according to the illustration here, or can consist simply of any clean, fresh food such as honey or cakes. The shapes of the traditional tormas symbolize the development of spiritual realizations. The central torma is for the principal Deities, Heruka Father and Mother and the four Yoginis, who together are known as the ‘Deities of the great bliss wheel’. The torma to its left is for the supramundane retinues of Heruka, and the torma to its right is for the mundane retinues of Heruka.
In front of the tormas, we set out three rows of offerings. The first row, nearest the shrine, is for the supramundane in-front-generated Deities, and the second row is for the mundane Dakas and Dakinis. Both these rows start from the left side of the shrine, our right, and comprise water for drinking, water for bathing, flowers, incense, lights, perfume and food. Nothing is set out for the music offering because music is not a visual object. The third row, which is for the self-generated Deities, starts from the right side of the shrine, our left, and comprises water for drinking, water for bathing, water for the mouth, flowers, incense, lights, perfume and food. On a small table in front of our meditation seat we arrange from left to right our inner offering, vajra, bell, damaru and mala. In front of these we place our sadhana text. Then, with a pure motivation and a happy mind, we engage in the preliminary practices.
The preliminary practices are now explained under six headings:
1 Going for refuge and generating bodhichitta
2 Receiving blessings
3 Purifying our own mind, body and speech
4 Purifying other beings, the environment and enjoyments
5 Purifying non-virtues, downfalls and obstacles
6 Guru yoga
GOING FOR REFUGE AND GENERATING BODHICHITTA
This has four parts:
1 The causes of going for refuge
2 Visualizing the objects of refuge
3 The way of going for refuge
4 Generating aspiring and engaging bodhichitta
THE CAUSES OF GOING FOR REFUGE
Our final goal is to attain enlightenment, the ultimate refuge, in order to benefit countless mother beings. Right now, however, we need to accomplish a refuge that prevents us from falling into lower rebirths. Without this inner protection, if we simply engage in the meditations of Highest Yoga Tantra expecting to attain enlightenment quickly, we are like someone who attempts to climb a high and dangerous mountain without safety equipment.
The time of our death is very uncertain. Perhaps we will die today, perhaps tomorrow – we have no idea when we will die. If we die without refuge, we will lose all the spiritual progress we have made. At death we will forget everything we have learned in our life and lose everything we have built up. After death, without any choice, we will experience another samsaric rebirth with all its associated sufferings. Remembering nothing from our previous life, we will be unable to maintain the continuum of our spiritual practice. By some miracle we have managed to obtain a precious human life with all the conditions necessary for spiritual practice; but unless we accomplish the inner protection of basic refuge we will not find another similarly endowed rebirth, and this wonderful opportunity for spiritual development will be lost forever.
To protect ourself from the danger of a lower rebirth, and to create the special opportunity to maintain the continuum of our spiritual practice in life after life, we need to go for refuge to the Three Jewels, avoid non-virtuous actions, and practise giving, moral discipline, patience, effort, concentration and wisdom. If we practise Highest Yoga Tantra on the firm foundation of this basic inner protection, then, even if we do not gain higher realizations in this life, we can at least carry our practice through death and the intermediate state into our future life. We will die happily, with confidence. For us death will be like going on holiday.
How do we prepare for our future lives? By practising moral discipline we create the cause for higher rebirth; by giving we create the cause for future wealth; by practising patience we create the cause for beauty; by applying effort to our Dharma practice we create the cause to gain spiritual realizations with ease; by practising concentration or meditation we create the cause to experience mental peace; and by increasing our wisdom we create the cause to attain permanent liberation from suffering. We should integrate these basic practices into our daily life.
Although it is obviously essential that we protect ourself from lower rebirth, as Mahayana practitioners, and especially as Highest Yoga Tantra practitioners, our main motivation for going for refuge should be compassion. To generate compassion we can begin by considering the possibility that we may die this very day, and concentrate on the feeling it evokes. After death, wherever we are reborn in samsara we will have to experience untold suffering. Contemplating and meditating in this way, we cultivate a strong fear of taking rebirth in samsara in general and in the lower realms in particular. If we then switch the focus of our contemplation from ourself to others, we will find it difficult to bear their suffering, and compassion will arise naturally. Fear of samsaric rebirth and compassion for all those trapped in samsara are the first two causes of Mahayana refuge. When we develop a mind that cannot bear the sufferings of samsaric rebirth, both for ourself and for all mother sentient beings, we will naturally seek a dependable source of refuge.
The Dharma Jewel, the realizations of the stages of the vast path and the profound path, is our actual refuge; the Buddha Jewel is the source of our refuge; and the Sangha Jewel, the assembly of Superior beings, are those who have already accomplished refuge. Through building the Dharma Jewel within our mind, we become a Sangha Jewel and finally a Buddha Jewel. We are then in a position to protect not only ourself but all living beings from rebirth in the lower realms in particular and from samsara in general. When we understand clearly that only the Three Jewels are perfect, infallible objects of refuge, deep faith and conviction in their power to protect living beings from suffering will arise. This is the third cause of Mahayana refuge.
To summarize, the causes of Mahayana refuge are fear of taking samsaric rebirth, compassion for all living beings, and faith in the Three Jewels. Cultivating these three causes within our mind encourages us to go for refuge to the Three Jewels and to avoid non-virtuous actions.
VISUALIZING THE OBJECTS OF REFUGE
We visualize the objects of refuge – the Buddha Jewel, the Dharma Jewel and the Sangha Jewel – as follows. We imagine with strong conviction that in the space before us is the Blessed One Buddha Shakyamuni appearing in the form of glorious Heruka Father and Mother, surrounded by the assembly of Gurus, Yidams, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Heroes, Dakinis and Dharma Protectors. At the beginning we should be satisfied with just a vague image; the most important thing is to believe that the holy beings are actually present before us. Imagining that the principal object of refuge, Guru Heruka, is surrounded by all the other holy beings like the moon surrounded by stars, we recognize the Gurus, Yidams and Buddhas as the Buddha Jewel; the Bodhisattvas, Heroes, Dakinis and Dharma Protectors as the Sangha Jewel; and the inner realizations of the stages of the vast and profound paths of all these holy beings as the Dharma Jewel. Reflecting that only the Three Jewels have the power to protect all living beings from the dangers of lower rebirth, samsaric rebirth, and all suffering, we generate deep faith in the Three Jewels.
THE WAY OF GOING FOR REFUGE
First we recall the feeling of fear of taking rebirth in samsara in general and in the lower realms in particular, and then, by realizing that countless mother sentient beings are in exactly the same situation as ourself, we generate compassion. Then we develop deep conviction that only the Three Jewels have the power to protect us from these dangers. With these three causes of
