETING OF MINDS

  When the teacher gives the student an empowerment, the student begins to realize and understand a total and utter feeling of authentic sacredness. The mind of the teacher and student meet together to appreciate authentic presence. Authentic means not being influenced by kleshas or second thoughts, and presence means that nothing is by innuendo, but everything is direct. So in an empowerment, there is direct communication between the student and the vajra master.

  An abhisheka is performed at the point when the student is ready and receptive. Before receiving abhisheka, students usually will have accomplished the four preliminary practices. They will have practiced guru yoga and attained a sense of devotion and commitment to the lineage and to the lineage holder. They will have made a commitment to their personal root guru: to a living teacher or vajra master. Having made such a connection, students receive confirmation of that in the form of an abhisheka. Such an abhisheka is performed by a vajra master and is received by students of the vajra sangha. It confirms students as being on the appropriate path in their relationship with the teacher and as being in the proper state of mind. That confirmation takes place by the meeting of two minds: the mind of the teacher and the mind of the student.

  RECEIVING POWERS

  Transmission could be regarded as a kind of coronation or enthronement. It is as if one monarch places a crown on your head and enthrones you as another monarch, so that you receive the power to rule a particular country. Transmission is like putting your finger in an electric socket: you get shocked. It is like the traditional story about Tilopa hitting Naropa on the cheek with his sandal.2 It is quite mysterious.

  Transmission is connected with particular kinds of power. Those powers are known as deities such as Vajrayogini or Chakrasamvara or Kalachakra, among others; however, they are not simply deities, or gods and goddesses, but principles of energy. They are embodiments of energy, power, and wisdom, and they contain intelligence, richness, passion, action, and stillness. When a teacher gives transmission to a student, the student receives those powers.

  Having received transmission, you have to maintain that bond with both the teacher and that particular power. If you do not, you will wind up in a state of eternal pain. The bond with the teacher is so powerful that the pain of breaking it is much worse than the pain that comes from divorce or the pain of going to jail. So you have to think thrice about what you are getting into, and about what you are committing yourself to. Personally, I have committed myself to the vajrayana path, and I have never violated any of its principles.

  The vajrayana is very powerful. You may be entering a realm of great joy, great pleasure, or you may be entering into great pain, depending on whether you practice it properly or not. It depends on you. You cannot put the blame on anybody else. There is no attorney to present your case, no court, and no judge. It is simple reality, like time: if you are late, you cannot sue time.

  1. The most common Tibetan word for sadhana is drup-thap, which translates as “means for accomplishing”; it can also mean “group practice.” Druppa is a less formal version of this term.

  2. It is said that after many arduous trials, Naropa attained realization the moment his teacher, Tilopa, hit him with his sandal. See Herbert Guenther, The Life and Teachings of Naropa (London: Oxford University Press, 1963) and Chögyam Trungpa, Illusion’s Game (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1994).

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  Surrendering

  Fear, doubt, and feelings of inadequacy are all part of the abhisheka process, but when you experience them, they should be crushed on the spot. You can do so by means of the unified power that comes from the mandala and the vajra master being one. Together the mandala and the vajra master form a scepter of power, a vajra in your hand, and with that vajra, your uncertainty, fear, and resentment are crushed as obstacles to the path.

  RELATING WITH THE VAJRA MASTER

  When you enter the vajrayana, you are expected to completely turn over all of your capital and every resource to the vajra master. Then the vajra master can actually edit your energy—some of it is bad, some of it is good—and proceed. It is as simple as that. You give every bit of energy to begin with. Then the teacher says, “Keep that as your capital, you’ll need it later. Keep that as your interest payment.” You may have read about Marpa the Translator, how Marpa wrote a little note for his student Milarepa and told him, “Don’t open this note now, you’ll need it later on when you encounter obstacles. So keep it.”

  Faith in the vajra master comes from the fact that the vajra master is capable of ransacking your kleshas. The vajra master has great accuracy, and they can actually be in touch with the energies of situations. You bring along your world to be with the vajra master and to study with them, and then at some point a meeting takes place.

  The procedure of going through hinayana, mahayana, and vajrayana is necessary and important. First there is the hinayana elder level, then the mahayana spiritual-friend level, and finally you come to the vajra-master level. They somehow mix together, and before you know where you are, you begin to give all your secrets, everything, to the vajra master, although you did not mean to do such a thing at all. You ask to be accepted as a student of sadhana, as a tantrika.

  At that level, something flips with a tremendous shock. You begin to realize that you have actually given up your seed syllable, which is “me,” “my,” and “I.” In turn, although the vajra master does not want to do it or mean to do it, the vajra master begins to know your secrets, your seed syllable, your world, and your desires. The vajra master begins to develop wrath. In talking about the idea of the guru being wrathful, we have to be very clear that we are not involved with such notions as the wrath of God. The guru’s wrathfulness is simply not being willing to buy your trip. There is no terror or horror invol
ved, so unreasonable might be a better word than wrathful.

  In relating to the vajra master, you have to take the right attitude. The vajra master is not devouring you right and left and becoming satiated with all your funny trips, but the vajra master is actually trying to help you. It is important to realize this; it is very obvious. You have to keep that in mind, rather than feeling that you are dealing with a monster whom you respect, which is a terrible idea! It is a very gentle thing, basically. The whole thing is absolutely gentle and very well-meaning.

  TRUST AND FEAR

  You cannot become part of the vajrayana circle unless there is trust. In terms of abhisheka, you need to have complete, unshakable trust in the vajra master, as well as complete trust in your trust of the vajra master. That trust is based on some kind of fear; it is based on the fear of the vajra master and of the divinities of the vajra realm of whatever sadhana is presented to you. This fear is part of the natural awakening process of bodhichitta, but it is also a fear of your own inadequacies and shortcomings. Such fear is brought forth here very strikingly, very ordinarily, and absolutely directly.

  You work through that fear; there is a progression. But you should not deceive yourself by thinking that everything is going to be okay. You have to stand on the edge; you are sitting on pins and needles in any case. You should not remake that into a comfortable philosophical statement that everything is going to be okay. Nevertheless, everything is going to be okay as long as you stand on the edge and sit on pins and needles at the same time. That is why there are different abhishekas, because you conquer one fear, and then there is another.