infinite worlds appears in the aspect of countless Rupavajra Goddesses – female Deities, white in colour, holding mirrors reflecting the whole universe, who are born from omniscient wisdom mixed completely with the ultimate nature of all forms. The whole of space is pervaded by these beautiful goddesses, and we offer them to the assembly of Guru Heruka and all the holy beings in the Field of Merit.
We then imagine that the ultimate nature of all sounds that exist throughout infinite worlds appears in the aspect of countless Shaptavajra Goddesses – female Deities, blue in colour, holding flutes that spontaneously produce enchanting music, who are born from omniscient wisdom mixed completely with the ultimate nature of all sounds. The whole of space is pervaded by these beautiful goddesses, and we offer them to the assembly of Guru Heruka and the other holy beings.
We then imagine that the ultimate nature of all smells that exist throughout infinite worlds appears in the aspect of countless Gändhavajra Goddesses – female Deities, yellow in colour, holding beautiful jewelled containers filled with special perfumes whose fragrance pervades the whole world, who are born from omniscient wisdom mixed completely with the ultimate nature of all smells. The whole of space is pervaded by these beautiful goddesses, and we offer them to the assembly of Guru Heruka and the other holy beings.
With the same understanding, we offer infinite offerings of Rasavajra Goddesses – female Deities, red in colour, holding precious containers filled with nectar possessing three qualities – medicine nectar that cures all disease, life nectar that overcomes death and wisdom nectar that destroys delusions – who are born from omniscient wisdom mixed completely with the ultimate nature of all tastes. We then offer infinite offerings of Parshavajra Goddesses – female Deities, green in colour, holding precious garments, who are born from omniscient wisdom mixed completely with the ultimate nature of all tactile objects.
These offerings have five functions. They cause us (1) to accumulate great merit, (2) to increase our knowledge of the profound view of emptiness, thereby accumulating a great collection of wisdom, (3) to develop and increase great bliss, (4) to purify ordinary appearances and conceptions, and (5) to gain the completion stage realization of isolated body.
Qualified practitioners of Highest Yoga Tantra have experience of the common paths of renunciation, bodhichitta and the profound view of emptiness. If we have deep knowledge of emptiness, the ultimate nature of phenomena, it is not difficult to offer these eight outer offerings and five objects of desire. Even if we are not qualified at the moment, we can still train in these practices continually so that sooner or later we will become a qualified practitioner.
Although this way of accumulating merit is a very special, higher practice, it is not a good sign if, despite the fact that we are making these mental and verbal offerings, we continue to have a miserly attitude towards our money and possessions, holding them very tightly and having no intention of using them to accumulate merit. We must have the intention to use our money and possessions to accumulate merit for the benefit of others and, every day if possible, offer actual water for drinking, water for bathing, flowers, incense, lights, perfume, food and music. We should always dedicate all our activities to the happiness of all living beings.
INNER OFFERING
From our heart we emanate countless Rasavajra Goddesses and imagine that from the huge skullcup containing the inner nectar, as vast as an ocean, they scoop up nectar with their skullcups and offer it to the countless holy beings in the Field of Merit. At the same time, we recite the offering prayer from the sadhana: OM GURU HERUKA VAJRAYOGINI SAPARIWARA OM AH HUM. We hold the inner offering container in our right hand, around the level of our forehead, and then, as we say OM AH HUM, we dip our left ring finger into the nectar, flick a drop into space, and imagine that Guru Heruka Father and Mother and all the Field of Merit experience spontaneous great bliss.
SECRET OFFERING
We make this offering by concentrating on the essential meaning of the following prayer:
And I offer most attractive illusory mudras,
A host of messengers born from places, born from mantra and spontaneously born,
With slender bodies, skilled in the sixty-four arts of love,
And possessing the splendour of youthful beauty.
By making this offering we create the cause to generate spontaneous great bliss ourself in the future by relying upon a consort, or mudra. The essence of Secret Mantra is to generate spontaneous great bliss by dissolving the inner winds within the central channel. This can be done to a limited extent through meditation alone, but to complete the practice in this life we need to accept an action mudra. Through completion stage meditation we can completely loosen the knots in the channel wheels at the crown, throat, navel and secret place; and by relying upon vajra recitation we can partially loosen the knots at the heart channel wheel. However, we cannot completely loosen these knots by meditation alone. These will naturally loosen completely at death, but, if the practitioner wants this to happen before death, he or she must accept an action mudra. Through the force of the two central channels uniting during embrace, the downward-voiding wind of the consort will enter the practitioner’s central channel, causing the knots at the heart channel wheel to loosen completely. The practitioner can then complete the path to enlightenment in that life.
The correct time to rely upon an action mudra is after having gained the experience of dissolving some of the inner winds within the central channel at the heart channel wheel. When through this practice we are able to perceive clearly the eight signs of dissolution from the mirage-like appearance to the clear light, and we have attained the experience of isolated body, isolated speech and isolated mind, it is appropriate to enter into union with an action mudra.
A mudra is called a ‘messenger’ because he or she fulfils our wishes by bringing great bliss. There are three types of messenger: outer, inner and secret. These are explained in detail in the book The New Guide to Dakini Land. In this context, an outer messenger is a knowledge consort. The verse from the sadhana mentions three types of outer messenger: those born from places, those born from mantra, and those who are spontaneously born. The first are Dakinis from the twenty-four holy places of Heruka, the second are messengers with realizations of generation stage or the first stages of completion stage, and the third are messengers with a realization of the union of clear light and illusory body that is either the union that needs learning or the Union of No More Learning.
We visualize countless action mudras of all three types emanating from our heart, merging into one, and dissolving into Vajravarahi, who is embracing Father Heruka. We imagine that through the force of this offering our Guru generates spontaneous great bliss. From his or her side, our Guru has no need of this offering because he or she already abides immovably in a state of great bliss; the purpose of making this offering is to create the cause for us to generate spontaneous great bliss in the future.
We should visualize all the knowledge women as youthful and extremely attractive. According to the words of the sadhana, these consorts are ‘skilled in the sixty-four arts of love’. In the Sutras, Buddha explains sixty-four arts in connection with sports such as archery, but in the Tantras he explains sixty-four arts of love as methods for inducing spontaneous great bliss. There are eight basic arts: embracing, kissing, biting, scratching, enticing walking, whistling, performing the actions of a man, and lying on top. Each of these can be performed in eight different ways, making sixty-four arts in all.
In Guhyasamaja Tantra Vajradhara stresses how important it is for Tantric practitioners to make the four types of offering every day, and he places special emphasis on the secret offering as a method for generating great bliss.
Luyipa
