The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness

by Chogyam Trungpa

  I used to find it quite easy, although I was only thirteen at the time, to work my way through the various deities, in terms of their particular family, their particular style, and so forth. The only problem I used to have was when there were occasional abhishekas for local deities. I did not want to receive an abhisheka of a local deity, who could be just a local person who was terribly angry, or maybe a killer, or maybe a good mother. I used to find such abhishekas very freaky.

  I actually went to Jamgön Kongtrül of Shechen and talked about that once. He burst into very loud laughter, and said, “Well, you can regard relating to local deities to be like getting a pet dog. You could have all kinds of pet dogs, and maybe you could have a horse or a yak as well.” The day before I talked with him, there had been the abhisheka of the local deity of the Tangna region, who was the family deity of the king of Tibet. This deity rode on a white yak and he wore a papier-mâché hat. And Jamgön Kongtrül of Shechen said, “Yesterday you got a white yak, and you should keep it. It might be useful at some point.”

  THE UNION OF SAMAYASATTVA AND JNANASATTVA

  In mahayoga, your samayasattva visualization is an expression of your pure mind. Beyond that, you invite the jnanasattva as usual, but your attitude to the jnanasattva shifts. Instead of the jnanasattva being like a person who comes along and reinforces you, now it is more like a person who comes along and destroys you. It is as if the trip of visualization is being defused by inviting the jnanasattva. You are inviting the jnanasattva to break your fixation on the samayasattva, the hanging on to it. So you no longer have any fixed idea of maintaining your samayasattva as valid because it has been blessed by the jnanasattva. If any ego-clinging is formed toward the samayasattva, the jnanasattva comes along and cuts through that.

  The purpose of mahayoga is to make the visualization as complete and relevant as possible. In the three earlier yanas, there is an enormous split of confusion between the samayasattva and the jnanasattva; when you invite the jnanasattva into the samayasattva, it is as if you are inviting some new element into your system. There is still a split and a feeling of separateness. But in mahayoga, an enormous change takes place. The approach to visualization becomes entirely different. You are no longer thinking in terms of jnanasattva and samayasattva being separate.

  At this point, although you still have little hang-ups, the presence of ego does not have much play. You lost your ego a long time ago. However, even if ego is gone, it is not automatic that the two sattvas are together, because when the distinction between the visualizer and the visualization is taken away, you still have mind. You are not quite there yet, but you are not here either. There are three levels of experience: first, this is gone, and that is happening; next, that is gone; then, a greater that is still there. So this is a sort of reference-less experience, but that is still somewhat of a reference point.

  BEING IN LEAGUE WITH THE WORLD

  The basis of mahayogayana is upaya, or skillful means, which is related with visualization practice, or utpattikrama. But in mahayoga, visualization is not just visualizing deities or herukas. The visualization practice is more about relating with the world rather than simply visualizing deities, as we might do in lower tantra. Visualization in mahayoga has the quality of actually experiencing things as they are in the fullest sense. The elements and emotions and everything that goes on in your mind can be seen as they are, directly, magically, powerfully, without any hesitation. So the way that visualization in mahayoga relates with the phenomenal world is based on an appreciation of the phenomenal world as it is.

  This type of visualization is like wanting to go to Bhutan, and knowing that the royal family is your friend. You know that you will have no difficulty getting into the country, and you know that you will receive royal hospitality when you get there. Mahayoga visualization practice has that kind of easiness and lack of hassle. Previously, there was always a feeling of hassle or problems, which made visualization practice very trying and difficult. But in mahayoga visualization, you feel that you are in league with the world. There is a sense of tremendous accomplishment, understanding, and freedom.

  Mahayoga visualization relates with what are referred to in tantric texts as names, words, and letters. This does not mean names, words, and letters in the ordinary sense; it means conceptualizations. In visualization, any concept we use to label the phenomenal world is being transmuted. Because of that, there is more room for simplicity and directness. Visualizations from this point of view are not separate from the reality that we experience in ordinary, everyday life. There is oneness with that, somehow.

  In mahayoga, visualization goes with symbolism hand in hand. If you are going to the bank to get some cash, that automatically includes writing a check. If you are going to drive, that automatically includes using the steering wheel. There is that kind of command over what you are going to do. There is a quality of ease and real command over the universe.

  1. The Tibetan term nopika appears to be a variant form of the Sanskrit sadhanopayika, which is a compound of sadhana, or “practice”; upaya, or “means” or “approach”; and ika, which makes “means” an adjective. So altogether, sadhanapayika means “having the approach of practice.” Trungpa Rinpoche refers to nopika as “essential practice.”

  2. At the behest of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Venerable Tenga Rinpoche (1932–2012) came to Boulder, Colorado, in 1985 to construct a three-dimensional mandala of the Chakrasamvara palace, primarily as a means of instructing practitioners of the Chakrasamvara sadhana.

  3. This collection, known as the Rinchen Terdzö (Precious Treasury of Treasure Texts), includes about eight hundred abhishekas and related sadhanas. Not only had Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche received all these abhishekas, but by the age of fourteen he was sufficiently proficient in them to confer the entire Rinchen Terdzö cycle of teachings over a six-month period of all-day ceremonies.

  4. The five buddha-families can be elaborated into a mandala of one hundred deities. The one hundred buddha-families include fifty-eight wrathful deities and forty-two peaceful deities.

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  Mahayoga: The Eight Logos

  The vajrayana is sympathetic to samsara. It accepts the ugliness of samsara and wears it as an ornament. The vajrayana is never embarrassed by samsara. Using the fear of the intensity of vajrayana as inspiration is part of the vajrayana psyche.

  THE PRACTICE OF THE EIGHT LOGOS

  In the mahayogayana, we have a variety of ways, all kinds of setups, and various examples of how magic can work in the phenomenal world. One example is what is known as the eight logos. In Tibetan this is called druppa kagye, or the eight types of ka. Druppa means “practice,” gye means “eight,” and ka means “sacred word” or “command”; so druppa kagye is the “practice of the eight sacred words.”

  In this case, ka is more like a fundamental cosmic structure; it is the ultimate utterance of the universe from the point of view of the sambhogakaya. Therefore, I decided to translate ka using the Christian term Logos, which comes from Greek and means “Word” or “Utterance.” Ka is both sacred word and first word. It is the primeval expression of things. So altogether we have eight types of primeval expression.

  The Origins of the Eight Logos Teaching

  The eight logos teaching had its origins in India. For instance, the fourth logos, the brewing of the anti-death potion, is connected with the eighth-century Indian teacher Vimalamitra. The trouble is that, because this teaching is from the Nyingma tradition, we do not have manuscripts in Sanskrit, although there are Tibetan texts. In fact, I am one of the relatively few people who have come to India from Tibet who hold this lineage and have received the transmission, or lung, of the Nyingma tantras, which consist of over thirty volumes.

  The eight logos teaching is all terma, except for the Sakya version of Vajrakilaya, which is kama; kama means “non-terma,” to put it very simply.1 The Sakya have maintained similar teachings that have been handed down for generations. The Sakyas survived very beauti
fully the religious persecutions that Buddhists went through when Langdarma, the grandson of King Trisong Detsen, killed monks and destroyed monasteries. The current head of the Sakya order, Sakya Trizin, is the direct descendent of the Khön family, the same family as Padmasambhava’s disciple, Khönlü Wangpo. This family specialized in the deity Vajra Heruka of the Vajrakilaya practice.

  But apart from that, we do not have any records of this teaching. Supposedly there are Nyingma kamas that were handed down, but none of the eight logos were originally handed down orally from one teacher to another. They are all terma.

  Transforming the Eight Consciousnesses into Living Enlightenment

  The eight logos are related with transcending the eight types of consciousness and transforming them into what is known as the glorious wrathful deity Shri Heruka. The essence of Shri Heruka is thatness. It is isness in terms of the magical quality, rather than purely as an expression of truth. Isness on the mahayana level, or even the hinayana level, is referred to simply as that. It is the thatness of the rock, the thatness of the tree, the thatness of the pulsating heart of compassion. But in this case, the quality of isness or thatness is much more direct, simple, and provocative. Fundamental thatness is a living body; it is living enlightenment, which is called Shri Heruka. Thatness is expressed as eight deities arrayed in a mandala.

  THE EIGHT-DEITY MANDALA

  I will now go through the eight logos individually, and identify the deities associated with each one.

  Yangdak: The Completely Pure

  The first logos is called Yangdak, which means completely pure. Yangdak is blue, which is the color of the vajra family. He is connected with the eastern section of the mandala, although he could be approached as a separate entity in your practice as well.

  The philosophy behind this logos is that of holding the Buddha in your hand, which is known in Tibetan as sang-gye lakchang. Sang-gye is “Buddha,” lak is “hand,” chang means “grasp”; so sang-gye lakchang is “holding Buddha in your hand.” At this point, since you already have gained such a powerful, magical existence yourself, it is like having a little Buddha sitting in your hand. It is up to you if you want to crush this little Buddha, if you want to eat it up, or if you want to nourish it.

  The idea is one of overpowering, even transcending, the notion of enlightenment. From this perspective, buddhahood, or any notion of enlightenment, is not a big deal. You are looking back from the enlightenment point of view, and you are seeing that the idea of attaining enlightenment is very small thinking. You can see beyond that. You can see that the path and the direction called enlightenment is a very insignificant thing. This is the approach of the Yangdak mandala.

  The deities that are involved here are wrathful figures, usually with eight arms and three faces, wearing the customary bone ornaments and the various costumes of a yogin. The idea is that all the costumes worn by Rudra have been taken over. They have been transformed, blessed, and worn again as enlightened power, rather than the ego power of Rudra.

  The symbolism that goes with Yangdak includes a skull cup with eight wicks and filled with oil. The idea is that light can exist within light; one torch with eight types of flame illuminates everything. There is a quality of complete accomplishment, complete command. Enlightenment is no longer problematic. This is connected with what is called the dawn of Vajrasattva, or a glimpse of Vajrasattva. In mahayoga, Vajrasattva is very important because Vajrasattva is the one who brings coolness, as opposed to passion and aggression, which is hot. Vajrasattva also brings a sense of promise and an actual visual glimpse of something.

  Yangdak is connected with the idea of taking delight in the charnel ground as the most luxurious place of all. As we discussed earlier, the charnel ground is quite unlike a cemetery or graveyard. It is a place where bodies are put at random, and vultures and wild animals come along and tear the bodies apart and eat them on the spot. Consequently the charnel ground is filled with garbage. There are floating hairs that are blown by the wind, and bones, and flies. There is a feeling of the joke of death. The skulls look as if they are laughing as they stare at you with their teeth sticking out. It is a real place of death, rather than a churchyard cemetery or a graveyard where everything is neatly placed, and the only thing you can see is names. Here you see the real stuff.

  The charnel ground is the fundamental tantric symbol of dharmadhatu. It is a place of birth, as well as a place of death. I suppose we could say it is like a hospital, a place where you are born and where you die. Hospitals are a new kind of charnel ground, with another kind of horror.

  So with the first logos, we have the idea of holding the Buddha in your hand, and the idea of taking delight in the charnel ground of phenomenal experience. You see the whole world as a charnel ground.

  Jampal or Yamantaka: The Conqueror of the Lord of Death

  The second heruka is called Jampal, or Manjushri Yamantaka. Yamantaka is the Lord of the Lord of Death. Therefore, he has control over birth and death and the happenings of life, which are also an expression of birth and death. Jampal is yellow, which is the color of the ratna family, and he is in the southern section of the mandala. Yamantaka is the enemy of Yama, the Lord of Death. He is the wrathful aspect of Manjushri.

  The practice that goes along with Yamantaka is transforming life into wisdom. Usually life is the last thing remaining to be transformed into wisdom. Ordinarily you may give up life, you may get free from life, but you cannot transform it into wisdom. Life is a flowing experience, whereas wisdom is a perpetual experience. But in this case, very strangely, that transformation is workable: life is transformed into wisdom by turning the four wheels of Jampal. And by the way, these wheels or chakras do not necessarily refer to psychic centers.

  THE FOUR WHEELS.

  The secret wheel. The first wheel is called the secret wheel, which is connected with the mind. This wheel brings all phenomenal experience into one mindedness, one mind, one awareness. This awareness is the same type of awareness as in mahamudra; it is the awareness or reminder of mindfulness that comes from samsara.

  The wheel of existence. The second wheel is called the wheel of existence, which is connected with the navel. This wheel has nothing to do with the traditional iconographic image also called the “wheel of existence,” or “the wheel of life.”2

  The mark of birth, the mark of existence, is your navel or belly button. Your navel expresses that you have actually been born, that you have expressed yourself as a child of this particular earth. Likewise, when the mind operates, it begins a process of duplication; there is a magical duplication of the mind in creating a further world. That is why the second wheel is called the wheel of existence. Dharmata is the dharmakaya’s version of a belly button. With dharmata, or dharma-ness, everything is seen as an expression of the dharma, completely and fully.

  The wheel of cutting. The third wheel is called the wheel of cutting, which is connected with the arms and hands. This wheel is the wheel of action. The wheel of cutting uses the hands as a tool. It might be better to say the “wheel of function” rather than the “wheel of cutting,” but you can blame the panditas or scholars of the past for calling it that.

  Having already gone through the first and second wheels, you will be able to perform the four karmas of pacifying, enriching, magnetizing, and destroying, and you will be able to perform the ten types of miracle, the ten magical actions of personal power over others connected with the four karmas.3 This wheel is like having hands and having a chance to use them, so there is no hesitation. You can do what you want, with no fear of failing. A means of working with other people becomes a part of your existence, so there is no problem. Once you have expressed yourself in terms of that magical feasibility, you begin to develop ambidextrousness or multidextrousness. You become so completely functional that all actions are fulfilled. There is a quality of complete efficiency.

  The wheel of miracle or emanation. The fourth wheel is the wheel of miracle or emanation, which is associated with
your feet and legs, and with walking. This wheel is connected with covering ground, and with being prepared to relate to any threat of the re-creation of ego. Your mind is so inspired and so much at the vajra-mind level that you can think of all kinds of ways of working with the samsaric and nirvanic worlds. You could work with the world by means of teaching, by compassion, or by destruction. All of that is so much a part of your behavior that your inspiration never runs out.

  The four wheels are magical expressions of Manjushri as Yamantaka, the Lord of the Lord of Death. They are a magical way to conquer the world—a way to overpower death and eternity at the same time.

  Hayagriva: The Subjugator of Rudra

  The third logos is called Hayagriva, or Tamdrin, the horse-headed one.4 Hayagriva is red in color, and is the padma family heruka. According to myth, Hayagriva was the first and foremost subjugator of Rudra.

  The practice connected with this logos is to realize that the universe is a gigantic world filled with gullible people. You can press the button of the fire alarm, and everyone will stand up very faithfully and very honestly, like good citizens. That is the sort of humor that goes with this logos.

  In the iconography, you can see horse heads coming out of Hayagriva’s head. So the practice in this mandala is referred to as the three neighs of a horse. This practice is involved with magical power. From Hayagriva’s point of view, the universe is totally gullible, so the idea of a horse’s neigh is that of awakening and provoking gullible people.