2.1. Preliminary Stage of the Path

Having practiced the paths of recognizing the suffering condition of ordinary life, of developing great compassion and an altruistic intention to become enlightened, and of engendering the view realizing the emptiness of inherent existence, a practitioner is ready to receive initiation. In Mantra, one realizes the emptiness not of a gross phenomenon such as an ordinary body but rather of a subtle phenomenon that is appearing to one's internal mind a divine body. This mode of procedure of the path in which there is a yoga of non-duality of the profound and the manifest manifest being imaginative observation of a circle, or mandala, of deities and the profound being the wisdom realizing suchness is the path in the three lower Tantras Action, Performance, and Yoga Tantras. Highest Yoga Tantra, in addition to all these features of the Perfection Vehicle and the three lower Tantras, has special techniques for concentrated focusing on important points of the body, through which more subtle levels of mind are manifested and transformed into entities 240 His Holiness the Dalai Lama, (tr., ed. and intro. by) Jeffrey Hopkins, Kalachakra Tantra, pp.163-165. 241 samvaram cabhisekan ca sandhyabhasam tathaiva ca/ ananda ksanabhedan ca tathanyam bhojanadikam//1/ tatra samvaram aha/ samvaram sarvabuddhanam evamkare pratisthitam/ abhisekaj jnayate samyag evankaram mahat sukham//2// (Hevajra Tantra (Commentary) , pp.179-180) - 148 -

of the path. The uncommon profound distinction of all types of Highest Yoga Tantra texts the distinctive feature in terms of which the uncommon potency of the Highest Yoga Tantra path is developed is in the explanation of practices for generating the fundamental innate mind of clear light as an entity of the path. As techniques for manifesting the fundamental innate mind of clear light, some Highest Yoga Tantra texts speak of concentrated focusing on the winds [or internal currents] of the body; some put emphasis on the four joys; and others speak of merely sustaining non-conceptual meditation. The "Guhyasamaja Tantra, for instance, speaks mainly of putting concentrated focusing on the winds; the "Hevajra Tantra, speak mainly of the four joys; and the technique of manifesting the clear light by way of non-conceptual meditation and the great seal (mahamudra).242 Once the disciple has developed a firm and unchangeable faith in the Tantra path, empowerment is conferred on him/her. But he or she must first take Bodhisattva vows prior to receiving the tantric ones. Pledges and vows must be kept diligently by the practitioner. The practitioner must make supplication to the master for the sake of receiving the tantric vows. The master on being pleased with the disciple's sincerity agrees to confer the initiation. The taking of tantric vows and pledges formulate the preliminary stages of the Highest Yoga Tantra.