The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness

by Chogyam Trungpa

  The feeling that you are actually leading your life is very much a principle of this particular yana. You are leading a life, and you have considerations and concerns about how to handle your life. You are concerned about your purity as well as your freedom, so you get the best of both worlds.

  Upayoga begins to reach toward yogayana and anuttarayoga. It is as if upayoga has found a secret message. Therefore, you are not too concerned about your purity alone, but you begin to know that something else is happening. It is as though your grandchildren are rich and can give you money, but at the same time you realize that your great-grandparents are also rich and that they can help you as well. So you are bounded by two richnesses simultaneously.

  SYMBOLISM

  You cannot talk about reality without symbols, even in the ordinary sense. For example, if your children ask, “What does visiting daddy mean?” you say, “That means daddy is going to be right in front of you.” That is the direct experience of how things work. You could hardly say that this is only symbolism. So symbolism involves having a direct experience. Tantric symbolism should be like experiencing an apple: if you understand an apple thoroughly and completely, you understand your deity.

  If you do not have an understanding of and respect for symbolism and the necessity for symbolism, then you cannot understand and respect tantra. Without an appreciation of symbolism, the means of communication would be neglected, and you would be concerned solely with the aftereffects. Instead of watching the whole movie, you would just like to know what happened at the end, whether the good guys won or the bad guys were destroyed. This kind of approach blinds you to the appreciation of the importance of symbolism.

  Our parents, our toys, our enemies, our friends, buying a car, getting money, eating our food, and wearing clothes—all of these are symbols. Such symbols make sense to us because we appreciate them. Without symbols, there is nothing left. Everything we do, everything we have, and the ways we behave are all the activities of symbolism. That is why our world is called the world of mirage or the relative world.

  Unless you understand the symbolism, there is no means of communicating with the ground of tantra, no means of understanding the principles of tantra. You have no way of identifying with those principles or meditating on them. At the tantric level, we do not seem to make any distinction between philosophy and experience. You may have a philosophy of symbolism; that’s fine, but it should also entail an intuitive understanding of symbolism, otherwise you do not have good philosophy. So experience and theory go side by side. The tantric approach is more like learning how to be a good cook rather than learning how to be a good philosopher. It is very much connected with communication with reality and survival.

  Using symbols does not mean that you do not understand the facts, so you have to come up with some image instead. With tantric symbols such as scepters, wheels, swords, bija mantras, and the rest, you are not just relating with particular forms, images, or names. You relate with a symbol like a wheel, or a sword, or a jewel as something immediate, something that applies to your passion or your confused nature. In visualization practice, that sword or other symbol is transformed into the appropriate buddha. So a sword could mean your karma family aggression, and it could also mean the karma family wisdom of the fulfillment of all actions. That type of symbol is an immediate synopsis of your basic being. And when you refer to buddhas such as Vairochana or Vajrasattva, that is a more glorified expression of belonging to a particular buddha-family.

  At the level of upayoga, you are expected to have a relationship with things as they are. You are expected to know the vividness of everything completely. Because of that, you are encouraged to indulge in sense perceptions and sense pleasures. This is not particularly a revolutionary idea that goes against hinayana principles of morality. It is more than that. Every experience in your life, all your sense perceptions, your pleasures or your pains, each has its own particular flavor and characteristics. And all of these experiences are manifested by the deities; they are the deities. So visualizing the deities helps you to illuminate those qualities in everyday experience, and it helps create an appreciation of the deities’ cosmic aspect as well.

  A CONSTANT LETTING-GO PROCESS

  The significance of upayoga is that it goes beyond the emphasis on and respect for the ordinary level of kündzop. It transcends that level in such a way that you are able to understand a need for greater practice. You realize that you have to do more than just view everything as sacred. In order to actually realize sacredness, you have to go beyond just taking that view.

  In upayoga visualization practice, there is a feeling of equality between you and the jnanasattva that you visualize. There is also a recognition of the importance of the abstract level, or formless meditation, which goes beyond the visualization itself. So in upayoga, the emphasis, apart from purity, is on sampannakrama, or formless practice.

  In this yana, when you perceive things in the phenomenal world, everything is translated into an understanding of unadorned perception. The Tibetan word for that is tsen-me. Tsen or tsenma means “mark” or “adornment,” me means the negation of that; so tsen-me refers to “unadorned experience.” In order to realize the vajrayana, you do not need gimmicks that make things in your life colorful. The upayoga understanding of purity goes somewhat further than kriyayoga, in that purity is not regarded as an adornment, but rather as a statement of the absence of adornment. It is a statement of expressionlessness, marklessness, reference-point-lessness.

  Upayoga involves greater compassion and greater individual salvation at the same time. In some ways, they are the same thing. There is a quality of purity, openness, and diligence in practice, related with seeing things clearly. The tantric logic of compassion is generally related with the unadorned approach. That is, compassion is not something you are taking on as a further burden, but it is a stripping away of your own burden—and the more you take away your burden, the more compassionate you become. It is not at all like the mahayana idea of being a good guy, and it is not a matter of obligations. There is more spontaneity. According to upayoga, the more you unmask and unclothe, the more compassion comes along.

  In upayoga, you perceive the world in your own way and on the basis of whatever training you have had, but you are not trying to hang on to your view. Everything happens within a kind of constant letting-go process. When something occurs in your mind, you let it occur. You let it come, and you let it develop its purity. You do not try to grasp anything, and you do not try to take hold of anything in order to learn something. You just let everything go in its own way.

  IMMOVABILITY

  Another important factor in upayoga is the emphasis on achala, which means “immovability” or “stability.” Upayoga sadhanas make frequent reference to immovability, and the principle of vajra anger begins to come alive at this point, although at the upayoga level it is a very mild form of vajra anger. There is more anger at the crazy-wisdom level, but here it is more like stubborn determination to take part in the confused world, rather than real anger. In upayoga, the idea of immovability is connected with the deity Achala, who is represented as a wrathful figure holding a mace and a lasso. In kriyayoga, no central figures were wrathful. All the central figures were peaceful, although the guardian deities or messengers could be wrathful.

  In the Shingon Buddhism of Japan, there are also frequent references to Achala, or Fudo as he is called in Japanese. Interestingly, Zen Buddhists are also fascinated by Fudo. Some Zen masters wrote poems on Fudo as a symbol of immovability, but those poems are not like the poems of tantric practitioners. Zen Buddhists connected that quality of sternness with Bodhidharma, the fifth-century monk who is said to have introduced Ch’an or Zen to China. So in the Zen approach, Fudo simply represents toughness and immovability, rather than being threatening or wrathful in the tantric sense.

  EMPTINESS / FULLNESS

  In these first two tantric yanas, nothing specific is happening in terms of emptiness, or
shunyata, but it is slowly building up. These yanas do not yet have an approach to the idea of sexuality or the feminine principle, or even the mother principle. Their version of relating with shunyata is purely based on sampannakrama, or formless practice. Beyond visualization, there is a kind of quiet moment when you do not have visualizations in your mind, but you begin to pick up on the essence of the deities. That is the idea of shunyata in upayoga.

  According to the followers of madhyamaka, this is not really true shunyata; but according to the tantrikas, it is real shunyata because emptiness is at the same time full. It is because of its fullness and richness that the emptiness notion happens. Fundamentally, the reason emptiness happens is that there is no ego and no divine being.

  It depends on the practitioner, actually, but the texts say that in upayoga, visualizations are also subject to the philosophy of the unadorned approach. Once you are unadorned, you could have as much adornment as there is. So being unadorned and having the adornment of all the textures are the same. It is like the analogy of the desert. In the midst of all the grains of sand in the desert, one little grain of sand sticks its head up and says, “Hello.” The idea is that if you take away the ego, there is still somebody there. So there is the multiplicity of all the little grains of sand, and at the same time you are left with the desert.

  INTERMEDIATE YANAS

  In the tantric traditions of upayoga and kriyayoga, there is an emphasis on individual practice, while in later tantra, group practice is more common. Because of that, we could say that this yana is still on the level of the pratyekabuddhayana. We could say that it is close to the rhinoceros tradition of solitary realization, because practice is done individually and privately. You find a similar situation in the Shingon Buddhism of Japan. They have assembly halls to congregate in when they do group practices, but each practitioner has a little table in front of them with a little shrine so they can practice by themselves. Likewise, in the Tibetan kriyayoga and upayoga traditions, practitioners have their own meditation cells to study and practice in. Doing individual practice seems to be important because you are not yet fully developed. Therefore, you practice independently without outside distractions or problems. The fact of doing your own personal practice by yourself indicates that the vajrayana version of mahayana group practice has not yet developed.

  There are a lot of practices in this yana, of course, but most general writings have very little discussion of them. In fact, Tibetans do not practice kriyayoga and upayoga all that much. Maybe they are spoiled by having anuttarayoga practice, or maybe they just do not like water or bathing, and find it difficult to take three showers a day. Tibetans have their vision set on the higher tantras, the last three yanas. Therefore, the lower yanas seem to be too primitive, and Tibetans prefer to bypass them. Nevertheless, many kriyayoga and upayoga practices are still regarded as important for getting some perspective on the whole tantric path.

  Kriyayoga and upayoga are not really all that essential. They are not as essential as the shravaka and pratyekabuddha yanas. It is absolutely necessary to have the understanding of basic Buddhism that is found in the hinayana. Teachings such as the truth of suffering, the twelve nidanas, and so forth are basic, and it is necessary to understand all that. But kriyayoga and upayoga are just steps toward breaking the ice and becoming more familiar with the vajrayana tradition in general. So the early tantric yanas are a kind of intermediate step.

  1. The Sanskrit term upa seems to be a shortened form of ubhaya, which means “both,” indicating that this yana has qualities of both kriyayoga and yogayana. Upayogayana is more commonly called charyayana. Charya, like the Tibetan chö (spyod), means “conduct” or “practice.” (Not to be confused with chö [chös], which means “dharma.”)

  45

  Upayoga: Empowerment

  The main point of upayoga is to develop further sophistication and respect for your basic being. It is like building a house on purified ground. In kriyayoga, you have less confidence in the phenomenal world because you perceive it as being dirty. But now that you have the knowledge of how to clean it up or purify it, you feel more relaxed and comfortable. So with upayoga, you have more confidence in the phenomenal world.

  IN UPAYOGA, the abhisheka is more than just an anointment ceremony accepting you into the tribal structure, but it is still not up to the point of being a coronation. You are accepted into the tribe, and you are told the laws and the meaning of being involved with the tribe.

  In kriyayoga, the main abhishekas were the water abhisheka, connected with the dharmakaya, and the crown abhisheka, connected with the kayas of form, the sambhogakaya and the nirmanakaya. We had three transcendent families, or buddha principles. But in upayoga, we have all five buddha principles, so some additional symbols are used in the abhisheka ceremony. In addition to the water and the crown, we have the vajra, the bell, and the vajra and bell fastened together in the form of a cross.

  FIVE MAIN ABHISHEKAS

  It is important to remember that upayoga maintains its kriyayoga purification practice, but it also includes the yogayana practice of freedom, although not completely. The abhishekas reflect that same pattern. There are five main abhishekas—water, crown, bell, vajra, and name, and one additional abhisheka called opening the eyes.

  Water / Vase Abhisheka

  First there is the water or vase abhisheka. The vajra represents discriminating-awareness wisdom, because you hold the vajra scepter in your hand as a way of communicating to others. This is similar to the vase abhisheka that we discussed in kriyayoga, but it is not so highly based on purity and it has a slightly different and more sophisticated form.

  Within the water abhisheka, there are four further abhishekas. The first one is to purify the fixations of the lower realms. The second one is to completely uproot any samsaric seeds. The third one is to develop or bypass the bhumis from one to ten completely. It is known as creating the seed for the two accumulations: merit and wisdom. (In this case merit is achievement rather than just credit, which is how the term is usually used.) The fourth one sows the seed for one to become the regent of the vajra master. These four abhishekas are all part of the first abhisheka.

  Crown Abhisheka

  The second abhisheka is the crown abhisheka. The crown abhisheka is to attain certain attributes of the Buddha’s form, such as richness, opulence, dignity, and so forth.

  Bell Abhisheka

  The third abhisheka is the abhisheka of sound or bell. Its purpose is to attain the attributes of the Buddha’s speech. Buddha is said to have possessed sixty variations of articulation, depending on the audience. He achieved a way of communicating to students completely and provocatively, which is symbolized by the bell. The bell represents the wisdom of all-accomplishing actions, because the sound of the bell terrifies and puts a stop to thoughts. Since the problem of being unable to fulfill your actions is caused by preoccupation with thoughts, when your thoughts have been stopped by the sound of the bell, you become one with your actions, and your actions are automatically fulfilled.

  Vajra Abhisheka

  The fourth abhisheka is that of the vajra, which represents the mind of the Enlightened One. Seeing and knowing are the two types of insight that exist in the mind of enlightenment. Seeing is perceiving things as they are, and knowing is knowing things as they are. Together, they represent the mind of the Buddha, which is symbolized by a vajra.

  Name Abhisheka

  The fifth abhisheka is the abhisheka of name, in which the symbolism is that of the bell and vajra put together in a cross and tied up with a ribbon. The bell and dorje fastened together represents the dharmadhatu wisdom, or the wisdom of all-encompassing space. The teacher rings this bell above your head and proclaims your vajrayana name, declaring that from today onward you shall be known as the “Tathagata of Nonreturning,” or the “Self-Liberated Rainbow,” or whatever it may be. The teacher proclaims your particular buddha and the family name of your particular tantric discipline. That confirms that you are
a ruler of the threefold world.

  Those are the five main abhishekas that take place in upayoga.

  Opening the Eyes

  Following the five main abhishekas, there is an extra abhisheka that is not included in the main abhishekas, which is called opening the eyes. This abhisheka is somewhat different in that it is not so much for your development alone. It is based on the teacher’s openness in relating with students and interpreting and explaining the meaning of the various mandalas and their symbols. So it is an action abhisheka, which seems to be the basic point of this particular yana.

  In this abhisheka, the teacher uses a ritual stick called an eye stick, or mikthur. Mik means “eye,” and thur means “stick”; so a mikthur is an “eye stick.” Traditionally, the students all blindfold themselves, and the teacher removes their blindfolds with the eye stick. When all the blindfolds are transferred to the eye stick in this way, the teacher points out that confusion has been removed. Then the students are shown the meaning of the symbolism that is being used.

  At this point, the teacher holds the eye stick in his hand and uses it to point out the various facets of the mandala that you are receiving. In the center of the mandala, the teacher has placed the crossed bell and vajra, representing the abhisheka of name. In the East quarter of the mandala, the teacher has placed a vase filled with water; in the South quarter, a crown; in the West quarter, a vajra tied with a red ribbon; and in the North quarter, a bell tied with a green ribbon. The vajra master uses the eye stick to point out the different areas of the mandala and tell you what all of them mean. We could say that this is the first time the tantric student receives the actual introduction to the five buddha-wisdom principles, and has their characteristics explained.