The Extremely Secret Dakini of Naropa

Vajrayogini Practice and Commentary

Dechen Nyingpo Pabongkha

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781614295426
• eBook ISBN: 9781614295600
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Buddhism

A thorough and sparkling translation of an essential commentary on one of the most profound practices of Tibetan Buddhism. The Extremely Secret Dakini of Naropa has become the basis for almost every subsequent Vajrayogini commentary in the Gelug tradition. Kyabje Pabongkha's commentary is both very thorough in its presentation and deeply inspiring, providing rich detail on essential elements of Vajrayogini practice: - all eleven yogas of the generation stage
- the transference of consciousness
- tsok offering
- left-sided conduct
- and many other auxiliary practices There is also a stunning explanation of the completion stage that provides many extraordinarily profound methods unique to the practice of Vajrayogini. The second half of the book contains several sadhanas for the practice of Vajrayogini, including six-session guru yoga as well as two sadhanas on the transference of consciousness. "This is a teaching that practitioners can use to transform themselves into a buddha, like the artists who shape beautiful images out of raw materials."
—Gelek Rimpoche

PART 1

Commentary

The Generation Stage

1. The Yoga of Sleeping

ACCORDING TO the traditional system of explanation stemming from the first five great masters of the Sakya tradition, most of the subsequent commentators have said we must be awake to practice yoga, and before rising we must sleep, and it is for that reason that we begin with the yoga of sleeping. However, this is not the intention of the tantra, and a very special and profound sacred essential point of the oral instruction has not been revealed. Here, in the Geden Oral Lineage, the explanatory tradition accords with the intention of the tantra, which is that there is an extremely profound and essential reason why we begin with the yoga of sleeping. This will now be explained.

Mahasiddha Luipa has said,

During the day the Bhagavan vajra holder,

At night the yoginis—so it is explained.

This is stated from the perspective of time. Furthermore, from the distinction of method and wisdom, this Mother Vajrayogini is a wisdom tantra. From the two, father and mother tantra, this is a mother tantra; from the two, appearance and emptiness, this is on the side of emptiness. The principal subject matter of mother tantra is the means of accomplishing the clear light of wisdom on the side of emptiness. If we combine appearance and emptiness, method and wisdom, illusory body and clear light, and the deity Father and Mother with the times of night and day, then from the distinction between appearance and emptiness, daytime is on the appearance side; from among method and wisdom, it is method; from among clear light and illusory body, it is the illusory body; from among the Father and Mother deities, it is the time of the Father. As for nighttime, from the distinction between appearance and emptiness, it is on the side of emptiness; among method and wisdom, it is wisdom; among the clear light and illusory body, it is the clear light; from among the Father and Mother deities, it is the time of the Mother. These are essential points for quickly generating realizations of this path and are the primary reason for this preliminary explanation. For example, when undertaking some worldly work, you check the date. The first day of the first month of the New Year creates a dependent relationship [for good omens throughout the year]. Life-establishing practices are commenced early in the morning in accordance with the profound points of the ongoing dependent relationship [of a long life]. Here [in this practice], there is also a profound point of dependent relationship concerning time.

Not only that, the [explanatory tantra] Vajradaka says,

All the girls of this land

Bestow attainments on practitioners,

They always move about at night,

They always assemble at night,

They bestow the great attainment

Of Dakini Land, so difficult to find.

Thus, nighttime is the special time when all the external dakinis wander and assemble. Therefore, if practitioners commence their practice at this time when the dakinis of the twenty-four places move about and wander, they will come under their care, receive blessings, quickly generate realizations, easily accomplish the attainment of Dakini Land, and so forth. Therefore, these are unique and necessary dependent relationships. We begin with the practice of sleeping yoga because the practitioner relies upon the middle section of the night for sleeping. For that, there are two systems: (1) sleeping with elaboration according to the generation stage, and (2) sleeping without elaboration according to the completion stage.

Concerning the first, the way of sleeping with elaboration is for those with inferior faculties. Furthermore, concerning those individuals with lesser faculties who like elaboration, they should strive in the generation stage, put an end to ordinary appearances and conceptions, and [perceive] their abode arising as the display of bliss and emptiness that lacks inherent existence. It is perceived as the double tetrahedral phenomena source. Inside is a lion throne, upon this is either a four-petaled lotus or a variegated lotus with eight petals. In the center of that is a sun seat with a red swirl. Furthermore, if you wish to have a deep and very blissful warm sleep, imagine the sun mandala is warm and glistening. If you wish to have clear mindfulness and light sleep, imagine that your abode and the sun mandala are illuminated with light. This is like the teaching for generating clear discrimination within the lamrim.

Upon the sun seat, visualize yourself appearing as Vajrayogini without the ornaments and hand implements, with your head to the north and facing west—or just imagine it. In the northern direction, as a substitute for your pillow, is your kind root guru in the aspect of either Buddha Vajradharma or Hero Vajradharma. With extremely powerful faith and respect, imagine that you place your head in the lap of your guru and go to sleep; you should begin this evening. After lying down on your right side facing west with clear appearance, divine pride, and so forth, imagine your abode is the phenomena source as before and so forth and go to sleep with uninterrupted pure appearance. You should not lose your clear appearance or devotion if you awaken from sleep.

Concerning sleeping without elaboration according to the completion stage, it is for those with sharp faculties. Therefore, those with either an ascertainment of emptiness or a mere inclination toward emptiness and who dislike elaboration should focus on the completion stage as follows: Imagine the world and its beings melt into light and collect into you, you then dissolve into the BAM at your heart, and that as well dissolves in stages up to the nada. The nada also withdraws into the clear light, and you meditate on emptiness; in that way sleep within the state of bliss and emptiness. This is like the common [yoga] of inconceivability. The reason for the necessity of practicing the yoga of sleeping is that it is a ripening agent of your roots of virtue for mixing sleep with the clear light and functions as the cause for accomplishing the truth body.

2. The Yoga of Rising

JUST AS THERE ARE two systems of sleeping, there are two systems of rising. If you are sleeping in accordance with the first system, when you arise from sleep [during the night] or as soon as you have awoken from sleep the following morning, don’t immediately hop out of bed but arise with the state of mindfulness of your previous clear appearance and imagine that the heroes and heroines of the three places are in the sky reciting the three-OM mantra. Their damarus make the sound of the three-OM mantra and resonate with the sound of the seven syllables [of OM HRIH HA HA HUM HUM PHAT]. They reveal the subject matter of emptiness by singing vajra songs. Imagine this awakens you and you generate pure appearances and conceptions of yourself, your guru, mattress, house, and so forth as before. According to the Sakya tradition, when getting up, you do so in the aspect of Vajrayogini with the ornaments but without the hand implements. Earlier your head was in the [lap] of your guru; now with faith and respect, you should bow and make three prostrations. Your guru is delighted, melts into red light merely the size of a bird’s egg, and enters through the crown of your head. He dissolves into your own mind, appearing clearly in the aspect of a syllable BAM at your heart, thereby blessing your mental continuum, and the syllable BAM becomes even more luminous and magnificent than before.

If you [practice] according to the latter system of sleeping [without elaboration], imagine you arise from within the great bliss of the clear light emptiness in the body of Vajrayogini, like a cloud emerging from the empty sky or a small fish leaping from a clear lake, and imagine your abode and so forth are perfect in every possible way. Whichever of these two ways you engage in, you should send forth a resolute and powerful determination, thinking, “I am going to extract the meaning of this body with its freedoms and endowments by practicing the paths of the generation and completion stages of Guru Vajrayogini. I am not going to waste my life, this year, this month, and especially this day.” It is extremely important that you recall this intention again and again each day. Bless your clothes and so forth with the three seed syllables [OM AH HUM] and imagine they are the six bone ornaments and recite the verses, “Divine garments that are thin, soft, and light . . .”²² and offer them to yourself visualized as Vajrayogini. If you wear your clothes in this way, you will not incur a karmic debt but instead you will obtain the benefit of making offerings to the deity. It is said that you should perform the yoga of rising to assist in mixing the enjoyment body with dreaming and the emanation body with waking, and in this way, it becomes the cause for attaining the enjoyment body of the path.

22. With unchanging faith I offer To those with unchanging vajra bodies Divine garments that are thin, soft, and light. May I too attain the unchanging vajra body.

3. The Yoga of Experiencing Nectar

TASTE THE INNER OFFERING by placing it on your tongue. In highest yoga tantra, it is not necessary to bathe. Therefore, tasting the inner offering is like a substitute for that. Although you need a nectar pill for the [inner offering], in the Nyingma tradition they have what is called “made from eight main and one thousand secondary ingredients,”²³ and they mix it with the actual five meats, the five nectars, and so forth and call it dutsi chömen. These pills are unacceptable. There is a vast difference between these pills and the Geden nectar pills. In the Gelug tradition we use arura and so forth as a substitute for the meats and nectars.²⁴ If your realizations are not powerful enough, and you mix the actual substances [as mentioned] earlier, there is a great danger of incurring faults. This practice of Vajrayogini has a great connection with the Sakya tradition. Therefore, if you can find a nectar pill from the Sakya tradition, it is definitely acceptable. Otherwise it is said that the best ones from our own tradition are those coming from the lineage of the Panchen Rinpoche such as Panchen Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen and so forth [who made nectar pills] through performing the accomplishing ritual called “the secret fire-blazing nectar pills of Tashi Lhunpo.” If you can, [try to] obtain an actual nectar pill like this coming from our own valid and sacred tradition or one mixed with the [substances] descending from this lineage that are free of impurities.

Pick up a nectar pill with your ring finger and thumb and eat one either each morning or even better, [eat] three at the beginning of each session. Otherwise just eat one. At the very least, you should put a nectar pill in a clean vessel shaped like a skull cup (kapala) and so forth together with something like clear tea and then hold the blessed inner offering in your right hand. If you can’t find a qualified nectar pill, just use the blessed inner offering.

With the thumb and ring finger of your left hand, extract some inner offering and recite the three seed syllables while [placing the inner offering] in the palm of your right hand. Begin by imagining that the OM is in the front fa...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• Publisher’s Note to the New Edition
• Translator’s Introduction
• Part 1: Commentary Heart-Essence of the Extremely Secret Dakini of the Three Places
• Part 2: Ritual Texts
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright