Vajra strands

[Tibetan_Ice]

Have you ever gazed at the sky and seen a bunch of little balls of light moving around, appearing and disappearing, glittering like little diamonds or minuscule moons, leaving a trail as they move? Sometimes these little stars appear and disappear in exactly the same location two or three times, then don't. There are hundreds of them all darting around in arced semi circles.

 

Well, those little stars/balls of light are what is known as "vajra strands". They are the first stage, what you focus on during the very first stage of thogal! How wonderful to know this.

 

These stars/balls of light appear when you fix your gaze and move your attention directly in front of your eyeballs. There is no need to cross your eyes or even try to alter the focus of your vision. It is the awareness that is the tool of focus.

 

From "Naked Awareness" by Karma Chagme:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Awareness-Practical-Instructions-Mahamudra/dp/1559391464#

 

 

 

First retain the breath gently, then expel it far outwards as if you were shooting an arrow. Afterwards, let the breath be very slow as it naturally settles. In terms of the critical point of awareness, imprison the strands.

 

No Letters states: The essential nature emerges like strands, minute, glittering, and darting about.

 

- Let the breath, which is of the same nature as the vital energies, be natural, without altering it in any way. The crucial points of the practice are the gaze of the eyes, the posture, and letting the breath be natural. Imprison the shimmering vajra-strands of awareness by confining them with your attention. In terms of practice, as you direct your gaze in front of you, these vajra-strands of awareness will appear in the space in front of you. If these strings of bindus start to move, do not jerk your eyes around or try to hold onto to them by moving to the left or right. Rather, "imprison" these strands by keeping your gaze very steady, and then gradually these vajra-strands will become stabilized, and excellent qualities and realizations will emerge from that. In contrast, if you apply to such an experience your ordinary, neurotic mind, no stabilization or excellent qualities can result.

 

- The Tantra of Naturally Arising Awareness states: The embodiments of light, imbued with the five primordial wisdoms, Manifest vividly as strands. They come and go, Waver and spread out.

 

The Fulfillment of the Power of Primordial Wisdom states: [713] The self-appearing lord of awareness Dwells as strands of primordial wisdom.

 

Nirvana Traces states: Hold the strands in the prison of awareness. In that way, let your awareness, never separated from the three locations, observe the strands. At first have many, short sessions, then gradually increase the duration of the sessions. Then practice at specific times during the day and night, as a result of which you will be trained in one and a half months.

 

 

This is from http://www.american-buddha.com/vajra.heart.14.htm

 

At the beginning stage, the lights of awareness, called vajra-strands, no broader than a hair's width, radiant like the sheen of gold, appear to move to and fro, never at rest, like hairs moving in the breeze. Even as they stabilize a little bit, they become clear and lustrous, temporarily wavy, and they slow down somewhat, appearing like deer running across a mountainside. Then as you become somewhat more accustomed to the practice, they appear like strung pearls, and they slowly circle around the peripheries of the bindus of the absolute nature, like bees circling flowers. Their clear and lustrous appearance is an indication of the manifestation of awareness. Their fine, wavy shapes indicate liberation due to the channels, and their moving to and fro indicates liberation due to the vital energies. Due to the qualities of purifying the bindus, [435] the presence of bindus on curves [of the strands] indicates that one will be liberated. By the power of meditation, they appear in the forms of lattices and half-lattices, transparent like crystal, radiant like gold, and like necklaces of medium-sized strung crystals. The criterion of having thoroughly familiarized oneself with the practice is that they appear indeterminately, but they remain stable, without moving or vibrating. In this case, the name of the cause is also given to the result, and that is the vajra-strand luster of awareness. They are the luster of awareness, so they gradually become as stable as awareness itself. They are not the real, self-arisen lamps of awareness and wisdom.

 

Once the beginner's phase has passed, the visions of the absolute nature become beautiful, clear, and stable, and they take on various divine forms. Although they may increase and decrease, before a single inner sign has arisen, the appearances of such outer signs are premature, like a dzaki flower that blooms out of season. So that does not constitute progress in terms of experiential realization. Even when the inner signs occur, the outer bindus of the absolute nature may become indistinct. That happens to some people who have a dominant water element, [436] and the elements of their channels are such that the development of their experiential realizations proceedst like a slow foot race. If that is mistakenly identified as progress in meditative experience and as reaching consummate awareness, even if visions occur that would seemingly indicate the extinction into reality-itself, in fact one has in no way gone beyond ordinary consciousness. Indeed, one is proceeding in the opposite direction, contrary to the tantras, so this is an enormous error. It is important to know this.

 

During the first meditation where I tried real hard to see the vajra strands with eyes closed, after about 40 minutes of intense focus, my breath detached. It felt like someone or something had pulled the rug out of my abdominal breathing mechanism.

 

During the third meditative attempt at seeing the vajra strands, I saw the most beautiful nimitta which resembled a pure white disc of light.

 

I have read that focusing the gaze stabilizes the very subtle winds. Now I know what that means. I've also learned that you can gaze with eyes closed as long as you keep that fresh attention/awareness pouring out through your eyes...

 

I can see the vajra strands when gazing at my bath tub, the white background and the full spectrum bathroom lights make them easy to see.

 

How about you? Any experiences you'd like to share?

Edited October 10, 2014 by Tibetan_Ice

[doc benway]

They may also be erythrocytes in your retinal capillaries.

[Tibetan_Ice]

_{Well, that is an interesting concept. Worthy of research...}

 

_{Hmm. I don't think erythrocytes answers that question.. well, perhaps in a related way...}

 

_{From "Naked Seeing" by Christopher Hatchell:}

http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Seeing-Perfection-Visionary-Renaissance-ebook/dp/B00NHWZ5M6/ref=la_B00E613Y48_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413155209&sr=1-1

 

_{A few other scientific issues about seeing light are helpful in interpreting the practice of sky-gazing. In particular, it is useful to understand the phenomenon of entoptic ("within the eye") lights that occur when on gazes at a field of blue, like the sky. If you gaze at the open sky, not necessarily in a religious context, you can encounter a previously unseen world of light and motion. The uniform field of blue provides a background against which the internal dynamics of the eyes are projected, and so you are confronted with a blue screen filled with darting streaks of light, slowly drfting blobs, and chains of spots that appear to race along winding pathways. These entoptic appearances are of two basic kinds. The slowly drifting blobs, threads, and concentric circles are "floaters," caused by debris floating in the vitreous humor of the eye. The more quickly moving lights arise from what is called the "blue-field entoptic effect," in which leukocytes (white blood cells) moving through the capillaries of the eyes are perceived as luminous spots. The blue light of the sky creates and envrionment in which these lights are easily seen, though and uniformly blue field (like a computer screen) will do. The effect is produced when the particular blue light of the the sky (as a wavelength of around 430 nanometers) passes through the capillaries in the eye. This blue light tends to be absorbed by the red blood cells that make up most of our blood, and the portion of the retina behind the capillary compensates by becoming slightly more sensitive to blue. When the occasional white cell makes its way through a capilllary, it acts as a tiny window, allowing a greater intensity of light to reach the retina behind the capillary. These extra bits of light are perceived as round dots with dark tails, squiggling in series across the sky.}

 

_{The visionary phenomena that arise in the course of Buddhist sky-gazing are of course more complex and distinctive in their visual character and semantic import than floaters and buzzing lights. Nonetheless, simple entoptic phenomena are among the first appearances encountered by a sky-gazer, and descriptions reminiscent of them appear in Great Perfection works. Here, for instance, is Drugyalwa's account of the "onset of vision."}

 

_{"[Now] crystal-colored thig-le of awareness, like little peas, appear within the luminosity. And, there are appearances of larger formations, with two of three [thig-le] connected together, or with many connected together, and so forth. As well, there are nuclei of awareness called "necklaces of seminal nuclei," which are like silver threads or white silk cords, on which thig-le, like peas or grains, are strung in the manner of garlands. "}

 

Now, Hatchell sites "Investigation of the source of the blue field entoptic phenomenon"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2703307

 

where it says:

 

 

Abstract

The cellular source of the blue field entoptic phenomenon was investigated in two microvascular preparations using video-microscopy with lighting conditions similar to those under which the entoptic phenomenon is visualized within the human eye. In the wing of the hibernating bat, microvascular flow was simultaneously videotaped under transmission illumination at 430 nm and under unfiltered illumination. In the rat cremaster alternating observations were made using transmission illumination at 430 nm and epi-illumination fluorescence microscopy with leukocytes rendered fluorescent by intravenous Quinacrine. In both preparations, low magnification video-microscopy using 430 nm illumination produced a field of particles, which were brighter than the background, flowing within a network of dark vessels. The appearance of the particles and their movement simulated the blue field entoptic particle motion. Under higher magnification, the particles appeared brighter than the plasma gaps between red blood cells and were demonstrated to be leukocytes by morphology, by specific staining and by typical behavioral movement. The particles were observed in terminal arteriols capillaries, and post-capillary venules where they were not obscured by red blood cells. The results of this study of two microvascular preparations strongly suggest that in the human eye the blue field entoptic phenomenon is produced by leukocytes flowing within the macular retinal microvasculature.

 

 

 

Pretty fancy.. "blue field entoptic particle motion"

 

Woa.. wait a minute.. here is a picture - worth a thousand words.. Yup. That is what they look like:

 

 

 

So it would appear that this is no longer a mystery.

 

It only stands to reason though, that the significance of the "blue field entoptic particle motion" is not a religious or meditative phenonmenon, that is, it has nothing to do with secret channels or stilling the gaze other than it is the introductory phenomenon that one percieves when first commencing sky-gazing.

 

A long time ago, back in the 70's, a book on yoga mentioned this phenomenon and claimed that it was prana in motion. I thought it was easy to see the moving dots.. Later, someone said it was orgone. I guess, now we know..

 

Mystery solved..

 

This discovery, should not be construed as a denouncement of thogal, sky-gazing or Dzogchen practices. Although it explains the preliminary visions, and what are described in Buddhist terminolgy as Varjra-strands, it does not explain the intermediate visions (like the moon and the sun), nor visions of deities in yabyum..

Edited October 12, 2014 by Tibetan_Ice

[doc benway]

Yup - I saw them when I first started sky gazing. I assumed they were erythrocytes and never investigated further.

Thanks for that info - they're leukocytes, not erythrocytes.

 

The important thing about sky gazing isn't what you see, it's what you don't see.

[子泰]

ive seen them, but after choking and dry heaving haha... surprised the crap out of me. maybe thats how cartoon artists came up with the idea of seeing stars after getting hit in the head. they were bright red for me though, like deeper colored embers

Edited October 13, 2014 by dazed

[9th]

ive seen them, but after choking and dry heaving haha... surprised the crap out of me. maybe thats how cartoon artists came up with the idea of seeing stars after getting hit in the head. they were bright red for me though, like deeper colored embers

 

You've never seen stars? They look like shiny, silvery streaks of light, moving in curvy directions with short tails. They sorta look like shooting stars a bit, I think the reference is fairly astute.

[Tibetan_Ice]

So Jax is out to lunch when he says this:

 

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/DzogchenCourses/conversations/topics/1298

 

 

 

Hi Randall!

 

Forget about thogal... when your trekchod is perfected you will notice the thogal visions when you do sky-gazing properly.

Little concentric circles of light that have rings of different primary colors... you can also use a candle and squint slightly and you will see these little spheres... you can also see little chains of these spheres as though linked together. They appear more like crystal strands or diamonds and are shimmering. They move with your eye movement... so hold your eye focus straight and don't chase them. You can also use an electric light to see these when you almost completely squint your eyes closed. Traditionally one uses sunlight for these practices but one never looks at the sun, but well below it to catch rays of light while you are squinting... in the rays you can see these little concentric circles. I recommend you do not do the practice with sun light unless properly instructed by a qualified expert teacher in person. You can, even then damage your eyes severely. Any light source will do... but once you have developed familiarity you can even see thigle's in the dark. Some use the moon as a light source. These are not produced by the mind, but are the radiance of the Dharmakaya and are the Sambhogakaya directly.

 

There are several postures to use when practicing thogal, but it is not absolutely necessary to do so. There are no mantras or mental practices of visualization etc. You are seeing the radiance of Rigpa or the Dharmakaya centered in the heart or citta shining up through the Kati Light Channel and appear as though out in the space in front of one. However they are not actually in front of you. They have arisen and appear within the secret sky of the heart to Rigpa as it appears to be the outer sky as projected through the eyes.

 

None of this develops until your trekchod and therefore Rigpa is stable. In this way it is self-secret. You can't practice thogal before you are ready...nothing happens. When you are ready and practice properly these thigle will develop into a more elaborate manifestations showing partial or complete Buddha-like deities within. When focusing on the Vajra strands as they are called, extremely spacious awareness can unfold as one's Rigpa deepens. The 3 dimensional holographic qualities of these Vajra strands can give one a sense of being suspended in absolute boundless Clear Light, in my experience.

 

Best to not engage these practices without a qualified expert guide. But it is harmless to try to notice these thigles in your field of vision... when observing the empty blue sky...not using the sun as a light source. Any light source will do. The light only illuminates the background so these thigle stand-out as illuminated. The sun has no special energy regarding any of this... it is just a convenient light source... but very dangerous to work with. And again you never, ever look at the sun... always well below it or off to the side while squinting.

 

That should remove some of the mystery regarding thogal practice. As a result the Clear Light effulgence overflows the Kati and other Light channels and fills all the nadi with pure Clear Light that purifies all karmic energies, the result being the karmic physical body dissolves into pure rainbow colored Light, its True Nature as the Sambhogakaya. This is a superiority of thogal over tantric practices of bringing all the karmic energies into the central channel. It is not necessary for a practitioner of thogal to do this, as the thogal method is developing the effulgent Clear Light of Rigpa as the ultimate purification and transformative process. Light upon Light.....

 

Hope that helps...

 

Best,

 

Jax

 

 

First he is saying that these thigles are produced directly by the dharmakaya and the sambhogakaya directly.

They are, as science has proven, a result of biology.

Next, Jax states that "None of this develops until your trekchod and therefore Rigpa is stable." False. The thigles he describes, which are the preliminary experience require no meditative or Buddhist background. Anyone can see them regardless.

I find that Jax is misleading his readership by his statements. He failed to distinguish between biological phenomenon and the more advanced thogal visions and in doing so, appears not to know what he is talking about.

[soaring crane]

A few centuries ago, people didn't have other explanations for these things. Now we do The lights are in us, not un the sky. That doesn't detract from their value at all. It could even add to it, if you're so disposed. And watching them placidly, without judgement, is a lovely way to spend an afternoon, regardless of any arguments there may be regarding their origin.

[doc benway]

Very valuable point, soaring crane.

The purpose of the sky gazing exercise is to recognize that when we look outside we are really seeing ourselves.

This neat little anatomic observation is a great example of exactly that.

[gendao]

Have you ever gazed at the sky and seen a bunch of little balls of light moving around, appearing and disappearing, glittering like little diamonds or minuscule moons, leaving a trail as they move? Sometimes these little stars appear and disappear in exactly the same location two or three times, then don't. There are hundreds of them all darting around in arced semi circles.

A qigong master has said that is qi. Congratulations if you can see it, because normally people can't. You have to reach a certain level before you can..

[Tibetan_Ice]

A qigong master has said that is qi. Congratulations if you can see it, because normally people can't. You have to reach a certain level before you can..

I thought that anyone could see them if you know where to look. Even, the little white balls become much clearer and look like diamonds when you cross your eyes and pull your focus in as close as possible.

 

Do you see them?

[stefos]

Have you ever gazed at the sky and seen a bunch of little balls of light moving around, appearing and disappearing, glittering like little diamonds or minuscule moons, leaving a trail as they move? Sometimes these little stars appear and disappear in exactly the same location two or three times, then don't. There are hundreds of them all darting around in arced semi circles.

 

Well, those little stars/balls of light are what is known as "vajra strands". They are the first stage, what you focus on during the very first stage of thogal! How wonderful to know this.

 

How about you? Any experiences you'd like to share?

 

Yes, I will:

 

About over 10 years ago, I did a composite meditation practice which entailed the following in the order described:

 

1. I did a concentration exercise briefly immediately followed by mindfulness of my breath

2. I then visualized different colors of light entering the chakras from muladhara to Sahasrara and opening them up

From Red= Muladhara to Violet = Sahasrara

3. I then chanted the OM mantra resonating it externally allowing the mantra to vibrate my head by opening up the throat

4. I then immediately saw spheres of golden light of varying sizes filling up the room I was meditating in.

 

These spheres were golden and they radiated golden light filling up the room.......This lasted for a very brief time only =1-2 mins maximum but it did "feel" longer.

 

The spheres were of varying sizes of magnitude as well.

 

When I told Chogyal Namkhai Norbu of this experience he said "it is your nature."

 

I send my love to you all.

Stefos

[Aetherous]

At a time when I was seeing these things very often, I would notice that what I saw changed around different people. For instance, one woman walked up nearby me in a bookstore and the things turned orange and darted around a little bit. In another instance, I was driving, and saw a car where I think the driver was agitated, and there were tons of the little sky sperms swarming above and around the vehicle.

 

I think there's more to the story about what this phenomenon is.

If I remember correctly, there are practices where you direct these things into different areas, to produce various results. It might have been in one of Jerry Alan Johnson's books, regarding practice with one's own shadow.

[Tibetan_Ice]

At a time when I was seeing these things very often, I would notice that what I saw changed around different people. For instance, one woman walked up nearby me in a bookstore and the things turned orange and darted around a little bit. In another instance, I was driving, and saw a car where I think the driver was agitated, and there were tons of the little sky sperms swarming above and around the vehicle.

 

I think there's more to the story about what this phenomenon is.

 

If I remember correctly, there are practices where you direct these things into different areas, to produce various results. It might have been in one of Jerry Alan Johnson's books, regarding practice with one's own shadow.

Well that is too weird... During this afternoon's gazing meditation I saw many interesting visions, but one vision lasted a bit longer than the rest and kind of pulled me in. It was an image of a middle aged bald male with dark eyes. I knew there was some significance and I wodered who it could be... Tonight I decided to do a search for Jerry Alan Johnson on Google and lo and behold, that very same image came up in the images section. I will have to check him out now...

[Anderson]

Anyone who received thogal and longde instructions knows that the vissions arising from one's nature are nothing like the chaotic tiny light spots people see when looking at the sky.

Those true visions will arise regardless of the support.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Anderson

[Cheshire Cat]

Anyone who received thogal and longde instructions knows that the vissions arising from one's nature are nothing like the chaotic tiny light spots people see when looking at the sky.

Those true visions will arise regardless of the support.

 

Edited October 16, 2014 by DAO rain TAO

[Anderson]

 

 

Nope... They are not vissions.

[Cheshire Cat]

Nope... They are not vissions.

 

Yes, they are.

[Anderson]

Yes, they are.

 

Floaters are not visions.

 

floaters. (Also called vitreous floaters.) Particles that float in the vitreous and cast shadows on the retina; seen as spots, cobwebs, spiders, etc. Occurs normally with aging or with vitreous detachment, retinal tears, or inflammation.

[Cheshire Cat]

Floaters are not visions.

 

floaters. (Also called vitreous floaters.) Particles that float in the vitreous and cast shadows on the retina; seen as spots, cobwebs, spiders, etc. Occurs normally with aging or with vitreous detachment, retinal tears, or inflammation.

 

Do you think that the masters who transmitted the tibetan practice knew the scientific and anatomical base for such things to appear?

 

I don't think so. They spoke of vision.

[Anderson]

Do you think that the masters who transmitted the tibetan practice knew the scientific and anatomical base for such things to appear?

 

I don't think so. They spoke of vision.

 

The fact that you persist in your mistaken view shows that you haven't received thogal or longde, practices where is very clearly laid out what is a vision and what is not.

 

I will give you an example.

For a beginner some visions that arise are somewhat similar to the ones ordinary people see when looking up in the sky, those tiny luminous sparks which are moving in all directions. These visions that look somewhat similar , have different characteristics;they appear a little while later, they are milkier, they appear two or three together, and they are stable(initially staying for 5-10 seconds).

In the same beginning stage one will start seeing half or fully formed circles big as 3 or 4 inches across or as big as food plates.Initially they are however unclear.When one goes to sleep and closes his eyes if one focuses gently behind the eye lids with the view to connect to and rest in nature , multiple beautiful concentrical five coloured thigles will start manifesting , and so on.

As the practitioner progresses these visions will appear ordinarily without the need for the sky as the support.They will appear when sitting, drinking coffee, talking to people, walking down the street, etc....

[doc benway]

Generally speaking, a vision is something that is "seen" without the engagement of the eye.

This is why visions are generated using practices that disengage or trick the eye such as dark retreat, sky gazing, and sun gazing.

Having visions in the course of normal daily activity can occur randomly, even to non-practitioners, but in practitioners that would indicate someone with a very refined and stable ability to integrate the nature of mind with activity.

[Cheshire Cat]

The fact that you persist in your mistaken view shows that you haven't received thogal or longde, practices where is very clearly laid out what is a vision and what is not.

 

No, I don't cultivate hallucinations in my meditation.

 

In the picture, you can see the entoptic objects depicted below the hallucinations of Buddha and Bodhisattvas.

 

[Tibetan_Ice]

From Natural Liberation,

 

http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Liberation-Padmasambhavas-Teachings-Bardos/dp/0861711319

 

The Vision of Progressing Experiential Visions Among visionary experiences and cognitive experiences, cognitive experiences arise in various ways such as the sense of bliss, the sense of clarity, and the sense of emptiness. Unstable and transient, they are common to the various yānas, and they are to be little emphasized. Furthermore, such traditions as Mahāmudrā also say that cognitive experiences are like mist, and one should not place credence in the value of such experiences. Rather, one should place the strongest emphasis on the value of realizations. Here, the criteria for the value of realizations are determined by way of visionary experiences, and since visionary experiences are not transient, they should be most strongly emphasized.

 

Thus, as a result of engaging in visionary experiences, at times the absolute nature and awareness become clear and at times they do not. By continuing to practice, the absolute nature and awareness are separated from the point between the eyebrows, they become separated from sensory phenomena, and the lamp of the empty bindus effortlessly arises and approaches. The bindus turn into the size of peas, and awareness proceeds like a bird that is just able to fly. As mentioned earlier, an instantaneous practitioner, one who immediately gains realization upon hearing the teachings is like a garuḍa chick: as soon as the chick hatches, it is immediately able to fly. On the other hand, ordinary people like ourselves are more like children: we need to go through the various phases of the training, hearing the teachings, understanding the view, and engaging in the practice. Then gradually realization arises.

 

By continuing to practice, visions of the five lights transform so that they appear in a fragmented fashion, vertically, horizontally, like spear-points, similar in aspect to a black yak-hair tent, and like the squares of a chessboard; and those lights pervade everything in front of you. Moreover, the bindus also transform so that they are like a mirror, and awareness appears in the manner of a running deer.

 

By continuing to practice, visions of the absolute nature appear in the aspects of a jewel lattice, lattices, full and half lattices of light, checkered, radiant, like spear-points, and a multilayered stūpa, a thousand-petaled lotus, a halo, the sun and moon, a castle, a sword, a vajra, a wheel, and like the shape of a fishs eye. Moreover, that light fills the environment in which you live. The bindus become like brass bowls, and your awareness becomes like a bee hovering over nectar. All such visions may appear as single or multiple phenomena. It is important, however, that you dont make a big deal out of these appearances. Dont respond to them with grasping or with aversion. Simply witness them.

 

By continuing to practice, the light saturates the environment, the bindus become like rhinoceros-skin shields, the light pervades everywhere you look, and the absolute nature and awareness constantly appear day and night. The body of a deity appears in each of the bindus, and individual, subtle divine embodiments arise in the midst of awareness. Awareness remains motionlessly. Deities may appear inside the bindus that make up the strands of awareness, and in the meantime, awareness remains motionlessly.

 

When such appearances arise, the phenomena of the transitional process are established in that way, so there is no later intermediate state between death and rebirth.55 Thus, the practice of the transitional process of reality-itself is just this main practice.

 

The Primary Tantra on the Penetration of Sound states: In the progression of the experiential visions, the colors of primordial wisdom come out vertically and horizontally; the bindus clearly appear as various divine embodiments, and the luminous environment appears to awareness.

 

Nirvāṇa Traces states: Due to the progression of experiential visions, the primordial wisdom of the transitional process is made manifest.

 

There are certainly various problems that arise in the course of earnest Dharma practice. First of all, you may be able to alleviate some of these problems by listening well to the teachings. However, if you practice solely for your own benefit, then youll never accomplish anything. There have been countless enlightened beings in the past, and not a single one achieved spiritual realization through self-centeredness. It doesnt work. We have been in this cycle of existence since beginningless time, and it is self-centeredness that has perpetuated this cycle of existence. Its part of the problem, not part of the solution. It manifests through expressions of attachment and aversion. Living according to the principles of attachment and aversion is incompatible with Dharma, and its even incompatible with accomplishing mundane ends. The three poisons of attachment, aversion, and delusion are to be banished, like a poisonous snake. Especially the poison of attachment is to be eliminated. Insofar as you can lead your life free of these three poisons, you will accomplish your spiritual and mundane aims. While many people ask me how to enrich their spiritual practice, I find that much of their conversation consists of expressions of attachment and aversion. I can guarantee that as long as people continue to cultivate these mental poisons, there will be no progress in their spiritual practice. Insofar as you are still living your life according to those principles of attachment and aversion, Buddhist teachings on the Four Noble Truths become pointless. The teachings on the Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind become pointless. The teachings on the six perfections become pointless. It all gets wasted. In that case, theres no point in being a Buddhist. Buddhism is wasted on you.

 

The Vision of Consummate Awareness Then by continuing to practice, five divine embodiments with consorts appear inside each of the previous bindus. They are innumerable and immutable, and they reach a consummate amount, as if by the handful and by the pound. Then you may even stop meditating. At that time, your body is liberated into clear light, its elements proceed into their natural purity; the aggregates of your material body are liberated in their own state; appearing and yet not inherently existent, you are naturally liberated as a Sambhogakāya; and as the Sambhogakāya is nakedly recognized, grasping onto the embodiment is released in its own state. For this next phase of the experience to occur, you must continue to practice. Do not give up, as so often happens. By continuing to practice, the five divine embodiments of buddhas appear with their consorts inside each of the previous bindus. In the previous visions, there were many bindus that filled the field of your vision. Now, inside each of those bindus, you will see these five embodiments of buddhas with their consorts. If you reach this point in the meditative process, you no longer need to meditate. From this point on, the experiences will arise of their own accord. This is like farming. Once the soil has been well tilled and the seeds have been sown, if the sun comes out, the farmer can relax. Now everything is up to the natural course of events. Likewise, once your children have grown up, they are beyond your control, so you can relax and just watch what happens. Similarly, in this phase of spiritual development, you can just sit back and relax; and the rest of your spiritual development will take care itself. At this point, you are naturally liberated as a Sambhogakāya. Moreover, there is no notion of I am this embodiment. All such grasping has been released, and youve been liberated in your own state.

 

The Primary Tantra on the Penetration of Sound states: In the vision of consummate awareness, the signs and symbols of the Sambhogakāya clearly appear, and from indeterminate colors of the rainbow, the deities and consorts of the five families appear. Then the five couples are united with radiant bindus; and with the appearance of the bodies of the deities and consorts, deceptive appearances dissolve into a pure realm.

 

Nirvāṇa Traces states: Due to the vision of consummate awareness, the Sambhogakāya is recognized. The Vision of Extinction into Reality-itself

 

The progression of the preceding visions comes to an end; and, in those experiences of visions there is no nature of grasping onto appearance or nonappearance. At that time there occurs what is called the vision of extinction into reality-itself. Experiences are extinguished, the material body is extinguished, the grasping of the sense faculties is extinguished, the assemblage of deceptive thoughts is extinguished, all philosophical tenets and deceptive appearances are extinguished, your material body disappears and you become a buddha. That is called extinction into reality-itself, for it entails the extinction of activity, deceptive appearances, and the progression of experiential visions. It is called the extinction into reality-itself, but it is not nonexistence as in the case of nihilism, in which there is an extinction into nothing. Rather the primordial wisdom of knowledge and excellent qualities become manifest. In short, the power of the qualities of the three embodiments is brought to perfection. At this point, there is no sense of this is an appearance or this is not an appearance. There is no impurity, nor is there any sense of this is purity. All such conceptual constructs have been transcended altogether.

 

The experiences that are extinguished here are the various visions that have occurred thus far. Grasping onto all of the five sense objects of visual forms, sounds, and so on is extinguished. Your material body refers to your tainted body, that is, the body created by your own previous actions and mental afflictions; this also disappears. At this point, all of conventional reality is extinguished. Do not interpret this in a nihilistic way. Its not to say that everything has simply become nothing. Reality-itself entails the fulfillment of the qualities of spiritual awakening, including the boundless enlightened activities of the Buddha. Saying conventional reality has vanished is like saying all the clouds have dissipated in the clear blue sky, but it is not suggesting that the sun has vanished. On the other hand, you do not grasp onto the sky, saying, Thats truly existent. That kind of grasping is simply an expression of the other extreme of eternalism. Reality-itself is free of a nihilistic extreme, for its not simply nothing. Yet, since reality-itself cannot be grasped as truly existent, it is free of the eternalistic extreme. The primordial wisdom of knowledge is of two types: ontological and phenomenological. Ontological knowledge is knowledge of reality as it is. Phenomenological knowledge is knowledge of the full range of phenomena. In buddhahood these two modes of knowledge have come to perfection, and innumerable qualities of enlightenment, which were previously latent, now become manifest.

 

Thus, upon seeing the direct vision of reality-itself, in dependence upon the vision of progressing experiential visions, in which the absolute nature and awareness progress higher and higher, awareness is brought to its consummation; you experience the pure realm of the three embodiments. Like the moon come to fullness or a physique that has come to its full strength, when the progression of experience ceases, the intellect is consumed, phenomena are consumed, and grasping is consumed. This is simply called the vision of the extinction into reality-itself.

 

You may wonder whether the extinction into reality-itself of the Great Perfection and the culminating path and qualities of the five paths of the sūtra tradition are the same. They are not at all the same. Even if one has come to the culmination of perfecting the power of the six thousand qualities of the ten bodhisattva grounds and five paths of the sūtra tradition itself, one still does not see at all the qualities and power of tantra, and they are not perfected. So there is a great difference between the extinction into reality-itself and the final path.

 

The Primary Tantra on the Penetration of Sound states: The vision of the extinction into reality-itself is empty of experiential visions. The body is consumed, the objects of the senses are consumed, the deceptive assemblage of thoughts is naturally liberated, and then there is a disengagement from words that are the basis of speech. And:

Thus, upon the cessation of the continuum of the body, the contaminated aggregates disappear, resulting in manifest buddhahood.

 

If you plant a seed of an apple tree, you nurture it until the tree grows up. Then you dont need to look elsewhere for apples. To begin with, you had the seed; then you nurtured it, and then you receive the fruit right there, without having to go elsewhere. Similarly, we already have the cause of buddhahood within us, and weve also obtained for the time being this precious human life of leisure and endowment. Within this context, we have the opportunity to engage in hearing, thinking, and meditation. With the conjunction of the cause, which is within us, and these conditions of the precious human life and the various stages of practice, we can harvest the fruit of perfect enlightenment. As we know from a wide range of experiences, its not enough simply to have the cause but no contributing conditions. The crucial, contributing condition for spiritual awakening is perseverance in the practice.

 

Nirvāṇa Traces states: Due to the vision of the extinction into reality-itself, the fruition of the Great Perfection, free of action, is achieved. In this way, upon coming to the culmination of the basis and the path, there is no nirvāṇa to be sought elsewhere.

 

This is the culminating path of the Great Perfection. Then there are no qualities of nirvāṇa and no other paths to be sought. This is the ultimate. Even if the culminating paths of the lower yānas are achieved, if the gateway of the qualities of tantra is not seen, then one must enter into tantra and train in hearing and thinking. Thus, even if one has come to the culmination of sūtra practice, one has not come to the culmination of the tantras. As this is the culmination of all paths, there is no ascending beyond it, so the grounds are perfected, and the paths are perfected. Since there are no other higher paths, this is called the Great Perfection. That is the teaching on the ways in which the four visions appear.

 

CONCLUDING ADVICE Establish a basis in the three nonmovements, establish the criteria of the three positions, strike the nail with the three achievements, and perfect the four states of confidence. These are treated more extensively elsewhere. These are the instructions on the transitional process of reality-itself, called, the natural liberation of seeing. Samaya. Sealed, sealed, sealed. 8

 

 

Edited October 17, 2014 by Tibetan_Ice

[soaring crane]

Anyone who received thogal and longde instructions knows that the vissions arising from one's nature are nothing like the chaotic tiny light spots people see when looking at the sky.

Those true visions will arise regardless of the support.

Still, the beauty is within, not without. Or not?