ageing and death. The lake symbolizes conventional bodhichitta, the naga the six perfections and the ten perfections, and the jewel held by the naga the four ways of gathering disciples. Because corpses are ownerless they also symbolize selflessness. These features remind us to practise renunciation, bodhichitta, profound view and the six perfections.
The wild animals symbolize generation stage realizations, and their eating the corpses teaches us to destroy our ordinary appearances and ordinary conceptions through the power of our generation stage practice.
The tree symbolizes the central channel, which is the basic object of completion stage meditation. The directional guardian at the foot of the tree symbolizes the downward-voiding wind just below the navel, and the regional guardian at the top of the tree symbolizes the life-supporting wind at the heart. The fire at the base of the mountain symbolizes the inner fire of tummo at the navel, and the cloud symbolizes the white bodhichittas in the crown chakra. The eight charnel grounds themselves, four in the cardinal directions and four in the intermediate directions, symbolize the four joys of serial and reverse order. The mountain symbolizes the immovable equipoise of spontaneous great bliss mixed with emptiness, and the stupa at the top of the mountain symbolizes the three bodies of a Buddha.
Completion stage meditation on tummo, or inner fire, causes the downward-voiding wind below our navel to reverse and flow up through the central channel, which in turn causes all our inner winds to gather into the central channel and dissolve into the life-supporting wind at our heart. This causes the white bodhichitta in our crown chakra to melt and descend through our central channel, giving rise to the four joys of serial and reverse order. The final joy, the mind of spontaneous great bliss, then mixes inseparably with emptiness and gradually abandons the two obstructions. When our mind is completely purified in this way, we attain the three resultant bodies of a Buddha – the Truth Body, Enjoyment Body and Emanation Body. Thus, these aspects of the charnel grounds teach us how to attain full enlightenment by training in the yogas of completion stage. Milarepa once said, ‘I have no need of books because everything around me teaches me Dharma.’ In the same way, through simply contemplating the features of the charnel grounds, sincere Heruka practitioners develop a deep understanding of the phenomena of the basis, path and result, and strong enthusiasm for practising the stages of the path of Sutra and Tantra.
Inside the circle of eight great charnel grounds is the protection circle of the vajra ground, fence, tent and canopy, surrounded by five-coloured wisdom fires swirling counter-clockwise. In the centre of these are the four elements, Mount Meru, the lotus and the crossed vajra, all of which have been described previously.
Standing on the centre of the huge crossed vajra is the celestial mansion, which is constructed like a large square house with an elaborate entrance on each side. It is approached from the four directions by stairways that lead up through the prongs of the vajra to its ground floor. The jewelled walls have five layers, which from the outside in are coloured white, yellow, red, green, and blue. Around the top of the wall and overhanging it is a red jewelled moulding studded with rectangular, triangular, circular, and half-moon-shaped jewels. Upon this are four layers of golden bands, each separated by a series of supports made from six precious substances. Upon these, and extending beyond, are parallel rafters whose ends form the shape of sea-monsters, with full-length and half-length strings of pearls hanging from their mouths. Overhanging these are ‘sharpu’, special jewelled decorations, suspended from the eaves. Around the edge of the roof runs a white parapet in the shape of half-lotus petals. This is adorned with eight victory banners embellished with beautiful creatures, and eight other banners, all set in golden vases. At all four corners of the roof monkeys sit on the parapet, holding parasols adorned at the top with a jewel, crescent moon and blue half-vajra.
Around the outer foot of the wall runs a red ledge upon which stand sixteen offering goddesses of various colours and postures, each with three eyes and four arms. Each of the four entrances has an open porch, with a high double door leading into a short hallway that leads into the main chamber. At the outer corners between the doorways and entrance halls, as well as at the four outer and four inner corners of the mansion, stand half-moons, upon which rest red jewels adorned at the top by vajras.
At the front of each entrance, upon square pedestals, four pillars set in vases support an eleven-tiered archway. Above each archway is a Dharma Wheel flanked right and left by a male and a female deer. Each archway is adorned with both types of banner, and with monkeys holding parasols. The eastern archway is decorated with white Dharma Wheels, the southern archway with yellow jewels, the western archway with red lotuses, and the northern archway with green swords. To the right and left of each archway, set in golden vases, are wish-granting trees bearing the seven precious possessions of a king. In the space around the celestial mansion are Siddhas, two on each side; and emerging from clouds are offering gods and goddesses holding garlands of flowers, making everything exquisitely beautiful.
Inside the celestial mansion are four concentric rings of eight pillars, which support the circular vajra beams underneath a four-stepped ceiling. On the very top of the mansion is a square lantern adorned with a golden roof and surmounted by an eight-faceted jewel and a five-pronged vajra. Inside this is a precious jewelled case containing the scriptures of the Heruka root Tantra.
The ceiling and floor of the mansion are white in the east, green in the north, red in the west, yellow in the south, and blue in the centre. On the floor is a four-tiered circular platform, each tier smaller than the one below it. Each of the three lower platforms is in the shape of a large wheel with eight petal-shaped spokes. On the lowest platform are the sixteen Deities of the body wheel, on the second platform are the sixteen Deities of the speech wheel, and on the third platform are the sixteen Deities of the heart wheel.
At the four inner corners of the mansion, and at the doorways to each hallway, stand the eight Deities of the commitment wheel. In the very centre of the top platform is an eight-petalled lotus of various colours. Upon the petals in the cardinal directions stand the four Yoginis of the great bliss wheel, and upon the petals in the intermediate directions are skullcups brimming with five nectars. At the very centre of the lotus, standing on a sun mandala, we appear as the Blessed One Heruka, with a dark-blue body and four faces. We contemplate as follows:
My principal face is dark blue, the left face green, the back face red, and the right face yellow. Each face has three eyes and a rosary of five-pronged vajras on its forehead. My right leg is outstretched and treads on the head of black Bhairawa, who has four hands. His first two hands are pressed together, the second right hand holds a damaru, and the second left a sword. My bent left leg treads on the breast of red Kalarati, who has four hands. Her first two hands are pressed together, and the other two hold a skullcup and a khatanga. Both the beings beneath my feet have one face and three eyes, and are adorned with five mudras.
I have twelve arms. The first two embrace Vajravarahi, with my right hand holding a five-pronged vajra and my left hand a bell. The next two hands hold a bloody, white elephant skin stretched across my back; my right hand holds the left foreleg, and my left the left hind leg. Both these hands are in the threatening mudra with the tips of the outstretched fingers at the level of my eyebrows. My third right hand holds a damaru, the fourth an axe, the fifth a curved knife, and the sixth an upright three-pointed spear. My third left hand holds a khatanga marked with a vajra, the fourth a skullcup brimming with blood, the fifth a vajra noose, and the sixth a four-faced head of Brahma.
My hair is tied up in a topknot marked with a small crossed vajra of various colours. Each head is adorned with a crown of five human skulls strung together top and bottom with a rosary of black vajras. On the left side of my crown is a half moon, slightly tilted. My facial expressions change, and my four sets of four fangs are bared and terrifying. I display nine moods. The three physical moods of majesty, heroism and menace are expressed by my body maintaining an air of majesty, my feet treading on Bhairawa and Kalarati, and the frown at the centre of my brow. The three verbal moods of laughter, wrath and ferocity are expressed by the slight smile on my lips, my bared fangs, and my tongue curled back. The three mental
