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Post by Kriyaban on Aug 29, 2022 16:12:11 GMT
The third aspect of the fivefold Mahamudra is generation
of the lama. The lama has four aspects, or four bodies:
(1) the manifestation body, or nirmanakaya, which is Lord
Buddha Shakyamuni;
(2) the perfect enjoyment body, or sambhogakaya, which is
Buddha Vairochana;
(3) the truth body, or dharmakaya, which is the Buddha
Vajradhara; and
(4) the nature body, or svabhavikakaya, which is mind itself, the realization of the absolute or ultimate nature
of mind, which is Mahamudra.
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Post by Kriyaban on Aug 29, 2022 16:42:06 GMT
The practice of guru yoga has four sections. First is the
manifestation body of the guru (nirmanakaya); second is the
body of complete enjoyment (sambhogakaya); third is the
truth body (dharmakaya); and fourth is the nature body
(svabhavikakaya). The nirmanakaya of the guru is cultivated
as, or in the form of, the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni, golden
in color; the sambhogakaya is cultivated in the form of the
Buddha Vairochana; the dharmakaya is cultivated in the form
of the Buddha Vajradhara; and the svabhavikakaya is cultivated as Mahamudra itself, the pure and ultimate nature of
mind.
The third aspect of the actual practice of Mahamudra (the
first being deity yoga, the second guru yoga) is the actual
meditation on Mahamudra itself, and this has two different
stages:
(1) the cultivation and achievement of mental quiescence
to stabilize and clarify the mind; and
(2) the cultivation and achievement of pure insight, or the
highest insight into reality, using mind to penetrate into
the nature of ultimate reality.
So this is the body of the meditation on Mahamudra.
The next practice, done after the practice of Mahamudra,
is the conclusion consisting of the various aspects of the dedication of merit.
The practice ofMahamudra, then, is formed by the instructions of the preceptor, the lama, who shows the different ways
in which to actually engage in the practice. This depends on
the disciple's abilities, the sharpness of her faculties, and her
diligence. The practices are described generally in terms of
four levels of practitioners.
22 The Practice of Mahamudra
(1) Lower Level. This is the ordinary person who needs to
be given this practice in discrete steps. First, mind is focused
and stabilized until one has attained the state of shamatha,
or mental quiescence. Having achieved mental quiescence,
one begins to cultivate special insight, vipashyana. With
mental quiescence as the basis, one develops special insight,
and attains the realization of Mahamudra, of ultimate reality, of the nature of mind. This is the lowest, or ordinary, stage.
(2) Middle Level. This is the more highly developed, sharper,
more accomplished practitioner. At this stage, the preceptor
teaches how to join mental quiescence and special insight into
one practice. For instance, if one were meditating on the deity
Chakrasamvara, this would be a meditation on his appearance and his emptiness at the same time, conjoined into one
(emptiness being the ultimate nature of the deity.) So, the appearance and ultimate nature are joined into one at this middle
level of practice.
(3) High Level. To the very sharp, able practitioner, the
preceptor gives Mahamudra practice in the form of first mastering the philosophical view of Mahamudra, then meditating on that view without engaging in other types of meditation. One goes directly to the meditation of this highest view
of reality and masters that, and thereby obtains Mahamudra.
(4) Supremely High Level. This would be persons such as
1ilopa or Naropa, those who need just a little push in order to
realize the ultimate enlightenment of Mahamudra. For them,
a special instruction, some key words, a special action or word
will break the final barrier to the supreme realization. It is presumed that these practitioners have accomplished these other
levels in former lifetimes. In this lifetime, they need only that
final push in order to achieve the ultimate goal.
Two years of the three-year retreat are dedicated
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Post by Kriyaban on Aug 29, 2022 17:02:47 GMT
e term Mllhamudra is described in a commentary to the
Kalachakra Tantra written by Padma Chin. There, he explains
the essence ofMahamudra as being the actual Prajnaparamita;
that is, the wisdom which is the source of all the Buddhas of
the past, present, and future. They all arise from the
Prajnaparamita, the ultimate wisdom, and that ultimate wisdom is none other than Mahamudra. In the context of
Vajrayana, Mahamudra is that which unites bliss and emptiness into one, and is the ultimate realization. This occurs both
through the Karma Mudra and the WISdom Mudra. Through
both of these, bliss and emptiness are united into the experience of highest enlightenment, and this is what comes together in the Mahamudra practice.
Dharma Lord Gampopa said that the mudra aspect of the
word indicates the nature of all phenomena, including everything in samsara and nirvana, all phenomena without
exception. What mudra means here is that all these phenomena are, in their ultimate nature, non-arising. That nature, or
ultimate state, the ultimate truth of all phenomena, is referred
to by this term Mahamudra. In his description, Lord
Gampopa divides this term mudra into its two syllables, each
with a meaning. The first syllable of the Tibetan term chakgya,
chak, refers to the non-arising nature of all phenomena, without exception. The second syllable, gya, refers to the
beginningless nature of this. Together, they mean "from
beginningless time all phenomena are non-arising in their
ultimate nature."
Maham11dra: What is it? 27
The term maha refers to the highest realization of this, and
the mudra aspect refers to the reality itself. It is not enough
that things merely exist in this ultimate way; they have always existed in this ultimate way. What we need is the realization of that nature. The state of enlightenment, or
Mahamudra, is only accomplished through the realization
of that ultimate nature. Just like being afraid of a piece of
rope in the dark, thinking it is a snake-it is not enough that
it's only a piece of rope if we think it's a snake and are terrified. We have to tum on the light and actually discover it is a
piece of rope before the problem is solved.
Put another way, maha describes phenomena
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