openly and carelessly about a precious jewel they possessed and, as a result, attracting the attention of thieves. ‘Mantra’ means ‘protection for the mind’. The function of Secret Mantra is to enable us to progress swiftly through the stages of the spiritual path by protecting our mind against ordinary appearances and ordinary conceptions.
The Secret Mantra practices and scriptures are also called the ‘Vajrayana’, in which ‘vajra’ means ‘indestructible’ and ‘yana’ means ‘vehicle’. In this context, ‘vajra’ refers to the indivisibility of method and wisdom, where method is spontaneous great bliss and wisdom is the unmistaken understanding of emptiness. Method is the cause of the Form Body of a Buddha and wisdom is the cause of the Truth Body. The union of method and wisdom that is the union of spontaneous great bliss and emptiness is unique to Secret Mantra, and is the quickest way to attain the two bodies of a Buddha.
Je Tsongkhapa explained that an authentic Secret Mantra practice must possess four attributes, known as the ‘four complete purities’. These are: complete purity of place, complete purity of body, complete purity of enjoyments, and complete purity of deeds. The practice of these four complete purities was not revealed in the Sutra teachings, but is to be found only in Secret Mantra. Secret Mantra is distinguished from Sutra by the practice of bringing the future result into the present path. For example, even though we have not yet attained enlightenment, when we practise Secret Mantra we try to prevent ordinary appearances and ordinary conceptions of our environment and instead visualize our surroundings as the mandala of a Deity. In the same way, we prevent ordinary appearance of our body, our enjoyments, and our deeds, and, in their place, generate ourself as a Deity, visualize our enjoyments as those of a Buddha, and practise performing enlightened deeds. By doing such practices, we can attain the resultant state of Buddhahood very rapidly. These four practices are essential for both the generation stage and completion stage of Secret Mantra and thus they form the foundation for the teachings presented in this book, such as the instructions on inner fire (Tib. tummo).
Secret Mantra has four levels: Action Tantra, Performance Tantra, Yoga Tantra, and Highest Yoga Tantra. Action Tantra principally emphasizes external actions, Performance Tantra places equal emphasis on both external and internal actions, Yoga Tantra principally emphasizes internal actions, and Highest Yoga Tantra is the supreme class of Tantra.
All four levels of Secret Mantra transform great bliss into the spiritual path, but the methods of transformation differ according to the level being practised. In Action Tantra, the meditator generates bliss by looking at a visualized goddess, and then transforms that bliss into the path. In Performance Tantra, the meditator generates bliss by exchanging smiles with the goddess, and in Yoga Tantra, by holding hands with her and so forth. In Highest Yoga Tantra, the meditator generates bliss by imagining sexual embrace with a consort and, at advanced stages, by engaging in actual embrace; and then transforms that bliss into the spiritual path. It should be noted, however, that it is very difficult to use great bliss as a method for attaining enlightenment, and if we are able to do so we have indeed attained a formidable accomplishment. As the great Mahasiddha Saraha said, ‘Everyone is excited by copulation, but very few can transform that bliss into the spiritual path.’
Generally, Buddhism teaches that attachment is a delusion that is to be avoided, and eventually abandoned, but in Secret Mantra there is a method for transforming attachment into the path. However, to practise this method we must be very skilful. In this practice, we use attachment to generate great bliss and then use that mind of great bliss to meditate on emptiness. Only if we can do this is it a transformation of attachment. Attachment itself cannot be used directly as a path because it is a delusion, and even in Secret Mantra it is finally to be abandoned. In authentic Secret Mantra practice, the bliss generated from attachment meditates on emptiness and thereby overcomes all the delusions, including attachment itself. This is similar to the way in which the fire produced from rubbing two pieces of wood together eventually consumes the wood from which it arose.
For those who are unskilful, or whose minds are untrained, such practices of transformation are impossible. For this reason, the Yogis and great meditators of the past have said that to attain the realizations of Secret Mantra, one’s mind should first be controlled by training in the Sutra stages of the path. Without building this firm foundation, there is absolutely no way to attain a pure experience of Secret Mantra.
Revealing these instructions of Secret Mantra can be dangerous for both the Spiritual Guide and the disciple, if either is not properly qualified. At the very least, they should both have an appropriate motivation. A Teacher should reveal these methods only out of the great compassionate intention to spread the holy Dharma for the benefit of others. To reveal these methods out of attachment to the happiness of this life – wishing to achieve fame, gifts, and so forth – would be a cause for taking rebirth in the deepest hell.
It would also be dangerous for the disciple to receive the empowerments and instructions of Secret Mantra if he or she did not strive to keep the vows and commitments; wished only an increase in reputation, possessions, and so forth; or merely desired to collect information for academic purposes. Any of these, or similar worldly motivations, would result in nothing but future suffering.
It is very important, therefore, that both the Spiritual Guide and the disciple have controlled minds and an impeccable motivation. Even though we may call ourself a Buddhist and take refuge in the Three Jewels every day, these alone are insufficient qualifications for the practice of Secret Mantra. We also need to generate the highest of all motivations – the precious mind of bodhichitta – and dedicate ourself solely to benefiting others. Therefore, whenever we meditate on Secret Mantra, we should begin by generating bodhichitta while reciting the following prayer:
For the sake of all sentient beings
I will drink the nectar of this instruction
So that I may attain Buddhahood within this life
Through the profound path of Secret Mantra.
There now follows an introduction to Mahamudra in general and to this text in particular. Mahamudra is a Sanskrit term composed of two parts: ‘maha’ meaning ‘great’ and ‘mudra’ meaning ‘seal’. In the Sutra Mahamudra system, great seal refers to emptiness. In King of Concentration Sutra Buddha says:
The nature of all phenomena is the great seal.
Here, ‘nature’ refers to the ultimate nature of all phenomena, which is their emptiness, or lack of inherent existence. This emptiness is called the ‘great seal’ because phenomena never move from the state of lacking inherent existence. In general, all Buddhists assert four views:
(1) All products are impermanent
(2) All contaminated things are the nature of suffering
(3) All phenomena are selfless
(4) Only nirvana is peace
Because these views are irrefutable, they are called the ‘four seals’. Of these, the third is known as the ‘great seal’. Since emptiness is the nature of all phenomena, it is called a ‘seal’, and since a direct realization of emptiness enables us to accomplish the great purpose – complete liberation from the sufferings of samsara – it is also called ‘great’.
In the present text, Mahamudra meditation is explained not according to the Sutra system but according to the completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra. In this system ‘great’ refers to spontaneous great bliss and ‘seal’ refers to emptiness. Therefore, in Secret Mantra, Mahamudra is the union of spontaneous great bliss and emptiness.
According to Secret Mantra, Mahamudra is divided into two stages: causal-time Mahamudra and resultant-time Mahamudra. Causal-time is the time spent on the path leading
