WORDS OF WISDOM AUTHOR: KHENPO TSULTRIM LODRO

The sutra system also acknowledges tathāgatagarbha is luminous and empty at once, but neglects to mention that it may have multiple manifestations. However, we learn from the tantric texts that tathāgatagarbha is the true nature of all phenomena; to ordinary people, it appears as the defiled world we are in; whereas to realized beings, the manifestation of tathāgatagarbha is the mandala of the buddhas—the world of peaceful and wrathful deities.

Then, how do we classify beginners? Simply speaking, if someone, after swallowing poison that can otherwise kill an ordinary person instantly, is able to easily transform that poison into something harmless with nothing but one’s own power of meditation practice, one is said to have graduated from the class of beginners. We can all measure our own state of practice against this criterion. If we fail to reach this level with our practice, we must be very vigilant with our actions.

The view of the Inner Tantra is different from other schools. Simply speaking, in terms of the view on emptiness, all the schools from Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka up to the one below the Inner Tantra basically uphold the same idea, namely, to realize the truth of emptiness beyond all conceptual elaborations. But the Inner Tantra is notably different in one aspect: the sutra system holds as its supreme view that the appearance of all phenomena is exactly the same as we see it, that ordinary people take it for real while in fact it is spurious; the Inner Tantra views all phenomena as illusory not only in reality but even from the standpoint of appearance—the stars, mountains, and rivers are not what we perceive but are manifestations of the pure mandala of the buddhas.

Dzogchen practice is really quite simple. Because it is the practice for the sharp-minded, some parts are a bit similar to the Ch’an practice. But the difference between the two is that one still needs to be trained in some specific practices before attaining realization of Dzogchen; once realization is attained, many practices then become unnecessary.

Practicing Dzogchen can help practitioners not only attain results in generation stage and completion stage but can also go further beyond. But if it is taught prematurely, practitioners can be sidetracked from the main path. Just like Ch’an Buddhism often advises to “let go of attachment,” so subsequently followers stop all the virtuous activities such as life release or recitation of scriptures, thinking all such undertakings are attachment of sorts. Many problems arise because of this.

How should beginners treat the five meats and five nectars? In Vajrayana, some nectar pills are made with more than a thousand kinds of herbal medicine. By adding a bit of the five meats and five nectars to the ingredients, these nectar pills are suitable for beginners. Naturally, if a beginner still finds such pills repulsive, he or she can refuse them as long as there is no outright rejection of or biased view against such practice, keeping in mind that the adverse reaction is only due to one’s own immature capacity and rather inferior state of practice.

Today, the complete lineage of the Inner Tantra can only be found in Tibetan Buddhism. It prevailed in India up until some eight or nine hundred years ago; when the Tibetans went to India to learn Buddhadharma, it was already difficult to come upon traces of the lineage. In ancient India, practitioners of the Inner Tantra were very discreet, the reason being that India at the time was a very complex place with people holding myriad and opposing views everywhere, a condition ripe for intense argument to erupt easily. Even Sakyamuni Buddha checked his words carefully when propagating the Dharma.

When the Inner Tantra came to Tibet, there were very few religious sects around, only Buddhism and Bon. Those who practiced the Lesser Vehicle also practiced the Great Vehicle simultaneously, and the Great Vehicle practitioners also took up Vajrayana practice at the same time. This tradition is upheld even today in Tibet. Therefore, the Inner Tantra practice in Tibet is not as secretive as in ancient India but kept relatively open.

I have even heard some so-called tantric practitioners lie to have sex, claiming “if you do the union of male-female practice with me, you will achieve enlightenment.” Please note that if you run into this situation in the future, you must know the person who makes such a claim and the claim itself are both questionable. This is certainly not tantric practice; it is conducting an evil action in the name of Vajrayana. Vajrayana also points out if unwholesome deeds are committed in its name, they are considered more serious than the five hellish deeds. It is very important that we understand this clearly and correctly, and never blindly trust such people and such words.

Actually, the sutra system also acknowledges the tantric view, just that it was not emphasized by the Buddha in his teachings to people of lesser capacity. In some texts, sutra assents tacitly to this view, claiming that when bodhisattvas attain the eighth bhumi, three transformations or three pure states take place. One of the pure states is purity of the five sense organs. When the five sense organs are purified, we see all things, including this world we are living in, as sublime as the Western Pure Land of Amitabha or the Eastern Pure Land of the Medicine Buddha. The Buddha told us in fact this world has always been this way, and has never changed. Because ordinary people have afflictive and cognitive hindrances, the true reality of the world is thus obscured. Upon reaching the eighth bhumi and having the five sense organs purified, only then will we see reality as it is. So, what is that reality? It is the mandala of the buddha, says Vajrayana. The Buddha expounded this clearly in many sutras, such as in the teaching of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra on dependent arising.

In The Ornament of Clear Realization and the Prajnaparamita sutras, methods are often mentioned for transforming afflictions into the path. One of them is bodhicitta; for example, unwholesome deeds such as killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and lying are no longer deemed unwholesome if committed out of bodhicitta. Another method is gaining realization of emptiness; with this wisdom as a basis, afflictions stop being afflictions and are turned into the path naturally. Thanks to bodhicitta and realization of emptiness, afflictions are made useful; otherwise, in trying to fight afflictions head on, one could come upon harm, even end up in the three lower realms.