I am fully satisfied with your progress. In this way, Ra Lotsawa had much hardship in bringing this teaching to Tibet. (Now, remember in tantra that having all these faces and arms and legs they all represent different realizations, different aspects of the path that we want to be able to have fully realized simultaneously. Very often women think that women didnt play a very major role in the historical development of Buddhism. For that you need a teacher.. So, that type of suffering that we have to endure, by Yamantaka holding that man on a stick, represents that even some karma that means you have to really go to the Three Lower Realms, to Hell to suffer, you can purify through Yamantaka tantra. So that means the third mantra, if you do 21 times a day, youll do that three times extra on the tsog day to cover your tsog commitments for now, okay? For some disciples, one type of form is more helpful; for other types of disciple, another form is helpful. (2) You remember I said that Vajrabhairava is the container within which you combine Guhyasamaja practices and Chakrasamvara practices in the Gelugpa way of practicing? Thats the Concert of Names of Manjushri, a Kalachakra text (probably also seventh century). Theres the so-called Manjushri Root Tantra (Arya-manjushri-mulakalpa). the arising of Vajrabhairava from voidness and then Manjushri, as in the sadhana, with the full description of the visualization of the full Vajrabhairava (single deity), with mention of recitation of the mantra 300,000 times for the short retreat. The protectors are like a dog, a very vicious, powerful dog. Therefore I feel guilty to teach them. At this the Guru disappeared., Ra Lotsawa had a difficult time finding him again. So for this, Yamantaka is the best strong on the outside, Manjushri (wisdom, calm, clear) on the inside. Thats one of the early tantras that was translated into Tibetan and which was incorporated in the Nyingma textual tradition. He has three red, blood-shot eyes; his breath swirls from the anger-creased nose in black clouds, his jaw wide agape with four sharp fangs bared, the tongue flickering like lightning, and orange hair, eyebrows and moustache bristling upward like the fire. Along with practising Yamantaka's tantra, one can perfect memory, clairvoyance, penetrative insight, one can have great debate, one can have great speech, one could have perfect understanding of the Dharma. Whats the difference between the two? Im saying this not to say Im a great yogi which Im obviously not but the point is that if you want to actually practice any of these things, you need to get the teachings over and over again, many teachings. Vajrasattva's mantra is a powerful purification prayer that invokes the mindstreams of all the buddhas. And so in the context of Mahayana the Great Vehicle, the Vast Vehicle we want to not just gain liberation ourselves, but we want to attain the state of a Buddha so that we can benefit everybody equally, not just a few. those that use anger or transform it into the path (like Vajrabhairava). ), Then theres a six-headed, six-armed, six-legged version or variant, which is mentioned in the, And then theres a four-headed, eight-armed, four-legged variant, which is in the collection of jenangs (these subsequent permissions) called, One way is Well, theres just the Buddhist version. So since the Manchus wanted to rule over the Mongols as well, they adopted Yamantaka also. It comes already in this early time. Share dan bookmark melalui: The first pair of hands hold a curved knife and skull cup to the heart. + Read advice from Rinpoche on these topics, Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe, Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment eBook. And underlying it is what? And all the protector practices that are done in the Gelug tradition are all done within the context of oneself arising as Yamantaka. Should you wish to practice a brief visualisation and mantra recitation for Vajrasattva, recite the following: One can guess though. You go a bit crazy because youre working with all these images in your imagination and so on, especially if you start to try to work with the energies of your body. by . Vajrabhairava is sometimes called just Yamantaka. So if you want to do these more advanced practices and so on, you have to have the strength of conviction, the understanding of reality (so Manjushri in your heart), and this forceful energy to be able to chase away interferences your confusion, your selfishness, and so on chase away the interferences and stay steady in your practice. one must have received the empowerment of Vajrabhairava (i.e., Yamantaka), completed an authorizing retreat of 100,000 mantras together with the traditional concluding fire puja. To meditate on Vajrasattva is the same as to meditate upon all the buddhas. From amongst the many lineages of practices to enter Tibet, two translators, Ra Lotsawaand Mal Lotsawa were known to have disseminated the main transmissions of Yamantaka. Geshe Ngawang Dakpa presents detailed instructions on the short sadhana practice for this deity. In the other schools of Tibetan Buddhsim, Yamantaka seems to be mostly revered as a protector. The subtlest energy of it to transform and appear in the form of a Buddha. So whos Yama? Our own confusion, our own laziness, our own bad temper and anger, our own attachments. A lot is explained. So you have to understand whats going on here., The main thing is the division between whether you explain the fourth initiation explicitly or not. Highest Yoga Tantra Initiation from a qualified Lama. Then warnings against disasters that will happen if you dont do each of the steps properly. Meditation on the deity, Yamantaka with it's five unique features is considered a crucial practice for our times. Please read, please read and its in Chinese also, if you need, we have it here, The Wheel of Sharp Weapons. Were talking about the early seventeenth century. I think its very important to be realistic and understand that Buddhism did not develop in a vacuum. And he walks all the way over to Swat Valley in western Pakistan. A student asked Rinpoche about putting Yamantaka mantras inside a prayer wheel. Then the Guru appeared and said, When the sun rises in the east and there are no clouds, then the sun shines. So, the only higher tantric system that focuses on both mother and father combined simultaneously is the Yamantaka set of tantras. He represents the power, energy, and fearlessness of the Buddhas. So the teachings were in fact there. Yamantaka imitates Yama by both of them having the buffalo head. You have a protection wheel, its called. The Fourth Dalai Lama was Mongolian, so the Fourth Panchen Lama had a strong connection with the Mongols. Yongdzin Ling Rinpoche, who was the Vajrabhairava teacher of His Holiness, Tsenshap Serkong Rinpoche, my own main teacher, who was also a teacher of His Holiness. The Yamantaka drubchen, traditionally held near the end of the Tibetan year, is conducted in order to cleanse all obstacles not only for oneself, but for every being in the world. Recent Posts. One of the attributes of Yamantaka is, no matter how much negative karma we have collected, no matter how much negative deeds we have done, no matter how much suffering we have created for others, if we sincerely regret, and we do Yamantakas tantra, within one single short lifetime, we can purify that negative karma. Shes called Vajravetali, or Dorje Rolangma (rDo-rje ro-lang-ma) in Tibetan. So its not for the weak-hearted ones that Ooh, Ill try doing a little bit and Do I like this? Kala is an interesting word because it has two meanings in Sanskrit: one is time, and the other is black. In this context, kala means time because time is what brings death. After all, in Buddhism it says that a Buddha will appear in a place where people are receptive, where its most needed, and will teach in a way that the people of the time can understand (thats called skillful means). So therefore if we have created something very negative, very powerfully negative, imagine what Yamantaka can help us in. Thats our ordinary type of death. Within the Maha Anuttara tantra, you have two divisions again, ma rgyud and pha rgyud, ma rgyud is mother tantra, pha rgyud is father tantra. The deity yamantaka, as the name suggested, is terrifying to behold. I dont know. Remember Manjushri is the embodiment of the discriminating awareness, the clear mind, the intelligence, the so-called wisdom of the Buddhas. A Buddha that appears and teaches the tantras is yet another type of Buddha. So for us to realize that, for us to understand that intellectually is easy. He practiced for twenty years to get a vision of Manjushri, and finally he succeeded and had a direct manifestation of Manjushri. Last but not least, read up on your Bodhisattva Vows, read up on your Tantric Vows. Yama is mentioned in the tenth book of the Rg Veda. Disaster. So we have this whole development within the non-Buddhist Indian context of Yama, the Lord of Death, and even putting an end to Yama in the Shiva complex.. He took these as manifestations of the teachings of the Guru. In the Shiva tantra context (plus you get tantra in the Shaivite system) and in the Buddhist one, you get a very parallel development and parallel names. Many months passed. They were followed by about a dozen Westerners . And if youre going to do it, you do it every day for the rest of your life. That man impaled on a stick represents the result of negative karma and the incredible sufferings that we have to endure. Vajrabhairava is using the forceful energy, like of anger but not really anger, because with anger you are completely exaggerating the negative qualities of something, grasping to it to be truly existent, and then I have to get it away from me. Its not that kind of anger, but its the energy of that and its using that, as I said, to forcefully cut through all your ignorance and your self-cherishing and selfishness and so on. . He just stood by doing nothing, fully amazed. At the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, he went back to his own monastery, Tashilhunpo (bKras-shis lhun-po), and many Mongols came to Tashilhunpo to study with him., So already, through the influence of the Fourth Panchen Lama, Yamantaka practice had reached the Mongols. If you find our material useful, please consider making a single or monthly donation. Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug school, emphasized and promoted the practice of Vajrabhairava. So I hear that you have Yamantakas teachings. Ive made offerings to Manjushri for you, for the success of your practice. Yamantaka also appears in other tantras before Lalitavajras time. This is how that came about. She said, You can only take back what you can memorize in seven days. That in itself is a very interesting point, isnt it, that these teachings are really very, very sacred, special, not to be made public, and if you really want them, you have to really, really want it and work really hard, which means memorize it. Whats so special about this area that Guru Rinpoche comes from there, the tantras all come from there, and so on? Whatever understanding, whatever positive force has come from this, may it act as a cause for all beings to reach enlightenment as quickly as possible through a sincere practice such as this Yamantaka system. Its very, very delicate. If youre able to transform the clear light of death into this understanding of voidness, you wont get the aggregates of another samsaric rebirth, so it overcomes the mara of the aggregates. So thats a little bit different. So he is that powerful. Otherwise you get very confused. So these ideas about Yama are percolating in this cultural area, with influence from these three different ways of thinking the Iranian, the Indian non-Buddhist, and the Buddhist. So hence, while were practicing Yamantaka were not also practicing only tantra, were practicing sutra because Yamantakas path combines both sutra and tantra. This is the real enemy its all these disturbing emotions and negative attitudes in our own minds. Anyway, enough of history and stories. You understand on a deeper level a Buddhist analysis of different points of view. First Yamantaka already appears as a protector early in the development of Buddhist tantra. This represents two types of practices in Guhyasamaja: illusory body and clear light. Its very late, so lets end here with a dedication. Are they all the same person that you find in the Pali canon, that you find in the Mahayana sutras, that you find in the tantra texts? Why? Teacher: Jhampa Shaneman DATE: Feb 17 to 26, 2023 Then the Guru disappeared and Ra Lotsawa was left alone. Thats really quite odd, isnt it? There are also some Yamantaka terma revelations in the Nyingma and Kagyu schools. (3) And then the third point is that he holds a khatvanga staff, which indicates that he incorporates the teachings of voidness and bliss from Chakrasamvara. Lets focus on the nine-headed Vajrabhairava. So we get Vajrabhairava in the Buddhist variant, and theyre basically just taking the name of Shiva and adding Vajra in front of it., In one of the Puranas this is a later Hindu text (the Markandeya Purana, if you want to know the name) Shiva subdues Yama, and then Shiva is called Kalantaka, the one who puts an end to kala kala, time, which was another name for Yama. She asked, Have you received the full teaching? He told her what he had received. That was kept in the Dharmaganja Stupa it was kept inside which was venerated by all the dakinis. So we really need some very, very strong force not to just give in and let ourselves be ruled by this confusion. Kriya Tantra: The Four Types of Mental Stability, The Nature of Appearances: Madhyamaka & Highest Tantra, The Nature of Appearances: Gelug Explanation - Part 5 of 5. He practiced it, and he achieved visions, and he achieved results. And on tsog day you do Yamantakas mantra three times more than your normal. Okay? Proofread by Sarah Yap Shantideva points out that there are two supports of it: Excuse me if Im speaking a little bit strongly, but this is Yamantaka, and I had strong coffee before I started the lecture supporting circumstances. We have all these habits of our confusion all these habits of compulsive behavior based on confusion and disturbing emotions and because of the momentum of so many lifetimes of being under the influence of these habits, what happens? On top of that, please read (Tibetan name) is the Six Sessions Guru Yoga, which is to be recited six times a day, written by Kyabje Pabongka Dorje Chang. In Buddhism there are many protector deities that have been incorporated, and many of them come from an earlier Indian non-Buddhist context (some even come from an Iranian context). By the way, if you dont know the geography, were talking about the region which is You know where Khabarovsk is? I think thats a clearer way of saying it. Vajrabhairava is one of the principal three meditational deities of the Gelug school (Tib: gsang bde jigs gsum; the others are Chakrasamvara and Guhyasamaja). The Guru refused and said, Ask my disciples if I have any further secret teachings. The disciples said no. That is the female partner of Vajrabhairava actually, which is actually a very interesting point, isnt it that the one who was the guardian of these teachings was a woman. All Buddhist textual sources refer to Lalitavajra as the revealer of the Vajrabhairava and Yamari tantras to an originally Indian tantric audience. So were talking about a kingdom up in the mountains of northwestern Pakistan. The former emphasizes practices involving the energy-winds arising in subtle forms known as illusory bodies (Tib: sgyu-lus), which are the immediate causes for achieving a Buddhas body of forms (Tib: gzugs-sku, Skt: rupakaya). So now we have to qualify what I just said. So you read them, and you see that it has a full description of Yamantaka and what he looks like and what hes holding, So much is totally explicitly explained there and you say, What? I think that basically what is possible is to just give a little bit of information about it. The one that is commonly practiced in the Gelug has nine heads, thirty-four arms, and sixteen legs. Khenpo Sherab Sangpo suggests that his students recite . It includes numberless hell beings, preta beings, hungry ghosts, animals, and insects in numberless universes. Seng Piow here can give you the tsog dates, which is twice a month for the next year, and the year after that, if he has. The remaining hands hold a multitude of weapons, while the second and last set hold a fresh outstretched hide of an elephant. instructions for accomplishing various extremely forceful actions against harmful beings through fire pujas, meditation practices for extremely forceful actions against harmful beings and warnings about keeping secrecy about these practices.. So hence, within the father and the mother you have these divisions, but, what is most superior, and what is most powerful, and what is most extremely beneficial is a combination of mother and father tantra. Theres a general pan-Indic reservoir of ideas, concepts things like karma, things like rebirth, various deities, and so on. Yamantaka's power and virtue are therefore equal to that of a buddha. Otherwise, I wish you the best. And both Yama and Yamantaka have a buffalo head, a water buffalo head. All of that is completely clear in these texts. But just understanding it doesnt make you change but realizing it and it becomes second nature will provoke change. If one doesnt have time, one should do the short Yamantaka sadhana which is about eight or, seven or eight small pages, written by the great Kyabje Pabongka Dechen Nyingpo Rinpoche. Then the second chapter, rituals using various devices for extremely forceful actions against harmful beings. The Fourth Panchen Lama was the tutor of both the Fourth and the Fifth Dalai Lamas. Rinpoche then discusses the benefits of three particular mantras: A A SHA SA MA HA, the Six Clairvoyances Mantraafter fifteen days of seeing this mantra all the heavy negative karmas you collected in past lives are purified. He also appears as one of the eight non-Buddhist deities found, one each, in eight of the skullcups held by Hevajra. So have a good image of Yamantaka, can be a picture, can be a thangka, can be a good statue, and a picture or image of your root lama whom you received the Yamantaka initiation from, very fortunate. Theyre all talking about the same things. So you find this very interesting, very odd way in which Yamantaka practice then becomes so popular among the Mongols and the Manchus, and you find big statues and things in Beijing and in other parts of China. Regardless which manifestation of Vajrabhairava you are looking at, he is always depicted as fear-inducing, scary, and intimidating. Lalitavajra brought these teachings back to India from Ugyen and gave them to Lilavajra, his disciple at Vikramashila Monastery. This evening Ive been asked to give an introduction to the Vajrabhairava (rDo-rje 'jigs-byed) system of the highest class of tantra, anuttarayoga tantra. Right? Lama Zopa Rinpoche has requested that only those who have received full initiation into the Highest Yoga Tantra practice of Yamantaka (Dorje Jigje) read this book, however, two chapters are available here for the general public to read. So therefore, I rejoice and Im very happy for you and I feel very fortunate and do that initiation well. In order to overcome that confusion and laziness, we need the full understanding of reality in Buddhist terms, voidness that things dont exist in the impossible ways that our minds project. I am not being miserly about the teaching, but the Yamantaka teaching is like the heart of the dakinis. Theyre all very qualified paths, its just depending on the method. This cleansing is most easily accomplished at this time of the year and helps to decrease suffering and increase peace. This is very, very dangerous, very delicate. So the mara of death. But the long term disbenefit is that it will take you much longer to become an Enlightened being. Plus it has all these horrible descriptions of these rituals for smashing and killing and doing all sorts of horrible things with these sharp weapons, this wheel of weapons. instructions for painting the full single-deity Vajrabhairava, with a repeat of the full description of the deity as well as of the charnal grounds (cemetaries). Its totally improper to bribe people to practice this tantra. But the Manchu ruler didnt want to get involved with this, and so he said, Take it to the Fifth Dalai Lama. In the highest class of tantra you have four initiations (or four empowerments), and the fourth one is to empower you to do the final, final, final practices where you have the practice of the two truths simultaneously., Thats the only point that is hidden or secret in terms of that division. And so he asked, Can I take the tantra teachings back to my homeland, to India? She said no. Were talking about a very different type of Buddha that will appear when it is helpful and necessary. First they beheaded the water buffalo in front of the hermit, and the hermit pleaded with them Please wait a few minutes more till I finish my fifty years of meditation but they beheaded him as well, before he could finish. The left legs are extended straight and press upon eight birds and various gods; standing above a sun disc and multi-colored lotus completely surrounded by orange flames of pristine awareness. Dharma in that tradition means justice, justice in the sense of what maintains the order of karma in terms of rebirth. New rebirth samsaric rebirth with another cluster or configuration of these habits being activated and generating the next samsaric life filled with the same types of compulsive behavior and confusion. My speech, although its in English can be burned into a CD and sent to you by email so you can keep it for future reference if you like also. So whats the Buddhist version of the legend? Brief Vajrasattva Visualisation and Mantra Recitation. He was very fanatic. Most of todays commentary teachings are based on the former. And the palace every little feature of it represents some other aspect of the path and realization. And in fact he meets a female practitioner, a so-called deep-awareness dakini (ye-shes mkha-gro). Now, just one last thing that I want to mention here is that there are five special features of Vajrabhairava practice that were revealed to Tsongkhapa by Manjushri. How do you envision such a person in terms of your goal, in terms of your method? I will name a few for you now. According to tradition, however, Buddha taught Guhyasamaja to King Indrabhuti of Ogyen, who ruled during the second half of eighth century. Thats what a Buddha does. Because if you think that secret and hidden means this system of these vajra expressions, you become totally confused when you read the Yamantaka root tantra or the Chakrasamvara one and you see Well, its all explained there very explicitly. So, mother tantra and father tantra, both can bring you to Enlightenment, but they focus on different types of afflictions to be converted. The benefit of that is, that if we do Yamantakas practice, we can overcome our inner, real, self-grasping anger. (This is the Tibetan story, by the way.) In other words, if we can see that history corroborates and fits together okay with the Buddhist version, then our confidence I think is a little bit stronger. The full form of Vajrabhairava has nine heads, the central one being that of a buffalo, and the top-most being that of yellow Manjushri with a slightly wrathful expression. Manjushri is the one that Tsongkhapa had all these visions of and relied on for getting real nonconceptual cognition of voidness., And it goes down the Gelugpa line to, eventually, the Fourth Panchen Lama. You can look at it two ways, cant you? So, within the mother tantra you focus on clear light, within the father tantra you focus on illusory body Whereas in tantra, its much more challenging, its more difficult and its much more, it pushes you more, and it challenges you more, but the benefit is that you are able to become Enlightened faster. So we are aiming to become a Buddha ourselves, and we need to have a body, speech, and mind of a Buddha, and we need to be able to attain all of those in the most efficient way. Vajra language is completely symbolic. Vajrapani wears a loin-cloth around his hips. We want to help others as much as possible. When in union, he is so with his consort, Vajravetali (Skt: for Adamantine Ghoul; Tib: rDor-rje ro-lang-ma), who has one face, two hands, and is blue in color with orange hair pressed against her back, holding a skull cup in her left hand. Now, why a water buffalo I can only guess. They refuse to let him take the texts with him; he was only allowed to memorize as much as he could in a short time and then write it down upon his return.Siklos (pp.5-10) gives a fascinating analytical account of the origins of the Vajrabhairava Tantra pointing towards the non-Buddhist Shaivite tradition in Western India (Kashmir & Afghanistan). Having the the opportunity to practise Yamantaka is extremely rare. There was a holy man who was told that if he meditated for the next fifty years, he would achieve enlightenment. And theres an enormous amount of teachings. Now, within the Yamantaka tantras, it is, Lama Tsongkhapa kept that as his personal yidam, along with other higher yidams, and he practiced it and he gained results. If you memorize this verse, well give you cattle. So hence, it has those kind of benefits. These are part of the commitments. So environmental, meaning place, time meaning how far away it is from the Buddha first turned the wheel of Dharma to the end of the Dharma, which is 5,000 years. rimersburg, pa obituaries. detailed instructions with measurements for drawing a weapon-wheel used for pacifying, increase, control and forceful actions, then the gathering of the syllables to be placed on the weapon-wheel. Inner and Outer Yamaraja are blue/black, and the Secret Yamaraja is red. While trying to find him, one day at the bank of a river he saw a boat without an oarsman overturn and all of the passengers drowned. By virtue he is purely 100% Manjushri and no other. Well, heres a very good example. Its interesting. Then it becomes a little bit more understandable. There is a version that you find in the Pali canon, where Shakyamuni was a prince, and he had his life, and there are all these accounts of what he did during his actual historical life. This can take many forms: mindful meditation, insight meditation, visualized and deity meditations, mantra or ultimately all of these, which represent Body (mindfulness), Mind (insight and visualization) and Speech (mantra.) Thats the reason. Heinous. By representing them by all the arms and legs and heads, it helps us to keep all of these things simultaneously in our consciousness. Now, when we learn this, what is the effect on us in terms of our practice? The Yamantaka empowerment is a secret mantra empowerment of the highest class known as Highest Yoga Tantra. So like that there are many, many, many, many benefits to doing Yamantakas tantra. So he does that.. Solitary-Hero Yamantaka. He did all the practices and obviously he was very, very advanced and in three months he gained the actual attainments. Like other wrathful deities, Yamantaka gives the forces of the Shadow [in the Jungian sense] a symbol that hooks their energy and provides a channel and direction for their expression and transformation (Preece, p. 187). Alright, you should read the Six Session Guru Yoga every day, three in the morning, three at night or you can do six times in one shot, it doesnt take very long. That is not the full teaching. So he went back to the Guru and requested the actual teaching. So theyre brought into the Buddhist fold and so Yama was as well. The Yamantaka Mantra()Vajrabhairava|||Destroyer Of Death|Powerful Mantra@Melodious Dharma Sound_____The . Yamantaka is a wrathful expression of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom. As Vajradhara or, here, appearing as Yamantaka or appearing as Chakrasamvara or as Kalachakra a Buddha appears in all these different forms of deities and at any time of history, but its not a historically definite time. Now we get to Lalitavajra (Rol-pai rdo-rje) in the tenth century. In this tantra theres Manjushri. And Manjushri transformed himself into Yamantaka, looking very similar to Yama but ten times more powerful and horrible, and Manjushri as Yamantaka then defeated Yama and made him into a protector for Buddhism., So what do we learn from this story? Its an interesting one. by Jamyang Khyentse Chkyi Lodr. "In the practice of Highest Yoga Tantra, try to focus on everything causing great bliss within you. I dont feel like going and helping somebody. You have to cut through that. The reason is its easier to say in Mongolian, and because its so strong with the Mongols, everybody calls it Yamantaka usually.. The next day he requested a dog who transformed into fire, water, wind and earth--the four elements--to show that he has power over the elements.

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