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Following this there are practices for the post-meditation period. Since a tantric practitioner has to lead a life in which he is never separated from his practice of union of method and wisdom, the post-meditation periods are very important. There are different yogas to be practised in these periods such as the yoga of sleeping, the yoga of eating, which includes the proper way of maintaining your diet, the yoga of washing and so on. There are even certain practices to be observed while relieving yourself.

Just as the great masters say, 'The progress made during the meditation session should complete and reinforce the practices during the post-meditation period, and the progress made in the period after your meditation session should reinforce and complement your practices during the session.'

It is during the post-meditation period that you can really judge whether your practice during the meditation sessions has been successful or not. If you find that despite having undertaken meditation for years, your way of thinking, your lifestyle and behaviour during the post-meditation period remain unchanged and unaffected, it is not a good sign.

We don't take medicine in order to try it or test it for taste, colour or size, but in order to improve our health. If after taking it for a long time it has done us no good, there is no point in continuing to take it. Whether your practices are short or elaborate, they should bring about some transformation or change for the better.

The Completion Stage

There are different kinds of activities that can be done on the basis of the deity yoga practised in the generation stage. Consistently engaging in such forms of practice, the meditator will reach a point where he or she will begin to feel the physical effect of these practices. Experiencing this special physical effect within your body marks the attainment of the first level of completion stage.

There are many different types of completion stage practice, such as the yoga of inner heat, wind yoga - that is yoga that makes use of the currents of energy - and the yoga of the four joys and so forth. Wind yoga includes such techniques as holding the vase breath or what is technically referred to as vajra repetition.

At that point a lay practitioner can seek the assistance of a consort. But if the practitioner is an ordained person holding monastic vows, the point has not yet been reached. In order to engage in such profound practices of the completion stage, the practitioner should first be aware of the structure of his or her own body. This means understanding the stationary channels, the flowing energies and the drops that reside in certain parts of the body.

When we speak of channels, we generally refer to three main ones - the central, right and left channels - and also the five channel wheels or energy centers. These three main channels branch and re-branch so that there are, according to the tantric texts, 72,000 channels in the body. Some sutras also mention 80,000 channels within the body.

Then, there are the flowing energies. These are of ten types, five major energies and the five minor ones. The drops refer to the white element and the red element. The Kalachakra tantra refers to four types of drops: the drop between the brows, which becomes manifest during the waking period; the drop at the throat, which becomes manifest during the dream state; the drop at the heart, which becomes manifest at the time of deep sleep; and the drop at the navel, which becomes manifest at the fourth stage (death).

In the Kalachakra we find very detailed explanations of these things. The entire structure of the practitioner's body with its channels, energies and the drops is called the internal Kalachakra, which is the basis of purification. The Kalachakra Tantra speaks of three types of Kalachakra or wheel of time, the outer, inner and the alternative Kalachakras.

Based on a proper knowledge of the physical structure of his or her body, when the meditator focuses on certain vital points and penetrates them, he or she is able to withdraw and dissolve the flow of the gross level of wind and mind. Eventually, the practitioner will be able to generate the subtlest level of clear light, the clear light of death, into an entity of the path which is the wisdom realizing emptiness. Gaining such a realization is like having found the key which provides access to many treasures.

Once you achieve that stage and you have the key, you can attain the complete enlightenment of Buddhahood through the path of Guhyasamaja, that is by actualizing the illusory body as explained in the Guhyasamaja, or through the path of Kalachakra which speaks of the achievemen t of empty form, or through the rainbow body as explained in the Mayajala Tantra, which is also explained in the Great Perfection practices.

When a meditator has gained a certain control over his mind during the waking state, he or she begins to utilize even the dream state in the practice of the path and certain techniques are described for doing this. These kinds of meditation are called 'mixings', mixing during the waking state, during the dream state and during death.

Highest Yoga Tantra explains that the best practitioner is someone who is able to attain complete enlightenment within his or her lifetime. Those with middling faculties are able to attain complete enlightenment during the intermediate state and those of inferior ability will be able to attain it during their future lives.

For those practitioners who will become enlightened during the intermediate state or during their future lives, practices such as the transference of consciousness are explained. There is also another practice quite similar to the transference of consciousness, but with the difference that the consciousness is transferred into another being's body or corpse.

These techniques belong to what are called the Six Yogas of Naropa, which are techniques Naropa extracted from many different tantras. These are among the basic practices of the Kagyu tradition. There is also a Gelug practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa derived from Marpa’s tradition. These meditations can also be found in the Sakya practices of Path and Fruit and in the Nyingma practice of the Heart's Drop.

We have been discussing the Highest Yoga Tantra procedures according to the new tradition. But the old tradition or old transmission school, the Nyingma, refers to the Great Perfection Vehicle, whose practices consist of the Mind Collection, the Centeredness Collection and the Collection of Quintessential Instructions.

Although there are many works on these topics, it is very difficult to perceive the subtleties of these different practices. Among these three collections, the Collection of Quintessential Instructions is said to be the most profound. We can say that the practices of the first two Collections lay the foundations for the practice of ‘break-through’.

The view of emptiness explained in the Mind and Centeredness Collections must have some features that distinguish it from the view of emptiness expounded in the low vehicle, but it is difficult to explain this clearly in words. The practices of the Collection of Quintessential Instructions have two aims: actualization of the Truth Body and actualization of the Enjoyment Body. The paths by which you actualize these two bodies of the Buddha are the practice of 'breakthrough' and 'leap-over.'

Through understanding these elements of the Great Perfection School, you can understand what is meant by the Great Perfection of the base, the Great Perfection of the path and the Great Perfection of the resultant state. As I have remarked before, these are factors that can be understood only through experience and cannot be explained merely through words. However, you can appreciate the extent of their profundity and difficulty by reading Longchen-pa's text on the Great Perfection practices called Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle, although the fundamental text as well as the commentary to it is very large and difficult to understand. He has also composed a text called the Treasury of Reality, which also outlines the practices of the Great Perfection.

You can only hope to gain a good understanding of the Great Perfection if you are able to explain the practices of the Great perfection according to these two texts of Long-chen-pa. It is also important to study Kunkhyen Jigme Lingpa's text on the Great Perfection called the Treasury of Virtue, in the second volume of which you will find explanations of Great Perfection practices.

There are also very short and succinct texts composed by masters who have themselves had experience of the Great Perfection. I myself believe that these texts were composed by highly realized masters who have been able to extract the essence of all the elements of the Great Perfection and its practices and as a result have been able to recount their experiences in a very few words. However, I think it would be very difficult to try to understand the practice of the Great Perfection on the basis of these short texts.

For example, when Lord Buddha taught the Perfection of Wisdom sutras, the shortest one consisted of the single syllable' Ah'. This sutra is said to encompass the entire meaning of the Perfection of Wisdom sutras, but it would be either too simple or too difficult if we were to try to study the Perfection of Wisdom on the basis of that sutra. To say 'Ah' is very simple, but it doesn't mean we have understood the meaning of the sutra.

When we study the Middle Way philosophy in all its complexity, studying the different reasons through which we can arrive at the conclusion that all phenomena lack inherent existence, if we are to understand all the subtleties and implications of such a philosophical view, it is also necessary to understand the viewpoint of the lower schools of thought. The conclusion you then arrive at is very simple. Because things are interdependent, and rely on other causal factors, they lack an independent nature or inherent existence.

But if you were to approach the Middle Way Consequentialist view of emptiness right from the beginning with that simple statement, 'Because things are interdependent or dependently arising, they are empty of inherent existence', you would not fully understand what it meant or implied. If, in a similar way, you were to read a short text composed by an experienced lama on the Great Perfection and were to conclude that the view of the Great Perfection was very simple, that would be a sign that you had not understood it properly. It would also be very ironic if the highest of the nine vehicles could also be said to be the simplest.

And with this I come to an end of my survey of all the Buddhist practices including the systems of both sutra and tantra undertaken in the Tibetan tradition.

London, 1988
Translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa and edited by Jeremy Russell.
We are grateful to Tibet Foundation for providing tapes of the teaching.

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