The Tantric Path of Indestructible Wakefulness

by Chogyam Trungpa

  As Tilopa entered the town of Uddiyana, he approached the castle of the dakinis, which was on top of a mountain in the middle of a lake. The castle was surrounded by a moat that contained poisonous water, so Tilopa had to use the bridge of precious stone to cross. Beyond the moat, there was a big metal wall that he had to slice down with the diamond hair.4 And beyond that, there was a big gate that he had to open with the blade of kusha grass. He took the position that his body was immovable, his speech was melodious and strong, and his mind could not be reduced to fear. With those three prides and with vajra conviction, he went inside the mandala.

  First he encountered the nirmanakaya dakinis. The nirmanakaya dakinis put up a token fight to prevent him from getting into the center of the mandala, but realizing his conviction, they let him through. Then he got to the sambhogakaya dakinis, who were acting as cabinet ministers to the queen, who was the dharmakaya dakini. And when Tilopa finally got to the dharmakaya dakini, he would not prostrate. He just demanded the mahamudra experience, which consisted of three symbols: an icon, a mantra, and a crystal vajra.

  Tilopa said, “I would like to have the jewel of samaya in the form of a tsakali, or icon. I would like to have the jewel of the three syllables in the form of a mantra.5 I would like to have the jewel of the scepter in the form of a crystal vajra.”

  The dharmakaya dakini rejoined by questioning him: “If you want the jewel of tsakali, you will need to have the credential of the lineage. If you want the jewel of the three syllables, you will need the credential of knowledge. And if you want the jewel of the crystal vajra, you will need the credential of experience and the prophecy that you are going to be the holder of the lineage.”

  Tilopa replied, “In order to get the jewel of samaya, I have a fearless body. In order to get the jewel of the three syllables, I have fearless speech. In order to get the jewel of the crystal vajra, I have a fearless mind. I am Chakrasamvara. So I have no fear, and at the same time I have no desire to receive these three things.”

  The icon, the three syllables, and the crystal vajra represent three very important principles. The tsakali or icon is the idea of lineage. It represents that we have a bodily, physical relationship with a real guru, not an imaginary guru. The idea of the three syllables is that when we receive empowerment or transmission, we begin to realize the nature of our mind and how our mind works with prajna. The idea of the crystal vajra is the confirmation of our total understanding of the phenomenal world. It is called the total jewel, because it represents a complete understanding of reality without any distortion or exaggeration. These three precious jewels are called the three jewels of mahamudra.

  Developing an understanding of those three principles is extraordinarily important to the body, speech, and mind in mahamudra. Once you have been trained, getting these three jewels is more like a bank robbery where you steal mahamudra from the dakinis, rather than an initiation or abhisheka. That is what Tilopa did, and this kind of confidence plays an important part in mahamudra.

  If you are not trained in the three-yana principles, you cannot bankrob the mahamudra teachings. But having already trained in the three yanas, you have a basic understanding of what is meant by body, what is meant by speech, and what is meant by mind. With that understanding, you develop a lot of confidence. You have already become a vessel for the enormous elixir of life.

  1. Tilopa, like many Tibetan masters, went by many names. He is probably most widely known as “Tilopa,” or the “sesame oil presser,” since he attained enlightenment while doing this work. For more on the life of Tilopa, see The Life of Tilopa by Pema Karpo, translated by the Nalanda Translation Committee (Halifax, N.S.: Nalanda Translation Committee, 2008) and Thrangu Rinpoche, The Life of Tilopa & the Ganges Mahamudra (Auckland: Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Trust, 2002).

  2. The Guhyasamaja Tantra is one of the oldest and most important texts of Buddhist tantra.

  3. Krishnacharya, Nagarjuna, Lavapa, and Mati Subhagini (“bestower of bliss,” Vajrayogini in the form of a hag).

  4. In some versions of the story, the metal wall is scaled by a crystal ladder.

  5. The three syllables are OM AH HUM.

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  Taking a Fresh Look at the Phenomenal World

  It seems that phenomena are what appear to you and to your perceptions. When you perceive phenomena, if you see things as they are, they do not have to be captured or put in a nutshell; instead, they can perpetuate by themselves. This is known as the dawn of phenomena, which could be regarded as things as they are. The dawn of phenomena should be regarded as the root of all dharmas.

  SIX WAYS IN WHICH ANUTTARAYOGA IS SPECIAL

  Anuttarayoga is a very involved subject, with many categories and levels. One set of categories has to do with the ways in which anuttarayoga is special compared with the rest of the tantras. This set of six categories comes in three sets, which are each composed of two contrasting qualities.

  Thoughtfulness vs. Unthoughtfulness

  The first set is thoughtfulness and unthoughtfulness. In Tibetan, thoughtfulness is gongpachen, which means “being thoughtful” or “thoughtful wisdom,” and unthoughtfulness is gongpa mayinpa.1 The unthoughtfulness of the other tantras implies that there are a lot of areas the previous tantras did not look into. They did not look at the subtleties of day-to-day living; they did not transcend conventional kündzop and get into real kündzop, the real relative world. So the difference between the previous tantras and this tantra is the difference between unthoughtfulness and thoughtfulness, unwisdom and wisdom.

  Literal vs. Absolute Meaning

  The second set includes the literal meaning and the absolute or true meaning. In Tibetan, this is trangdön and ngedön.2 The previous three tantras are regarded as literal because there is some purpose, aim, or object involved. In contrast, this tantra does not have any aim or object, except to just to get back into the world.

  Interpretation vs. Beyond Interpretation

  The third pair is interpretation and beyond interpretation.3 In Tibetan, this is dra chishinpa and dra chishinpa mayinpa. Interpretation means that you accept literally whatever you are told. For instance, in Hinduism, the Brahmaputra River is considered to be the water that pours out of Brahma’s water vessel and becomes the river Ganges. It is regarded as sacred water. So a literal interpretation of that would be that by bathing in the Ganges, you could actually wash away your sins as you wash the dirt off your body. The literal understanding of purity would be to take a bath in the Ganges.

  But according to anuttarayoga, that is a one-sided view. The Hindus interpret this idea too literally, which has undermined their spirituality, and that same kind of true-believing quality also exists in Buddhist tantra. Literally speaking, purity is just removing dirt, and unity is just trying to bring everything together in the realm of joy, and so forth. But in anuttarayoga, we are not that literal. We are getting beyond that kind of literal interpretation and perspective. Reality is seen from all directions, rather than from one ultimate point of view.

  SIXFOLD TEACHING STYLE

  The way in which anuttarayoga is taught, or its teaching style, is also divided into six categories, or three sets of pairs.

  Present and Embryonic

  The first pair is the present situation and the embryonic situation. When the Buddha or other teachers speak the language of tantra, sometimes they are referring to a situation that already exists in the present time, and sometimes they are speaking in terms of situations that exist embryonically.

  Literal and Subtle

  The next pair is the literal and the subtle. When tantra is spoken to a student, it is proclaimed in various languages or ways, depending on how awake the student is—or how open, which is another matter.

  The literal approach is more primitive, and the subtle approach goes beyond that primitiveness and is much more devious. For instance, the tantric guru would probably recommend that you eat meat. In tantric texts, it says that you should eat pigs, dogs, cows, elephants, h
orses, and even humans. In response, a student might actually eat all those things, because each particular flesh contains certain magical powers if the eater is in the right state of mind. That is the literal interpretation. A more subtle interpretation is that eating cows is eating ignorance, eating pigs is eating passion, and so forth.

  Similarly, tantric texts might say to get drunk. That might apply literally, but a more subtle meaning might be that the phenomenal world and your perceptions need to get intoxicated into another realm of existence altogether. It might mean that because you are not drunk enough, you still see the phenomenal world in a very pathetic and paranoid way, and therefore you have to change your state of being.

  Direct and Indirect

  The last pair is the direct and the indirect word. This pair is connected with action, and with the provocative notion that sometimes passion means passion, and sometimes passion means the transcendence of passion at the same time.

  This pair is very similar to the previous one. The difference between this set and the previous two sets is that with this pair, in the statement “Eat meat and enjoy,” the enjoyment aspect is more pragmatic. The first set just says to eat meat or drink an intoxicant; the second set says to get drunk; and the third set says to enjoy yourself. So there are three different levels: being, beyond being, and actually getting a result out of being.

  RELATING WITH THE PHENOMENAL WORLD

  All of this has to do with how we view our phenomenal world. That is the whole point. Saying that you should eat meat and drink liquor sounds like a very decadent remark. But to say this in a less decadent way, the phenomenal world is workable: it is eatable, drinkable, fuckable, and what have you. It is actually there, and you can relate with it. The phenomenal world is no longer regarded as an enigma. It is not one world, but two worlds simultaneously playing by themselves constantly.

  Obviously, one of these worlds is more subtle. But who cares? The world still exists. It does exist. The phenomenal world that we experience is not quite the phenomenal world that is recommended by tantra; but at the same time, the phenomenal world that we experience is also something that tantra recommends we look at.

  The tantric tradition speaks in terms of working with phenomena. Generally when we talk about working with phenomena, we think in terms of working on a project or solving a problem. We are trying to troubleshoot or to discover something. But in this case, it is not so much that we are working on a project, but rather that we are making a relationship with something or other.

  On one hand, the phenomenal world is regarded as your illegitimate child, and on the other hand, the phenomenal world is regarded as your true child. Those two processes, the illegitimate and true-child projections, seem to be how we relate with the phenomenal world. Both are playing simultaneously and constantly. Pleasure and pain are simultaneous; hope and fear are simultaneous.

  THE DAWN OF PHENOMENA

  It seems that phenomena are what appear to you and to your perceptions. When you perceive phenomena, if you see things as they are, they do not have to be captured or put in a nutshell; instead, they can perpetuate by themselves. This is known as the dawn of phenomena, which could be regarded as things as they are. The dawn of phenomena should be regarded as the root of all dharmas.

  A phenomenon does not have any root; it happens spontaneously, on its own. And when a phenomenon arises, it does not dwell on anything. As it dawns, it ceases to become by itself; and as it dawns, it naturally depends on itself, because of its dawning quality. Therefore, we call the dawn of phenomena dharmakaya, for by itself, by its own nature, it does not depart and it does not dwell on anything. So all dharmas are marked with that reality.

  We also could talk about this in terms of dharmata. A phenomenon has its own sense. It is neither here nor there. In other words, in perceiving things as they are, we are not dwelling on anything.

  EXPERIENCING PHENOMENA AND NONPHENOMENA

  We could look into the process of perception in terms of solidity and spaciousness. We could look in terms of how to realize the existence of the phenomenal world and the existence of the nonphenomenal world.

  The Solidity of Phenomena

  The first aspect is the solid aspect of the phenomenal world. The existence of the phenomenal world means that you exist as a person who receives perceptions through the skandhas and ayatanas: through sight, feeling, taste, smell, touchables, sound, and so forth. Those things are not discarded as irritations, nor as natural cosmic problems or nuisances. When we hear sound, we do not regard it as a nuisance; when we see things, we do not regard them as a nuisance; and so forth.

  We can actually perceive the phenomenal world as an existing entity that does not need conmanship or rejection of any kind. Things do happen to us. For instance, when we sit at a meal, we naturally experience possibilities such as tasting sweet and sour. But the things that come up in our world are neither rejected nor accepted; we experience them as they are.

  The Spaciousness of Phenomena

  The other aspect is the emptiness or spacious aspect of the phenomenal world. This is equally necessary, because if we only see things in their own solidity, then we begin to lose our ability to keep in touch with reality properly. Either we do not see the gaps anymore, or we see too many gaps. Therefore, we do not see reality as it is. We do not see things as they should be seen, things as they ought to be seen.

  Seeing in this way is known as rangshin nerik. Rangshin means “natural phenomena,” ne means “the way things live in their own accord,” and rik could mean “phenomenal perspective,” or for that matter, it could simply be a generic form of perceiving things as they are; so rangshin nerik means the “way things are as they are,” fundamentally speaking. Rangshin nerik helps us to see the play of samsara and nirvana equally.

  When we talk about samsara and nirvana, we are not saying that samsara is inferior, or nirvana is superior, or for that matter, that nirvana is liberation, and samsara is confusion. Rather, we are saying that the way things happen to us has two aspects: one is seeing things as they are in their own perspective; the other is perceiving things from a different perspective, using our perception or psychological point of view.

  VIEWING THE WORLD AS EVAM

  Anuttarayoga has a very simple view of how we function in the world, who we are, what we are, and so forth. It is very simple, almost simplistic. The analogy is built around two seed syllables, E and VAM, which joined together make EVAM. EVAM is one of the essential symbols of tantra.

  VAM: Unchangeable Nature

  The first seed syllable is VAM. As far as VAM is concerned, sentient beings cannot become buddhas, and ignorant people cannot become intelligent, unless they are already such beings and such intelligences. Another way of saying this is that, as sentient beings, we are already buddha, or awake. According to this principle, you have within you the seed of a vajra holder. You are already in your being a vajra holder. You are the primeval buddha.

  The word primeval refers to the self-existing buddha. It refers to the buddha who never had to attain enlightenment, the buddha who never had to go through the arduous journey of the three yanas. That self-existing buddha is there already. That is why it is called the first buddha, or primeval buddha. In English, we could call this the zero buddha. So VAM is the self-indestructibility that exists already within us, which we cannot reinforce in any way at all. It is there already, and it is indestructible in its vajra nature. That is the meaning of VAM.

  E: All-Perception

  The second seed syllable is E. E is the counterpart of VAM in EVAM. It is a sort of ambidextrous and multiple personality. Sometimes you peek your head into the samsaric quarter, and sometimes you peek your head into the nirvanic quarter. Sometimes you try to be a heruka, and sometimes you are completely wrapped up in your emotions. Sometimes E is seen as good, and sometimes it is seen as bad.

  E is basic space. Wherever there is space, there is always room to get completely into it. If there is space in your room, space
is definitely your space. Basic space does exist, and the integrity of space never changes. According to the logic of EVAM, E is the playful aspect. At the same time, it is referred to as all-perception. So E is all-perception, and VAM is unchangeable nature.

  EVAM: E and VAM United

  Then there is the union of E and VAM, which means that a pattern exists within your state of being that is both indestructible and moody. You constantly go through phases of sudden wakefulness and sudden confusion. Those two things are always happening in your system, in your state of mind. One phase is a completely solid and continuous process that is intelligent and receptive, and the other one is moody. So you are being conned by the phenomenal world, but at the same time you are accommodating it. Even in your most extreme level of paranoia, you are still accommodating what you are paranoid of, so you are still being spacious, from that point of view. Therefore, E and VAM could be united. They could be brought together. The essence of E and VAM exists within your basic being constantly.