Read Online Fearless in Tibet: The Life of the Mystic Terton Sogyal by Matteo Pistono - Free Book Online Page B
Book: Fearless in Tibet: The Life of the Mystic Terton Sogyal by Matteo Pistono
Read Free Book Online
Authors: Matteo Pistono
Ads: Link
spontaneously emptying samsara from its very depths!
Sogyal one-pointedly practiced The Most Secret Wrathful Vajrakilaya deity yoga for five years, remembering Padmasambhava’s instructions from ten centuries previous, and wrote associated esoteric liturgies, rituals, and mantras of the practice. A prophecy associated with the teaching instructed Sogyal, “Don’t spread the teaching to others for five years, even if someone approaches you with a request for it.” Indeed, Padmasambhava had warned tertöns, “If you divulge the instructions too early, other people will be jealous, covet the teachings, or slander them; so first bring forth the signs of accomplishment in your own sadhana practice.”
Of the myriad deity yoga practices in Tibetan Buddhism, Vajrakilaya is central to the tantric tradition of Padmasambhava, and it was Sogyal’s principal deity. Many deities of the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon are depicted as peaceful: sitting on lotus thrones with flowing silk robes, hands positioned in meditative equipoise, eyes softly cast low or inspiringly open. Such images symbolize a specific type of activity—deities such as Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, or Tara represent the Buddha’s qualities of compassion, unexcelled learning, and the granting of freedom from fear. The lineage of the Dalai Lamas embodies the Buddha of Compassion, Avalokiteshvara, who is often depicted in paintings as having a thousand helpful hands.
Vajrakilaya, on the other hand, is striding out of a raging firestorm, rolling between his hands a three-bladed ritual phurba dagger the size of the universe, grunting terrifying noises, and ornamented and clothed with various skins and animal parts. Vajrakilaya is the epitome of wrathful enlightened activity. Wrath is differentiated from anger. The intention behind anger is to inflict pain and harm. The purpose of Vajrakilaya’s wrath is to decisively remove obstacles on the spiritual path and to purify spiritual pollution, which is why Padmasambhava chose Vajrakilaya as his first instructions to his 25 closest disciples. Wrathful action and violent action may appear similar, but the motivations are diametrically opposite. Manifesting Vajrakilaya’s wrathful qualities, practitioners swiftly subjugate obstacles to their inner development and defeat the enemies of compassion by destroying their own self-centered egoism and negativity. Vajrakilaya’s principal armament is the phurba dagger, the great weapon of compassion, brandished to destroy demonic and negative forces. There is a particular emphasis in Vajrakilaya practice to cut through and annihilate anger and vengeance. At times when negativity is intense and pervasive, it is necessary for compassion to be accompanied by the power of the phurba.
When Sogyal practiced deity yoga, he utilized mantra, sacred hand and bodily movements, and unwavering concentration to nurture and ultimately unite with awakenend qualities of Vajrakilaya. To unite inseparably with Vajrakilaya meant that Sogyal’s mind realized internally the qualities that the deity represents—fierce compassion and enlightened action. It was not as if the qualities of active compassion and wisdom that perceives reality as it is did not exist within Sogyal’s being previously, but through deity yoga, such enlightened qualities manifested, just as polishing a diamond brings out the brilliant shine.
CHAPTER 5
TRAINING with the MASTERS
D ERGE R EGION , E ASTERN T IBET
Year of the Wood Monkey to the Wood Bird, 1884–1885
In the autumn of the Wood Monkey year (1884), Sogyal traveled to the fertile Mesho Valley to Dzongsar Tashi Lhatse Monastery to seek out the great master Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. Sogyal sought out Khyentse because Padmasambhava had prophesied the elder master as custodian for The Most Secret Wrathful Vajrakilaya . For every treasure teaching, Padmasambhava specified a holder, or custodian, whose duty was to protect and propagate the study and practice of the
Sogyal one-pointedly practiced The Most Secret Wrathful Vajrakilaya deity yoga for five years, remembering Padmasambhava’s instructions from ten centuries previous, and wrote associated esoteric liturgies, rituals, and mantras of the practice. A prophecy associated with the teaching instructed Sogyal, “Don’t spread the teaching to others for five years, even if someone approaches you with a request for it.” Indeed, Padmasambhava had warned tertöns, “If you divulge the instructions too early, other people will be jealous, covet the teachings, or slander them; so first bring forth the signs of accomplishment in your own sadhana practice.”
Of the myriad deity yoga practices in Tibetan Buddhism, Vajrakilaya is central to the tantric tradition of Padmasambhava, and it was Sogyal’s principal deity. Many deities of the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon are depicted as peaceful: sitting on lotus thrones with flowing silk robes, hands positioned in meditative equipoise, eyes softly cast low or inspiringly open. Such images symbolize a specific type of activity—deities such as Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, or Tara represent the Buddha’s qualities of compassion, unexcelled learning, and the granting of freedom from fear. The lineage of the Dalai Lamas embodies the Buddha of Compassion, Avalokiteshvara, who is often depicted in paintings as having a thousand helpful hands.
Vajrakilaya, on the other hand, is striding out of a raging firestorm, rolling between his hands a three-bladed ritual phurba dagger the size of the universe, grunting terrifying noises, and ornamented and clothed with various skins and animal parts. Vajrakilaya is the epitome of wrathful enlightened activity. Wrath is differentiated from anger. The intention behind anger is to inflict pain and harm. The purpose of Vajrakilaya’s wrath is to decisively remove obstacles on the spiritual path and to purify spiritual pollution, which is why Padmasambhava chose Vajrakilaya as his first instructions to his 25 closest disciples. Wrathful action and violent action may appear similar, but the motivations are diametrically opposite. Manifesting Vajrakilaya’s wrathful qualities, practitioners swiftly subjugate obstacles to their inner development and defeat the enemies of compassion by destroying their own self-centered egoism and negativity. Vajrakilaya’s principal armament is the phurba dagger, the great weapon of compassion, brandished to destroy demonic and negative forces. There is a particular emphasis in Vajrakilaya practice to cut through and annihilate anger and vengeance. At times when negativity is intense and pervasive, it is necessary for compassion to be accompanied by the power of the phurba.
When Sogyal practiced deity yoga, he utilized mantra, sacred hand and bodily movements, and unwavering concentration to nurture and ultimately unite with awakenend qualities of Vajrakilaya. To unite inseparably with Vajrakilaya meant that Sogyal’s mind realized internally the qualities that the deity represents—fierce compassion and enlightened action. It was not as if the qualities of active compassion and wisdom that perceives reality as it is did not exist within Sogyal’s being previously, but through deity yoga, such enlightened qualities manifested, just as polishing a diamond brings out the brilliant shine.
CHAPTER 5
TRAINING with the MASTERS
D ERGE R EGION , E ASTERN T IBET
Year of the Wood Monkey to the Wood Bird, 1884–1885
In the autumn of the Wood Monkey year (1884), Sogyal traveled to the fertile Mesho Valley to Dzongsar Tashi Lhatse Monastery to seek out the great master Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. Sogyal sought out Khyentse because Padmasambhava had prophesied the elder master as custodian for The Most Secret Wrathful Vajrakilaya . For every treasure teaching, Padmasambhava specified a holder, or custodian, whose duty was to protect and propagate the study and practice of the
Similar Books
