The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness

by Chogyam Trungpa

  SACREDNESS AS THE BASIS FOR UNDERSTANDING INNER MANDALA

  Holiness, or sacredness, is one of the main points of the inner mandala. It is important to recognize yourself as sacred. In the vajrayana, the idea is that things are sacred because, no matter what we experience by means of the ayatanas, dhatus, and mental contents, at the same time we begin to see that our world is uplifted.

  One of the problems in realizing the mandala principle altogether is the feeling that we are divided or separated from sacredness, that we are not sacred anymore. It is very easy for this to happen if we have a theistic view. The samsaric world and our regular, ordinary, samsaric ayatanas and dhatus tend to bring us down into depression, unless we are given toys. We become depressed unless we can play with passion, aggression, ignorance, and all the other samsaric toys. Otherwise, we are like babies without toys, who always feel down; we cry when we are hungry or thirsty or when our diaper is full and wet. We react to all sorts of things in that way. If we regard ourselves as infants, we will find all sorts of ways to disregard the possibility of sacredness.

  The Idea of Sacredness

  The root of the English word sacred is the Latin word sacer. Sacer refers to something that should not be trampled on or touched in a crude way. Although something sacred could be regarded as a regular, ordinary world phenomenon, sacer could also mean something secret or taboo. The idea is that those who do not know the secret should not touch it. The English word holy comes from the Anglo-Saxon heilig. Heilig is connected with health and with what is whole or wholesome. In English, we also speak of a sanctum or a place of sanctuary, which comes from the Latin word sanctus. The related Christian term spiritus sanctus means “holy spirit.”

  In the Tibetan tradition, the idea of “holiness” is the same as the “best.” In fact, tampa, the Tibetan word for holy, means “best.” Another word that is often used for best is chok. For instance, there is a phrase choktu kyurpa, which means “becoming the holiest of the holy, the best of the best, the supreme of the supreme.” So like tampa, chok means the “best” or “excellent.” Yet another word for holy is pal. Pal means “glory,” which contains much more of a sense of richness.

  Te-kho-na-nyi: “That Itself, Alone”

  The internal mandala is based on the vajrayana understanding of sacredness and holiness as a primordially or constantly uplifted situation. Te-kho-na-nyi, “that alone,” is the attitude you need to develop in order to experience that sacredness. It is the ground of carrying out the transmutation of the neurotic aspect of the kleshas into wisdom.

  Te means “that” or “this” or both, because at this point there is no distinction between “that” and “this.” Therefore, te is almost like saying “it.” One way of translating te is “that which is” or “this which is.” Kho means the “other” or “that,” kho-na makes it “that alone” or “only,” and nyi means “itness” or “-ness”; so te-kho-na-nyi means “that itself, alone.” The experience of “that itself” is the beginning of the inner mandala. So we might look at the discovery of the inner mandala in terms of the te-kho-na-nyi experience.

  Out of “that itself” come the constituents of the inner mandala, which are the five skandhas, the five kleshas, and the five wisdoms. But in the inner mandala, the first flash is to perceive this situation as a one-shot deal, as one experience: te-kho-na-nyi, or “that itself.” After that, there will be a second take on the whole thing; this second take works with the five wisdoms, in accordance with your nature, your possibilities, and your style. So you branch out after the first initial “that itself.”

  Te-kho-na-nyi can sometimes actually be translated as “you alone,” meaning it is your own experience rather an experience shared with somebody else. Te-kho-na-nyi can also mean “only for the few.” Te-kho-na-nyi is for the few because it is not necessarily public, in the sense that anybody who comes in the door will experience it. People first have to go through the process of realizing shamatha-vipashyana, tonglen, and all the rest of it. So it is only for the few, from that point of view. But as far as your own experience is concerned, it is only for you; it is for you alone.

  We all experience such loneliness. I feel tremendously lonely myself. We cannot really come up with the ideal occupation that will entertain us completely. There is always some kind of gap where we have to experience a sense of loneliness. I feel that a lot, but I feel joyful, too, just being myself. You cannot expect one-hundred-percent hospitality anywhere at all. That is precisely the meaning of liberation or freedom: freedom from both the loneliness and the hospitality of the world. With that freedom, you begin to find a new strength, a new dimension. You do not have to lean to the right or the left anymore, but you could stand on your own two feet, or one foot, whatever you possess. The ability to do that comes completely out of practice.

  USING THE KLESHAS AS THE FUEL FOR ENLIGHTENMENT

  The inner mandala is based on working with or overcoming the kleshas. But when we talk about overcoming the kleshas, we do not mean throwing them out the window or getting rid of them. Particularly in the vajrayana tradition, we do not get rid of anything, but we work with whatever arises and whatever we have. We use such material as the kleshas; we work with them. The kleshas are regarded as the fuel for attaining enlightenment.

  Nyönmong, the Tibetan word for klesha, means “drowsiness.” Nyön is related to the word nyal, or “sleep”; mong makes it actually falling asleep, and can also mean “made stupid”; so nyönmong means “drowsy and made stupid.” The five types of nyönmong or kleshas—passion, aggression, ignorance, jealousy, and pride—are the basic material or the firewood that we work with in understanding the inner mandala.2

  Working with the kleshas means that, when you first come across a klesha, you do not abandon it. For that matter, you do not regard it as an obstacle or as problematic. Instead, you work with the mandala practice of the particular deity that has been given to you, as a way of relating to that klesha. You work with the deity and the deity’s five wisdom possibilities. So through practice, you look at the kleshas and work with them. In doing so, it is not a question of the kleshas becoming the five wisdoms; it is a question of the kleshas being realized as the five wisdoms. There is a big difference between “becoming” and “being realized as.”

  In working with the mandala practice of the deity, you are relating very directly to the energies of the kleshas. You are experiencing this energy as sacredness, because that is so much what it is. There is a quality of “that itself alone” to the kleshas, so there is an experience of simplicity and directness in working with them. Because of that, there is tremendous richness in the world. You realize that the world is much bigger and richer than you had thought. In fact, the main point of working with the threefold mandala principle is to develop that sense of universality. The point is to have larger vision, a greater perspective.

  You work with the kleshas through the practice of sadhanas and through visualizing vajrayana mandalas of all kinds. But it goes much deeper than that. When you practice, you begin to realize that you are not hanging on to one particular identity. You give up your personal identity as such. When you begin to give up the identity of “me-ness” or “I-ness” altogether, you realize that meeting with a guru, or with a deity such as a heruka or dakini, is no longer a big obstacle. It is a question of having a firm and unwavering state of mind while you are practicing—and the way that this will be established is by first practicing shamatha properly, practicing vipashyana properly, and practicing tonglen properly. By means of those practices, you begin to find that you have established your stability on the spot.

  For beginning students, trying to use this understanding of the kleshas in your shamatha practice may be impractical. It is not possible to do so if you have not yet gone through the stages of vajrayana discipline properly and thoroughly. As a beginner, you may not be able to tell the difference between working with the kleshas and just being somewhat sloppy about getting back to the breath. So I think
it would be better if you just stick with your breath.

  There may also be some confusion about working with the kleshas in everyday life. It may feel possible to work with the kleshas in terms of shamatha and vipashyana while you are doing your sitting practice. On the meditation cushion, you are just sitting there, and whatever comes up is your stuff, your kleshas. So it may seem workable or straightforward. But it is not so straightforward in the world outside of the practice situation, particularly in relationships. When there are other people and you are working together and being together, there is a great deal of potential confusion. The passion, aggression, ignorance, jealousy, and pettiness are all in operation very strongly and energetically. So in everyday life, I would suggest that you sew your cushion to your pants, as it were.

  THE SACREDNESS OF THE BODY

  The inner mandala also has to do with the sacredness of our personal physical body. Basically, our body has become a prominent reference point for our projections of sanity and insanity about ourselves. Particularly in the modern world, technology has provided every possible comfort for the body, which makes these projections more exaggerated and more painful in some sense.

  Viewing Pain, Pleasure, and Indifference as Sacred

  In relating to the inner mandala, or the sacredness of the body, we experience pain, pleasure, and indifference in much the same way as we relate with enemies, friends, and neutrals in the outer mandala. That is, pain, pleasure, and indifference are also regarded as sacred, so we do not react so violently to our personal feelings about our body. The food we eat, the drinks we consume, the clothes we wear, the places where we sit or sleep—any experience that we might go through is sacred. Whether it is sexual ecstasy, complete torture, or an indifferent situation, whatever we go through could be regarded as sacred outlook. This tones down our sudden jumpiness in relating with our body.

  In the Shambhala tradition, we talk about how in the confused world of the setting sun, we use pleasure as a drug to secure ourselves, which actually creates tremendous pain for us. We create pain in the various ways we have to take care of ourselves in the modern world, including our numerous diets, our invention of electric toothbrushes and hot water bottles, our use of drugs to soothe ourselves or to perk ourselves up, and all the rest of our improvisations.

  A lot of our industry goes into taking care of the body, and a lot of neurosis comes out of that as well. Much more energy goes into taking care of our bodies than into building roads, bridges, or houses. In fact, we might say that seventy percent of all industry goes into taking care of the body. In turn, the possibility of actually doing so is quite hopeless. The more we try to take care of our body by means of this and that, the more we find that our body is deteriorating nevertheless, and becoming very spoiled from all that pampering. So the more we relate with our body, the more ways we find of experiencing discomfort that is disguised as pleasure.

  Prana, Nadi, and Bindu

  When we remove that kind of passion, aggression, and ignorance in relating to our body, we begin to see the body as sacred. We see it as having possibilities of sacred outlook; we see it as the inner mandala. From the point of view of the inner mandala, the three constituents of the body are prana, nadi, and bindu.

  PRANA. Prana is the circulation and breath. It is connected with gravity or with wind, with the wind of existence. Whenever we sweat or breathe or hiccup or burp or sneeze, whenever we inhale or exhale, we are fundamentally maintaining our existence. That is the basic idea of wind, the prana principle.

  NADI. The nadi principle is connected with the channels in the body: the veins and arteries through which our blood circulates, as well as our lymph, muscular, and nervous systems, which provide communication from the top of our head to the soles of our feet. Nadis refer to the systems that relate and transmit messages constantly. If you put your finger on a hot plate, your brain picks that up. This kind of message and telecommunication system that goes through the body is called nadi.

  BINDU. The bindu principle is connected with a basic essence. Your body is sustained by a kind of strength, a basic core that maintains health. Bindu sustains your existence by means of bringing prana and nadi together. You have the circulation; you have the channels through which the circulation passes; and you have the basic strength to maintain or sustain the circulation and keep it up-to-date in your body. Those are the three basic principles of the inner mandala.

  Working with the three principles of prana, nadi, and bindu is regarded as one of the main points in practicing vajrayana, particularly in the study of yogic disciplines. We do not have to become too analytical or complicated about it. Prana, nadi, and bindu are the basic situation and mechanism of the body, and they are workable. You do not have to panic in order to maintain your body, nor do you have to become too easy and reject possibilities of maintaining your body. With the inner mandala, there is a sense of sacredness and respect for your body. Your body is regarded as being equally as sacred as the world outside.

  Taking Care of Your Body

  The vajrayana directions for taking care of your body are to respect it and treat it well, but without going through the neurosis of pampering it. You could do this by wearing good clothes, performing ablutions, eating good food, and practicing meditation. Such things are all supposed to be good for the body. Similarly, the Buddha said in one of the sutras that eating food, sleeping, taking care of your body, and practicing meditation are all practices that glorify your body. He said that if the first three are in balance, then practicing a lot of meditation will not cause your body to deteriorate.

  From this perspective, things like combing your hair properly or wearing perfume or makeup do not seem to be a problem. They are not regarded as marks of arrogance, but as expressions of authentic and genuine respect for your body. When you dress up, you are not dressing up for anybody else: you are dressing up and taking care of your body out of natural dignity. Because of that, you take care of your body. That is how you maintain sacred outlook.

  PREPARING THE GROUND

  To prepare the ground for working with the inner mandala, it is important to work with the ayatanas and dhatus, understand shamatha awareness and vipashyana tranquillity, and understand tonglen.

  The Ayatanas and Dhatus of the Outer Mandala

  Natural possibilities of working with the body mandala, or inner mandala principle, arise because you have already worked with the outer mandala. If we were to discuss the inner mandala without your having understood the external mandala, you might find the discussion very difficult to understand. But with the help of your work with the ayatanas and dhatus of the outer mandala, you begin to find yourself able to work with the inner mandala in its own way. In fact, understanding all three mandalas is related with learning how to deal with the ayatanas and dhatus that go through your mind.

  Transforming Kleshas through Shamatha-Vipashyana

  On top of that, it is also very helpful to understand the experiences of vipashyana awareness and shamatha tranquillity. Without that understanding, you will have difficulty in relating with or experiencing the five wisdoms.

  All five wisdoms originate from the basic wisdom called dharma, and the definition of dharma is passionlessness. The opposites of dharma are grasping and holding oneself as more important than others. So in this teaching, we are reminded once again that not grasping comes from the hinayana practice of shamatha-vipashyana, and we are reminded that not holding oneself as more important than others comes from the mahayana practice of exchanging self for other. When you are so adaptable that you begin to realize that you could change places with other people, and that pain and pleasure could be exchanged, you will no longer have any difficulty understanding the universality of the five wisdom principles. So in order to understand vajrayana thoroughly and fully, both the hinayana and mahayana are extraordinarily important.

  It is necessary to understand that shamatha and vipashyana are also vajrayana techniques. Even at the level of vajrayana, they play a
key role. Through shamatha and vipashyana, you can realize the sacredness of the Buddha, the sacredness of the dharma, the sacredness of the sangha, and their indivisibility.

  At that point, the kleshas could arise: you breathe that in. Then as you breathe out again, with the beginning of the out-breath, you surrender your holding on. So as the breath goes out, it is actually transforming the kleshas. At the end of the out-breath, the kleshas are being transformed into sacred world.

  Tonglen and Understanding the Pain of Others

  In order to understand how to become a true tantrika and how to bring the three yanas together, you also have to understand tonglen and be willing to let go and give up your own desire to have a cozy experience. Hanging on to your personal heirlooms, by yourself, without sharing with others, is wicked. So the ability to understand others’ pain, and the personal experience of letting go of your own pleasure and receiving others’ pain, is extraordinarily important. The purpose of Buddhism altogether, and the reason why it is nontheistic, is that it enables us to thoroughly understand other people’s pain. On the Buddhist path, we work for others in order to save them from the pain that comes from neurosis of all kinds.

  On the basis of the hinayana and mahayana, we can understand and appreciate the regality and richness of the vajrayana very easily. If we had not heard of hinayana or mahayana, and simply jumped the gun and got into vajrayana, we would have a great deal of difficulty. Quite possibly we might not get it at all. So in studying the meaning of outer and inner mandala principles, you will understand much more about mandala and about vajrayana altogether by understanding that you first have to tame yourself by means of hinayana and help others by means of mahayana.