OFFERING
We make this offering by concentrating on the essential meaning of the prayer from the sadhana:
I offer you the supreme, ultimate bodhichitta,
A great exalted wisdom of spontaneous bliss free from obstructions,
Inseparable from the nature of all phenomena, the sphere of freedom from elaboration,
Effortless, and beyond words, thoughts and expressions.
‘Thatness’ is emptiness, the ultimate nature of all phenomena. Strictly speaking we offer not emptiness but ultimate bodhichitta, which is a mind of spontaneous great bliss mixed inseparably with emptiness. We imagine that Guru Heruka generates this mind as a result of entering into union with the mudra offered to him during the secret offering. Although our Guru already has ultimate bodhichitta, we imagine that he or she generates it anew, as an auspicious cause for us to gain this realization in the future.
In Secret Mantra, the red and white drops that flow through the channels are sometimes called ‘bodhichittas’ because they are the basis for developing actual ultimate bodhichitta, spontaneous great bliss realizing emptiness directly. Without these drops, we would have no means of gaining any completion stage realization, let alone ultimate bodhichitta.
According to the words of the sadhana, Guru Heruka’s exalted wisdom of spontaneous great bliss is ‘free from obstructions’, which means that it has completely abandoned both the delusion-obstructions and the obstructions to omniscience. Not all spontaneous great bliss is free from obstructions. When we first generate spontaneous great bliss our mind is still covered by obstructions, but by training in the five stages of completion stage these are gradually removed. When the mind is finally freed from both obstructions we attain enlightenment. Thus, the words of the sadhana indicate that Guru Heruka is a Buddha because his ultimate bodhichitta is free from obstructions.
The phrase, ‘Inseparable from the nature of all phenomena, the sphere of freedom from elaboration’, is very profound and difficult to understand without some experience of Secret Mantra. The term ‘sphere’ refers to emptiness, and the term ‘elaboration’ refers to inherent existence, so the meaning is that ultimate bodhichitta is inseparable from emptiness, lack of inherent existence. Once we have a rough understanding of emptiness, we should try to generate spontaneous great bliss by training in completion stage meditation. When our inner winds are gathered and dissolved within the central channel at our heart, our gross minds will cease and the very subtle mind of clear light will manifest. This mind is very peaceful and free from distracting conceptions. It is hundreds of times more powerful than the concentration described in the Sutra teachings. When this mind meditates on emptiness it easily mixes with it, like water mixing with water; and it feels as if the subject, our mind of clear light, and its object, emptiness, have become completely one.
The reason why the clear light mind can mix so easily with emptiness is that it is totally free from conceptual distraction. When the inner winds are completely gathered and dissolved within the central channel, the gross inner winds are absorbed and so the gross minds that depend upon these winds cease to function. If there are no gross minds, there are no gross objects; thus, for the mind of clear light, gross objects do not exist. It is like falling asleep. At that time, because the gross minds of the waking state absorb, all the objects that appear to these minds disappear. For the sleeping or dreaming mind, the objects of our normal waking state do not exist. Being completely free from gross objects, the mind of clear light mixes with emptiness in space-like meditative equipoise. With respect to this mind, all phenomena are of one taste in space-like emptiness. Thus it is said that this mind is inseparable from the ultimate nature of all phenomena.
The mind that is described as ultimate bodhichitta in Sutra is not an actual ultimate bodhichitta because it still has subtle dualistic appearances. Therefore, to attain actual ultimate bodhichitta we need to engage in Secret Mantra practices. Once we understand how the mind of ultimate bodhichitta is inseparable from the nature of all phenomena, we will understand the real nature of the Guru. The actual Guru is definitive Vajradhara, or definitive Heruka. Vajradhara is sometimes called ‘kyab dag’ in Tibetan, which means ‘pervading all natures’. This means that the ultimate bodhichitta that is Guru Vajradhara’s Truth Body is inseparable from the nature of all phenomena. To appreciate this fully we also need to understand how the two truths are the same nature. This is more difficult to understand than emptiness itself because it is harder to abandon the mind grasping the two truths as separate entities than it is to abandon self-grasping. Bodhisattvas who have attained the union of meaning clear light and the illusory body, for example, have abandoned the latter but not the former. Only Buddhas are completely free from grasping the two truths as separate entities.
According to the sadhana, ultimate bodhichitta is ‘beyond words, thoughts and expressions’. This is because ultimate bodhichitta is necessarily a direct experience of emptiness, free from conceptuality. It is said that someone who has a direct experience of emptiness cannot adequately describe this experience in words, but can only point to it by means of analogies. Even so, great beings such as Je Tsongkhapa are able to give very clear descriptions of emptiness. Thus Changkya Rolpai Dorje praises Je Tsongkhapa, saying:
Emptiness is said to be inexpressible, but you have described it as clearly as something seen with the eyes.
OFFERING OUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
The offering that delights our Spiritual Guide the most is putting his or her instructions into practice, which is why offering our spiritual practice is called an ‘unsurpassed offering’. Whenever we practise Lamrim, Lojong and the Vajrayana paths of Heruka and Vajrayogini, we are making a supreme offering.
There are seven special spiritual practices, presented in many Tantric sadhanas, that contain the very essence of Buddha’s teachings. These are: (1) purification, (2) accumulating merit, (3) ultimate bodhichitta, (4) Mahayana refuge, (5) aspiring bodhichitta, (6) engaging bodhichitta, and (7) dedication. Remembering that these practices are the supreme offering, we should integrate them into our daily life.
We can make these seven offerings to our Spiritual Guide with the prayer from the sadhana:
I go for refuge to the Three Jewels
And confess individually all negative actions.
I rejoice in the virtues of all beings
And promise to accomplish a Buddha’s enlightenment.
I go for refuge until I am enlightened
To Buddha, Dharma and the Supreme Assembly,
And to accomplish the aims of myself and others
I shall generate the mind of enlightenment.
Having generated the mind of supreme enlightenment,
I shall invite all sentient beings to be my guests
And engage in the pleasing, supreme practices of enlightenment.
May I attain Buddhahood to benefit migrators.
These verses appear in many ritual sadhanas of both the lower and higher Tantras. The following explanation of the meaning of this prayer is given according to Highest Yoga Tantra. This prayer includes the essential practices necessary for making progress in our Mahayana training.
The meaning of the first two lines is that we need to purify our negativities by relying upon the Three Jewels. The third line indicates that we need to accumulate merit by rejoicing in all the special realizations and virtuous
