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Body and Emanation Body of a Buddha.

      The Emanation Body is the gross body of a Buddha, the Enjoyment Body is the subtle body of a Buddha, and the Truth Body is the very subtle body of a Buddha. The Heruka that is imputed upon his gross body is called ‘Emanation Body Heruka’, the Heruka that is imputed upon his subtle body is called ‘Enjoyment Body Heruka’, and the Heruka that is imputed upon his very subtle body is called ‘Truth Body Heruka’. The very subtle body of a Buddha, Truth Body and Dharmakaya are synonymous.

      BRINGING THE THREE BODIES INTO THE PATH

      This has three parts:

      1 Bringing death into the path to the Truth Body

      2 Bringing the intermediate state into the path to the Enjoyment Body

      3 Bringing rebirth into the path to the Emanation Body

      BRINGING DEATH INTO THE PATH TO THE TRUTH BODY

      Bringing death into the path to the Truth Body is a yoga, similar in aspect to the experience of death, that has the divine pride of being the Truth Body. We begin this practice by absorbing all external environments and their inhabitants. This helps us to overcome ordinary appearances and conceptions, and causes dualistic appearances to subside into emptiness. It also creates the cause for the inner winds to gather into the central channel, thereby laying the foundation for us to attain the clear light of the Truth Body.

      Previously we dissolved Guru Heruka into our root mind at our heart and transformed our root mind into spontaneous great bliss. We now think that our root mind of great bliss is appearing in the form of a blue letter HUM at our heart, and we imagine that this letter HUM radiates powerful rays of light that reach all worlds and their beings. Everything melts into light, which gradually gathers back and dissolves into our body. We feel that all worlds and their beings have dissolved into us.

      At this point we imagine that we experience the first of the eight signs that arise at the time of death, the mirage-like appearance. This sign arises due to the dissolution of the inner wind supporting our earth element. We meditate on this experience for a while, and then we imagine that our body gradually dissolves from below and above into the letter HUM at our heart. We think that nothing remains apart from the letter HUM, and we imagine that we perceive the smoke-like appearance that arises due to the dissolution of the inner wind supporting our water element. After meditating on this for a while, we imagine that the ‘shabkyu’ at the bottom of the letter HUM gradually dissolves upwards into the main letter HA, and that we perceive the sparkling-fireflies-like appearance that arises due to the dissolution of the inner wind supporting our fire element. After meditating on this for a while, we imagine that the main body of the letter HA gradually dissolves upwards into the horizontal line at its head, and that we perceive the candle-flame-like appearance that arises due to the inner wind supporting our wind element beginning to dissolve. After meditating on this for a while, we imagine that the horizontal line gradually dissolves upwards into the crescent moon, and that we experience the mind of white appearance that arises due to the complete dissolution of the inner wind supporting our wind element. After meditating on this for a while, we imagine that the crescent moon gradually dissolves upwards into the drop, and that we experience the mind of red increase that arises due to the dissolution of the inner wind supporting the mind of white appearance. After meditating on this for a while, we imagine that the drop gradually dissolves upwards into the nada, and that we experience the mind of black near-attainment that arises due to the dissolution of the inner wind supporting the mind of red increase. At this point we should feel that nothing exists apart from the nada. Then the nada itself gradually dissolves from the bottom upwards, the lower curve dissolving into the middle curve, the middle curve dissolving into the upper curve, and finally the upper curve dissolving into clear light emptiness. We imagine that we experience the eighth sign, the mind of clear light that arises due to the dissolution of the inner wind supporting the mind of black near-attainment.

      At this stage, while we are meditating on the emptiness of all phenomena, one part of our mind should be contemplating four points: (1) we imagine that our mind is experiencing great bliss; (2) this mind of great bliss is mixed inseparably with emptiness; (3) this union of great bliss and emptiness is the Truth Body, the basis for imputing Heruka’s I; and (4) on this basis we strongly think ‘I am Truth Body Heruka.’

      Principally we meditate on emptiness, but without forgetting these four points. Sometimes, without forgetting emptiness, we can emphasize meditation on the experience of great bliss, or we can emphasize meditation on the Truth Body, or meditation on the divine pride that thinks ‘I am Truth Body Heruka.’ We emphasize one point but we do so without forgetting the other three. Through this meditation we can transform our experience of death into the experience of the clear light of great bliss, the quick path to the Truth Body of a Buddha. For this reason, this meditation is called ‘bringing death into the path to the Truth Body’. This meditation is very powerful and performs the following functions: (1) it helps to overcome ordinary appearances and conceptions; (2) it causes dualistic appearances to subside into emptiness; (3) it indirectly purifies ordinary death; (4) it causes the completion stage realization of clear light to ripen; (5) it is a collection of wisdom; and (6) it sows in our mind a powerful potential to attain the actual Truth Body of a Buddha in the future.

      Khedrubje said that even if we do not complete our training in generation stage and completion stage before we die, if we have experience of the meditation on bringing death into the path to the Truth Body of Heruka we will be able to remember it when we die and, as a result, our consciousness will be transferred to Heruka’s Pure Land. For sincere practitioners this meditation is the real transference of consciousness; they do not need to practise other types of transference.

      Many practitioners have strong ordinary appearances and conceptions because they lack experience of emptiness, and due to this they experience great difficulties in their practice of Highest Yoga Tantra. If we do not understand emptiness, we should study qualified books such as The New Heart of Wisdom and Ocean of Nectar and listen to instructions from qualified Teachers. Without realizing emptiness there is no basis for authentic meditation on bringing death into the path to the Truth Body, and so it is not possible for us to cut the continuum of samsaric sufferings.

      BRINGING THE INTERMEDIATE STATE INTO THE PATH TO THE ENJOYMENT BODY

      Bringing the intermediate state into the path to the Enjoyment Body is a yoga, similar in aspect to the experience of the intermediate state, that is attained after bringing death into the path to the Truth Body, and that has the divine pride of being the Enjoyment Body.

      After meditating for a while on the divine pride that thinks, ‘I am Truth Body Heruka’, one part of our mind should think:

      If I remain in this state, living beings will not be able to see me and so I will not be able to help them directly. Therefore, I will arise in a Form Body for the benefit of all living beings.

      For ordinary beings the dream body arises out of the clear light of sleep, and the intermediate state body arises out of the clear light of death. For completion stage practitioners the illusory body arises out of the realization of the mind of clear light; and for Buddhas the Enjoyment Body arises out of the clear light of the Truth Body. Therefore, at this stage in the meditation we imagine that we arise out of the clear light of the Truth Body as Enjoyment Body Heruka.

      The Enjoyment Body can take many different forms. For the purposes of this meditation we imagine that it arises in the form of a tiny nada suspended in space. The nada is white with a reddish tint. It has three curves, and its upper tip is extremely fine. The three curves of the nada represent the body, speech and mind of the intermediate state being. In this meditation it is not necessary to focus on the aspect of the nada; rather we should emphasize developing divine pride, thinking: ‘I have purified the body, speech and mind of the intermediate state. Now I am Enjoyment Body Heruka.’ We meditate on this experience for a while. Through this meditation we can transform our experience of the intermediate state into the experience of the illusory body, the quick path to the Enjoyment Body of a Buddha. For this reason this meditation is called ‘bringing the intermediate state into the path to the Enjoyment Body’. It indirectly purifies ordinary intermediate state, causes the completion stage realization of illusory