The New Guide to Dakini Land. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

of our negative actions and their effects.

      For this purification practice to be effective we must correctly apply the four opponent powers. Developing regret for the negative actions we have created in the past is the power of destruction, making the determination not to repeat these actions is the power of promise, going for refuge to Guru Vajrasattva is the power of reliance, and reciting the mantra is the power of the opponent force.

      PURIFICATION IN SEVEN ROUNDS

      We can combine mantra recitation with purification in seven rounds. These are:

      1 Dispelling negativity from above

      2 Dispelling negativity from below

      3 Destroying negativity at the heart

      4 Purification through receiving the vase empowerment

      5 Purification through receiving the secret empowerment

      6 Purification through receiving the wisdom-mudra empowerment

      7 Purification through receiving the word empowerment

      The first three rounds are general practices and the remaining four are practices unique to Highest Yoga Tantra.

      DISPELLING NEGATIVITY FROM ABOVE

      To practise the first round we begin by recollecting the feel­ing of regret and the determination not to commit negative actions in the future. We then focus our attention on the hundred-letter mantra at Guru Vajrasattva’s heart and generate strong conviction and faith in Guru Vajrasattva and the power of his mantra. We recite the mantra verbally or mentally seven times or more and then imagine that white wisdom lights and nectars descend from the mantra letters. These leave through the point of union of Guru Vajrasattva Father and Mother and enter our body through our crown. We visualize all our negative actions and delusions in the aspect of sooty liquid, all our ailments and sufferings in the aspect of pus, blood and mucus, and all hindrances from spirits in the aspect of poisonous snakes, spiders and scorpions. As our body fills with lights and nectars we imagine that all these impurities are pushed down from the upper part of our body and leave through our lower doors. They descend to the depths of the earth where they enter the mouth of the Lord of Death. We imagine that he is fully satiated. Our body fills with wisdom lights and nectars and transforms into a body of light, free from all faults of sickness, ageing and death. We meditate on this pure body of light single-pointedly.

      DISPELLING NEGATIVITY FROM BELOW

      We recollect our previously generated regret, determination and faith in the power of this practice to purify negativities, and we then recite the mantra seven times or more. As before, we visualize wisdom lights and nectars descending and filling our body. We imagine that this causes all our negative actions, sickness, sufferings and delusions in the form of smoke, pus, blood, mucus, snakes, spiders and scorpions to rise up from the lower part of our body and leave through our mouth and nostrils. These then disperse and disappear completely into space. This method is like cleaning the inside of a dirty bottle – as water is poured in from the top and the water level inside rises, the dirt floating on the surface is forced out through the mouth of the bottle, leaving it completely clean inside.

      DESTROYING NEGATIVITY AT THE HEART

      We visualize all our bad karma, sickness, sufferings and delusions in the form of a mass of black light at our heart and then recollect the three necessary conditions of regret, determination and faith. We recite the mantra seven times or more. We then visualize wisdom lights and nectars descending and entering our body through our crown. When these reach our heart all our negative actions, sicknesses and so forth are dispelled, disappearing all at once, just as darkness is instantly dispelled the moment a light is switched on.

      PURIFICATION THROUGH RECEIVING

       THE VASE EMPOWERMENT

      To receive the vase empowerment and the blessings of Guru Vajrasattva’s body we first recollect the three conditions and recite the mantra for a short time. We then imagine that wisdom lights and nectars descend and fill our entire body, purifying all our negative actions of body such as killing, stealing, beating and other ways of physically harming others. We generate a feeling of great bliss and recognize that this feeling is the essence of the vase empowerment. This empowerment ripens the seeds of our generation stage realizations, as well as our potential to attain the Emanation Body of a Buddha.

      PURIFICATION THROUGH RECEIVING

       THE SECRET EMPOWERMENT

      To receive the secret empowerment and the blessings of Guru Vajrasattva’s speech we first recollect the three conditions and recite the mantra as before. We then imagine that wisdom lights and nectars fill our body, purifying all our negative actions of speech such as harsh words, lying, criticism and verbal retaliation. This induces an experience of great bliss, which is the essence of the secret empowerment. This empowerment ripens the seeds of our attainment of the illusory body and our potential to attain the Enjoyment Body of a Buddha.

      PURIFICATION THROUGH RECEIVING THE WISDOM-MUDRA EMPOWERMENT

      To receive the wisdom-mudra empowerment we recollect the three conditions, recite the mantra, and then imagine that wisdom lights and nectars fill our body, purifying all our negative actions of mind such as harmful thoughts, wrong views, negative intentions, lack of faith, and disrespect to holy beings. The wisdom lights and nectars confer upon us the blessings of Guru Vajrasattva’s mind, inducing an experience of great bliss, which is the essence of the wisdom-mudra empowerment. This empowerment ripens the seeds of our realization of clear light and our potential to attain the Truth Body of a Buddha.

      PURIFICATION THROUGH RECEIVING

       THE WORD EMPOWERMENT

      To receive the word empowerment we recollect the three conditions, recite the mantra, and then imagine that wisdom lights and nectars fill our body, purifying all our downfalls, broken commitments and transgressions of the Bodhisattva and Tantric vows. The wisdom lights and nectars confer upon us the blessings of Guru Vajrasattva’s body, speech and mind, inducing an experience of great bliss, which is the essence of the word empowerment. This empowerment ripens the seeds of our completion stage realizations of the union that needs learning and the Union of No More Learning.

      Sometimes we can practise the first three rounds and at other times the remaining four rounds. For practitioners emphasizing meditation on gathering and dissolving the inner winds within the central channel it is not necessary to practise the first two rounds.

      CONCLUSION

      When we have finished the meditation and recitation we feel that Guru Vajrasattva is delighted with us. We imagine that he slowly diminishes in size, dissolves into light, and enters our body through our crown. When he reaches our heart he dissolves into our subtle mind, and our subtle body, speech and mind become one with Vajrasattva’s body, speech and mind.

      We can do the meditation and recitation of Vajrasattva in conjunction with the short prayers from the Vajrayogini sadhana, or separately with the Vajrasattva sadhana. When we do this practice as one of the four great preliminary guides we collect a hundred thousand recitations of the hundred-letter mantra. If we have the opportunity we should try to do a long retreat on Vajrasattva. The most important thing is to do this practice every day until we perceive signs that our negative actions have actually been purified.

      If our practice of purification is successful we may experience recurring dreams in which we are washing ourself or wearing new, clean clothes, or we may dream that we are flying, or that unclean substances are being expelled from our body. Other effects of having purified negative karma are that our mind becomes more and more peaceful, and it becomes increasingly easy for us to attain deep experience of Dharma.

      Naropa

The Yoga of the Guru

      This has two parts:

      1 General explanation

      2 The practice