By representing them by all the arms and legs and heads, it helps us to keep all of these things simultaneously in our consciousness. Other emanations of Yamantaka appear as residents in various mandalas (13-, 17-, 21-, and 49-Deity). Yama is a common figure that we find in Indo-Iranian culture, both on the Indian side and the Iranian side. And one should also learn the Lama Chopa Tsog, one should learn the Lama Chopa Tsog, to be done to Yamantaka every two weeks. And whats the point here? I believe the intention of the person who requested this was that, because in the Gelug tradition theres a large emphasis from Tsongkhapa on the three deities of Guhyasamaja (gSang-ba 'dus-pa), Chakrasamvara, ('Khor-lo bde-mchog), and Vajrabhairava, it would be helpful to have some general idea of these three systems. It says: Vajravega is the forceful form of Kalachakra. Thank you for anything you can offer to help. So if you think Well, did the historical Buddha do that? then you get very confused. So if you have received the empowerment, its a very, very important, very helpful, and very strong practice to involve yourself with, very effective. Hence within the tantric system, you have four sets of tantras: Charya, Yoga, Kriya and Maha Anuttara tantra. Then the Guru disappeared and Ra Lotsawa was left alone. One is a realistic attitude you realistically accept that its going to be difficult and take a long time. We think how awful it is that everybodys suffering, and we really want to work with an unbelievable amount of effort to actually attain the state of a Buddha so that we can be of best help to everyone. Right? And also hes mentioned in the Manjushri-namasamgiti. So to achieve emptiness, Yamantaka is the most profound and the most quickest. He himself wrote commentaries, his students also wrote commentaries on the practice of Yamantaka, and hence today the Yamantaka practice is very prevalent, very powerful and extremely widespread because of these great writings and Lama Tsongkhapas own personal practice. Ive already spoken in previous visits about Chakrasamvara and Guhyasamaja, so now we have Vajrabhairava left. (3) And then the third point is that he holds a khatvanga staff, which indicates that he incorporates the teachings of voidness and bliss from Chakrasamvara. So since the Manchus wanted to rule over the Mongols as well, they adopted Yamantaka also. That level of mind is more subtle than the disturbing emotions, so it defeats the mara of the disturbing emotions. The understanding is the same in all practices, of course, but youre using the forceful energy of Vajrabhairava to get to it, so its strong (with, of course, bodhichitta; thats to be understood). Okay. Yamantaka's command carries tremendous power to perform purification, enhancement, harmonization and subjugation. luis urdaneta monat venezuela. He took these as manifestations of the teachings of the Guru. At the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, he went back to his own monastery, Tashilhunpo (bKras-shis lhun-po), and many Mongols came to Tashilhunpo to study with him., So already, through the influence of the Fourth Panchen Lama, Yamantaka practice had reached the Mongols. This can take many forms: mindful meditation, insight meditation, visualized and deity meditations, mantra or ultimately all of these, which represent Body (mindfulness), Mind (insight and visualization) and Speech (mantra.) But if its, if things change because we understand, then things would have changed because many people understand that point once they have studied Buddhism. There was a holy man who was told that if he meditated for the next fifty years, he would achieve enlightenment. The second of the five special features is that in two of his hands he holds intestines and a triangular fire stove. Buddha appears in a stupa, and theres the dakinis, and all this sort of stuff. The three right faces are yellow, blue and red and the three left are black, white and smoky. All the various Indian deities, these various figures, are always riding on top of something. . Now, there are several ways in which we could work to attain the body, speech, and mind of a Buddha. Yamantaka is the name of a system of three sets of deities (now we just get information): Yamantaka is the name for all three, but in the Gelug tradition the main thing that we practice is Vajrabhairava. What is it that is going to prevent us from attaining that state of a Buddha? Rather than saying hidden maybe thats not a good word here its encoded into these vajra expressions. Then it becomes a little bit more understandable. They passed down the line of Vikramashila masters and there were many commentaries written to them in India. He said, If you keep the secrecy and do the practice, there is no doubt that you will attain enlightenment in this lifetime. The attributes of the main deity are the same in both forms. And theres an enormous amount of teachings. He went there and encountered the Wisdom-dakini (in the form of Vajravetali) and other dakinis who eventually revealed the various Yamantaka tantras to him. (Of course we can get very complicated and sophisticated here if we want to go further in this discussion, and I find it very helpful to analyze.) So Yamantaka sets of tantras are very, very powerful because they focus on both clear light and illusory body, simultaneously. Thats what a Buddha does. Not only is he terrifying to look at but according to the Vajrabhairava Tantra he also has conquered all evil spirits, including the Lord of Death, Yama. The full form of Vajrabhairava has nine heads, the central one being that of a buffalo, and the top-most being that of yellow Manjushri with a slightly wrathful expression. It should be given only to as few disciples as possible. This holy man meditated in a cave for forty-nine years, eleven months, and twenty-nine days so he was one day short of the fifty years and he was interrupted by two thieves who broke into his cave with a stolen water buffalo. So Lama Tsongkhapa himself practiced and gained results, and hence he recommended his students to do it. And one of Atishas teachers was Dharmarakshita, who was the author of this mind training (lojong) called Wheel of Sharp Weapons (Theg-pa chen-poi blo-sbyong mtshon-cha khor-lo). codeiherbroyaw on Mahakala (6-armed) Short Practice (Screen Version) Either one is very good. subsidiary factors for success in the rituals namely helpful factors, the sequence of the practices, and the results attained when they are performed successfully: (a) pacifying brings protection from the eight fears, (b) increase brings the six good qualities, (c) controlling brings success in attaining the white appearance, red increase, black near attainment and clear light, (d) separating brings maintaining secrecy and avoiding the various types of demonic interference, (e) suppressing brings binding the six senses. ), Then theres a six-headed, six-armed, six-legged version or variant, which is mentioned in the, And then theres a four-headed, eight-armed, four-legged variant, which is in the collection of jenangs (these subsequent permissions) called, One way is Well, theres just the Buddhist version. And you should do that. During that period of death whats called the clear light of death before the bardo (the in-between state) and rebirth, we are just experiencing that clear-light level. In Hinduism you have a whole group of deities or figures around Shiva and then a whole group around Vishnu and Krishna (you get two divisions within later Hinduism). The first pair of hands hold a curved knife and skull cup to the heart. That will be more than enough for you. To receive it there are many requirements: (1) very strong faith in the Guru, (2) many offerings made to please the dakas and dakinis, (3) offerings of what is most precious to you as a way to overcome your self-grasping and perfect your practice of far-reaching generosity. October 30, 2020 Leave a comment Leave a comment He just stood by doing nothing, fully amazed. Vajrabhairava is powerful enough to overcome and subdue even the most powerful negative emotions. Thats really quite odd, isnt it? Anger that arises from self-grasping, can be reduced and can be destroyed, can be purified. Manjushri acts as the focus for this with a sword, sharp, to cut through your confusion and because you have such force for wanting to get that clarity of mind and that understanding, your mind comes together, and it is clearer. So the teachings were in fact there. Plus it has all these horrible descriptions of these rituals for smashing and killing and doing all sorts of horrible things with these sharp weapons, this wheel of weapons. Inner and Outer Yamaraja are blue/black, and the Secret Yamaraja is red. This is not childrens games here. Gaden for the West. And, as Shantideva dedicates in the tenth chapter of Engaging in Bodhisattva Behavior: Our ability to maintain and further expand our website totally depends on your support. While trying to find him, one day at the bank of a river he saw a boat without an oarsman overturn and all of the passengers drowned. The Hundred-Syllable Mantra of Vajrasattva. So we have this whole development within the non-Buddhist Indian context of Yama, the Lord of Death, and even putting an end to Yama in the Shiva complex.. Ra Lotsawa came from Tibet to Nepal to get the Yamantaka teachings and all that the Guru he met did was give him a subsequent permission for a different tantra. And so in this highest class of tantra practice what we want to do is imitate death in our meditation by using very subtle methods to get down to that subtlest level as well. This is, just in very general terms, a little bit of what is Yamantaka all about for those who might not have so much of a background. Lets focus on the nine-headed Vajrabhairava. Ra Lotsawa requested further, but they didnt even know the name or form of Yamantaka., One day, Ra Lotsawa followed the Guru to a cave, where the Guru always went. The (mostly secret and arcane) practices involve different activities for various purposes. He practiced it, and he achieved visions, and he achieved results. He came from Odisha. This is very similar to the water/pus/nectar discussion, that: All three of these visions of what a Buddha is are all valid, but theyre valid within their own context, and that you have to understand within their own context. These are part of the commitments. With all the protector practices, they are done as being Vajrabhairava yourself, and then you invite the protector into your mandala. Je Pabongka Rinpoche. You can work with this person from an anuttarayoga tantra vision. With Yamantaka's tantra alone one can become fully Enlightened. It provides the most detail about the methods for generating the four levels of blissful awareness of voidness within the central energy-channel, enabling access to the subtlest level of mind, clear light. Gelug Tibetan Buddhist tradition. It can also subdue the four maras, Devaputra mara, Skanda mara, Klesa mara, and Mrtyu mara. and its nothing from its own side you cant find it as anything from its own side and yet all three are valid. It tells us that there are many, many ways and many appearances of all these various Buddha-figures. In Guhyasamaja you have whats called a protection-wheel practice you have this in Yamantaka and Hevajra as well, very strongly in Yamantaka and this is a protected space in which you have protectors in all the directions. In the other schools of Tibetan Buddhsim, Yamantaka seems to be mostly revered as a protector. The reason is its easier to say in Mongolian, and because its so strong with the Mongols, everybody calls it Yamantaka usually.. See also: What Is Chakrasamvara Practice?]. Siklos, Bulcsu, The Vajrabhairava Tantras (Buddhica Britannica, Series Continua VII). I am not being miserly about the teaching, but the Yamantaka teaching is like the heart of the dakinis. Theyre not different people. But how do you understand this person? Yamantaka is a wrathful expression of Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom. Lalitavajra, a 10th-century scholar from the Nalanda monstary in Bihar whose main yidam was Manjushri, one day had a vision of the deity telling him to go to the land of Oddiyana and retrieve the tantras of Yamantaka. You can envision this person with a Mahayana sutra type of vision. So already you get that name Dharmaraja in the non-Buddhist context. I think its very important to be realistic and understand that Buddhism did not develop in a vacuum. And so Yama rides on a male water buffalo. Theres nothing especially Buddhist about it. It provides the most detail about the methods for generating the four levels of blissful awareness of voidness within the central energy-channel, enabling access to the subtlest level of mind, clear light. Yamantaka also appears in other tantras before Lalitavajras time. Now, within those so-called hidden tantras in which the fourth initiation is hidden, you have different systems: you have mother tantra (ma-rgyud); you have father tantra (pha-rgyud). Theyre all very qualified paths, its just depending on the method. Yamantaka comes in two forms: (1) as Solitary Hero (Skt: Ekavira; Tib: jigs-byed dPa-bo gcig-pa), and (2) in union with his consort Vajravetali, called the 13-Deity Yamantaka (because of the twelve more deities in his mandala; Tib: jigs-byed Lha-bcu-gsum). In many of the tantra systems, you find very similar variants in both the Hindu side (meaning the Shiva side) and the Buddhist side. Were not talking about the historical Shakyamuni. From amongst the many lineages of practice to enter Tibet, the main transmissions of Vajrabhairava were those of the two translators Ra Lotsawa and Mal Lotsawa. By ordering . That is symbolized by Yamantakas set of hands, on the left side set of hands, you will see one row, one row, one hand is holding one man impaled on a stick. They all embody wrathful aspects of peaceful Manjushri as well as, in some cases, Yamnatakas consort, Vajravetali, the wrathful nature of Saraswati. Its a very different type of Buddha. He is also one of the main yidams in the Sakya school where he comes in a variety of appearances (with different mandalas). So hence, while were practicing Yamantaka were not also practicing only tantra, were practicing sutra because Yamantakas path combines both sutra and tantra. The one that is commonly practiced in the Gelug has nine heads, thirty-four arms, and sixteen legs. Manjushri told him, Go to Ogyen, to Oddiyana, and there youll find the full teachings of Vajrabhairava., So he traveled from Nalanda Nalandas in central India, north of Bodh Gaya, not that far from Bodh Gaya. Thats the story., And he was still so angry and upset, he decided to kill everybody in Tibet. Otherwise it sounds really weird, like Wear an amulet, andyoure not going to be harmed a red string, the whole red-string Buddhism thing. So for us to realize that, for us to understand that intellectually is easy. The left legs are extended straight and press upon eight birds and various gods; standing above a sun disc and multi-colored lotus completely surrounded by orange flames of pristine awareness. He did all the practices and obviously he was very, very advanced and in three months he gained the actual attainments. Yamantaka: Yama is death, the Lord of Death, and antaka, the one who puts an end to, so the one who puts an end to the Lord of Death. Yamantaka is in the form of a very, very strong, forceful figure and has Manjushri in his heart (so very peaceful, calm, the complete understanding of reality). And Manjushri transformed himself into Yamantaka, looking very similar to Yama but ten times more powerful and horrible, and Manjushri as Yamantaka then defeated Yama and made him into a protector for Buddhism., So what do we learn from this story? Outer and Secret forms have buffalo heads, the Secret Yamaraja form does not. Kala is an interesting word because it has two meanings in Sanskrit: one is time, and the other is black. In this context, kala means time because time is what brings death. Now I can go back to just explaining a little bit about the history of the system, the different aspects of the system now we just get information so that you get a little bit of an idea of all the different aspects of it and how this practice actually developed and spread (since its not too appropriate to speak in very much detail about the actual practice, especially to people who are not practicing it). And in this practice, we have this forceful form of Vajrabhairava externally, and internally we have a Manjushri in our heart. They made this association that Manchu well, that sounds like Manju of Manjushri so their rulers eventually became recognized as emanations of Manjushri like the association of Avalokiteshvara with the Tibetans and Vajrapani with the Mongols. But that wasnt the case, because you can see from Wheel of Sharp Weapons that the image is intended for having this strength, as I was saying before, to cut through your ignorance, your self-cherishing, your self-grasping. Theres this whole thing that you get in the study of mythology to see what are the lessons behind the mythology, and is there a deeper psychological thing that is going on, and so on. In order to engage in its practice, . So therefore if we have created something very negative, very powerfully negative, imagine what Yamantaka can help us in. If you find our material useful, please consider making a single or monthly donation. According to some scholars thats already by the fourth century. The deity yamantaka, as the name suggested, is terrifying to behold. The passage of time brings death, doesnt it? Hence, thats called habituation. The subtlest energy of it to transform and appear in the form of a Buddha. When he gave the teachings, the Guru manifested from his heart a huge mandala with myriads of dakas and dakinis making preparation for teachings, arranging the throne, etc. Where is Ogyen? Im always curious why it has a buffalo head. + Read advice from Rinpoche on these topics, Big Love: The Life and Teachings of Lama Yeshe, Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment eBook. Dont just look at these things as little fairy tales to tell children. Its very interesting. Next to where the Eastern Mongols lived were the Manchus. Black Yamari and Red Yamari dont have a buffalo head. Its very clear in that text, the Wheel of Sharp Weapons, that the weapons are intended to overcome our self-cherishing, our grasping for our self, and so on. In both schools, Vajrabhairava is seen as the wrathful manifestation of Manjushri, the Buddha of wisdom. And all these different Indian traditions have their own variant of them, their own version. To understand the emergence of Yamantaka there and this practice there, otherwise it doesnt make any sense that it was kept there, we need to look at the history of Yama. The Yamantaka drubchen, traditionally held near the end of the Tibetan year, is conducted in order to cleanse all obstacles not only for oneself, but for every being in the world. Why? Origins Vajrabhairava is sometimes called just Yamantaka. Thats one of the teachings of whats called virya, perseverance, one of the six far-reaching attitudes. The Guru said It was worthwhile to lie. And it works but not by some power of some magic or miracle. This whole thing of making requests you have to really understand what that means. One of the attributes of Yamantaka is, no matter how much negative karma we have collected, no matter how much negative deeds we have done, no matter how much suffering we have created for others, if we sincerely regret, and we do Yamantakas tantra, within one single short lifetime, we can purify that negative karma. Kalarupa, the one with the form of kala which is time, time taking a form as the Lord of Death. Plus in the palace itself of Guhyasamaja, you have four gateways, and Yamantaka is there in one of the gateways as a protector also. We have this division in anuttarayoga tantra, the Gelugpa version of anuttarayoga tantra, of the obscure (or hidden or secret) tantras (sbas-rgyud) and the clear tantra (gsal-rgyud) (which is Kalachakra). 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