On this second a part of his sequence on tantra, Mingyur Rinpoche explains how visualization observe helps us acknowledge our buddhanature.
Within the Vajrayana custom, the buddha Tara is called the Mom of Liberation. White Tara is likely one of the most beloved representations of her.
Picture by Mandalas.life
Think about this: What if you happen to get up one morning and if you look within the mirror, you don’t see “the same old you.”
What if you happen to don’t see the grumpy you who hasn’t had espresso, the anxious you who’s nervous about work, or the delicate you that displays the “likes” in your social media posts? What if you happen to don’t establish together with your shortcomings? What if you happen to’re not involved about who you might be or will not be? What if, as an alternative, you see your self as a superbly woke up buddha, crammed with knowledge and compassion? How would you meet the following second? How would your day unfold?
This isn’t just a few fantasy. From beginningless time, the essence of your physique, speech, and thoughts has been enlightened physique, speech, and thoughts. The issue is, you don’t realize it. That’s why the trail of Vajrayana Buddhism has three foremost practices, every dedicated to recognizing the true, enlightened nature of those parts of the self.
These practices are generally generally known as, so as, the event stage, the completion stage, and the trail of liberation. Following our overview of Vajrayana, or tantric, Buddhism within the final subject of Lion’s Roar, this text in our sequence focuses on the event stage of the trail.
The event stage of Vajrayana helps us acknowledge our buddhanature, our good and pure inherent nature. How does it do that? By utilizing ideas.
The conceptual thoughts is highly effective. It does greater than form our ideas, beliefs, and concepts; it additionally influences our emotions and notion.
In a method we will say the conceptual thoughts is like poison. The confusion we expertise, particularly our unhealthy sense of self, is constructed by the conceptual thoughts. The end result? Our notion is restricted, and in flip, so is our expertise of actuality.
Anxiousness, anger, panic, and different robust detrimental feelings are created by our conceptual thoughts.
On the identical time, the conceptual thoughts has the facility to liberate us from struggling; it may well assist us uncover our true nature. It is dependent upon how we’re utilizing it—if we use it the immediately, it turns into medication; if we use it the improper means, it turns into poison.
For probably the most half, we are likely to give attention to the detrimental inside us. Once we develop an unhealthy sense of self, we establish with a self-image that’s restricted and false. We see ourselves as nugatory, or crammed with flaws and shortcomings. Fixation on our perceived flaws turns into a psychological behavior, and we see much more of them. This flawed self turns into completely concrete and actual for us.
Deities in sexual union symbolize a single deity manifesting as two. The feminine deity represents vacancy, and the male deity represents consciousness.
Picture courtesy of Zacke since 1986 / SZA GmbH. Lot 64, bought in Asian Artwork Discoveries—China and Southeast Asia, June 2022 public sale
What does improvement stage observe must do with this? It loosens the maintain of those beliefs and assumptions. It turns the desk completely on our self-image.
In improvement stage observe, we work with our psychological photos of ourselves and our world. In conventional phrases, we name this observe of visualization “taking creativeness as the trail.” We relate to ourselves and our world in a means that’s much less strong, much less fastened, than the world as we expertise it proper now. We think about a world that’s open, fluid, and nearer to the true nature of how issues are. This permits us to shift our “impure notion” of the world as strong and stuck to “pure notion,” during which we see issues as they honestly are.
Creativeness has three features. I prefer to name them video, audio, and feeling. By “video,” I imply photos. As an illustration, if I say “pizza,” your thoughts immediately furnishes you with a psychological picture of pizza. “Audio” refers back to the verbal facet, on this case, the label “pizza,” and all of the ideas that come up if you consider it, like “Possibly I ought to order pizza tonight.” And at last, feeling: “Mmm, I really like pizza!” Taken collectively, these three features kind creativeness.
Creativeness is common and important for survival. With out it, you’d be unable to learn these phrases. As you learn, your thoughts sees the visible photos of letters, then interprets them into the sound of phrases, after which creates photos in your thoughts.
You want creativeness to do even probably the most basic items in life. In its absence, your thoughts would simply be clean!
The significance of creativeness has been more and more acknowledged in current instances. Athletes routinely use visualization of their coaching. In the identical means that as Vajrayana meditators we think about ourselves to be completely woke up buddhas, athletes think about themselves operating the right race and executing their strikes to perfection. Scientists have found that the bodily mind behaves the identical means no matter whether or not somebody is bodily jogging or simply imagining it. Researchers even discover that it’s doable for his or her examine topics to develop muscle tissue merely by imagining exercising their muscle tissue.
You will discover comparable examples in different areas. Therapists use creativeness as a device to heal sufferers with trauma, phobias, PTSD, and the like, and enterprise leaders use the creativeness to create imaginative and prescient statements and daring objectives for the longer term.
In Vajrayana Buddhism, we use the creativeness in an identical means, however as an alternative of utilizing it to carry out higher, we use it to get in contact with our true nature, to acknowledge and nurture our innate consciousness, compassion, and knowledge. So, you may see why Vajrayana makes use of creativeness as a path. It permits you to understand your true nature, develop knowledge, and purify struggling, negativity, delusions, ego, and many others. Whereas it’s true that creativeness is itself an expression of the conceptual thoughts, it’s one which ultimately leads us past ideas to expertise actuality instantly.
In Vajrayana Buddhism, we apply the facility of creativeness to what we name deity yoga. In Vajrayana there are numerous buddhas, every representing some distinctive facet of our buddhanature. For instance, the deity Vajrasattva symbolizes our innate purity, whereas White Tara symbolizes our true nature being past start and demise.
As a meditator on this custom, you select a buddha as a assist, resembling Vajrasattva or White Tara, and also you think about this buddha in your thoughts. However this isn’t a theistic observe. You’re not worshipping this buddha. You think about your self to really be this buddha. If you do that, there are three essential components to bear in mind.
One component known as “vajra satisfaction,” or pure satisfaction. Delight on this context means confidence: “I actually am a buddha. Till now, I didn’t know that I’ve all the time been a buddha, however right now, I’m going to acknowledge it—I’m White Tara!”
Then you definately permit your self to sense the enlightened qualities of White Tara inside you—you attempt to really feel her enlightened exercise and her qualities of knowledge and compassion. You carry them to life in your personal expertise. You think about that you simply’re seeing the world via her eyes, seeing everybody and every little thing via the lens of buddhanature. This isn’t simply an mental understanding of White Tara, not simply an thought. You are feeling her enlightened qualities alive inside you, assured that you’re and all the time have been a buddha.
Avalokiteshvara, or Chenrezig in Tibetan, is called the Buddha of Infinite Compassion. His 4 arms symbolize the 4 highest feelings, or divine abodes (brahmaviharas): loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic pleasure, and equanimity.
Picture courtesy of nepacrafts.com
The second component to carry into deity observe is symbolic which means. In any picture of a buddha, whichever one you’re selecting to make use of as a assist, there are symbolic particulars. For instance, imagining a buddha with two eyes represents the power to see the character of absolute and relative actuality. Two arms characterize knowledge and compassion. One head implies the oneness of samsara and nirvana. Two crossed legs connote the union of relative and absolute actuality.
Typically a deity is adorned with ornaments, usually six of them symbolizing the six transcendent perfections (paramitas). At instances female and male deities are proven in sexual union. This isn’t meant to recommend two separate beings in a samsaric sexual act. Quite, it symbolizes one deity manifesting as two—the unity of vacancy, manifesting as the feminine deity, and readability or consciousness, manifesting because the male deity.
Deities can characterize completely different energies and actions. Some are tranquil, others are gloriously vibrant and enriching. Some embody magnetizing exercise, whereas others are highly effective and wrathful.
The explanation Vajrayana Buddhism has so many deities is {that a} huge array of expertise and means is required to learn the numerous sentient beings. Simply as one medication can not treatment all illnesses, one deity can not heal all of the illnesses of ache, struggling, and samsaric issues of infinite beings.
The third component of deity observe is obvious look. “Clear” signifies that you’re making an attempt to image—clearly and intimately—all these heads, arms, legs, and so forth. On the identical time, it’s essential to keep in mind that the deity isn’t actual. It’s empty, just like the moon’s reflection in a lake.
Lastly, keep in mind that visualization is your creation. It’s your creativeness! For the “video” a part of our creativeness, we have now photos of deities, just like the psychological image that got here to thoughts once I used the phrase “pizza.” For the “audio,” or verbal facet, we have now the symbolic meanings behind the illustration, such because the three eyes and 6 ornaments. For the “feeling” facet of creativeness, we really feel the residing presence of enlightenment.
Combining video, audio, and feeling is an excellent strategy to observe, however feeling is probably the most essential facet. Don’t fear if, to start with, you aren’t capable of readily visualize the deities or buddha. The true secret is feeling the presence and qualities of enlightenment.
To recap, the event stage has three foremost components. Clear look means making an attempt to obviously think about your self within the type of the deity. The symbolic which means will get on the significance of the imagery: What are the enlightened qualities these symbols are supposed to characterize? Most significantly, vajra satisfaction, or pure satisfaction, includes feeling the quick presence of enlightenment. The motion right here is from the mental degree, to the sensation degree, after which to the notion degree during which you expertise your self as a buddha and the world as enlightened. At that time you’re starting to free your self from the struggling of samsara.
I’ll offer you an instance of how this will play out. Let’s say you’re going to make use of the buddha of compassion, 4-Armed Chenrezig (Avalokiteshvara in Sanskrit), as a assist. Image your self as Chenrezig. Think about your self clearly with 4 arms, every representing one of many 4 immeasurables—love, compassion, sympathetic pleasure, and equanimity. Then suppose, “This enlightened buddha and I are the identical. We’re equal, however I haven’t identified that from beginningless time. However right now, lastly, I do know. I’m a buddha. I’ve these enlightened qualities. How great!”
We are able to observe in formal meditation, but additionally throughout our day. Maybe you end up on the verge of a battle together with your companion or colleague. In these moments you may remind your self, “I’m a buddha. The true nature of this anger is mirror-like knowledge, and my companion can also be a buddha. All is open and radiant, like a dream or the moon’s reflection in a lake.” In case you see your self, the opposite particular person, and your personal feelings via the lens of buddhanature, the anger will remodel into knowledge and lose its harmful energy. That may additionally occur with different robust feelings you expertise in the midst of your day.
To start with it could really feel awkward to think about your self as a buddha. Sure, it’s unfamiliar, however imagining ourselves on this means is definitely nearer to the way in which issues really are than the way in which we usually see ourselves. You would possibly recall that the visualization is predicated on the truth that we’re naturally pure, so what we think about isn’t pretend. It’s simply unfamiliar to us. There’s reality to what we’re imagining! And deep down we all know it.
We’re like a diamond lined with mud. In our regular state, all we will see is the grime. This could turn into such a deeply ingrained behavior that we could fully neglect that there’s a diamond there in any respect. All we see, and all we all know, is the mud. However the mud isn’t a part of the diamond; it may be washed away. Whatever the mud, the true nature of the diamond is good purity, simply because the good readability of our consciousness and the radiant heat of our innate compassion is who we really are, whether or not we notice it or not.
By envisioning your self as a buddha, you’re basically shifting your picture of who you might be. You’re seeing what’s already pure inside you. You’re not the small, imperfect being you thought you had been. You’re a buddha with enlightened physique, speech, and thoughts,
With this new imaginative and prescient of your self, how will you relate to others? How will you converse to them? How will you view them? Are you able to see their primary goodness amidst battle? If you develop a brand new behavior of seeing your self on this means, you purify your negativities. You’re not doing this by eliminating the elements of your self you don’t like. You’re doing this by seeing the purity of each facet of your self, warts and all. You’ll get in contact together with your innate consciousness, compassion, and knowledge and be taught to see these qualities in everybody you meet. What a present, to your self and to the world!