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With OM, we join both hands in the one-pointed vajra mudra and place the middle fingers above the crown to indicate the Buddha Family. With HUNG, we place the index fingers at our forehead for the Vajra Family. With TRAM, we place the ring fingers at the right ear for the Jewel Family. With HRI, the thumbs go behind the neck for the Lotus Family. With AH, the little fingers are placed at the left ear for the Action Family.

Dissolving the Jnanasattva into the Samayasattva

Without visualizing the wisdom deity, the samayasattva can become an ordi- nary object of objective appearance, yet another cause of samsara. But by dis- solving the jnanasattva into the samayasattva, the deity that is the indissolu- ble unity of wisdom and appearances is recognized as the radiance of wisdom, or as we say, the play or ornament of pristine awareness.

We all know by now that the phrase “inviting the jnanasattva” is not to be tak- en literally. There is no outer wisdom aspect that dissolves into an inner visualized aspect. The practice of dissolving jnanasattva into samayasattva is to call upon our own faith and devotion, the eyes of wisdom, to perceive the simultaneity of appear- ances and emptiness. In other words, it is an invitation to our own innate wisdom to manifest. For that to happen we need to have faith and openness. We must have deep-seated confidence in our own wisdom and not harbor hopes that someone else will fix it for us. As soon as we have the perspective of intelligent faith, all our experi- ences will follow suit – they will become the display of wisdom, inseparable appear- ances and emptiness. We will realize that we never truly lost wisdom, but have been under the power of ignorance which is basically nothing other than a lack of faith in our wisdom nature. This is the main point of dissolving. In fact, Guru Rinpoche taught this himself when he said, “For those who yearningly invite me with devotion and 52

faith, using visualization, mantra, incense, and melodious sounds, what need is there to say that of course I will definitely be right there with you.”

Now, I want to address another misunderstanding about samayasattva and jnanasattva. It is very easy to interpret these terms hierarchically, thinking that the jnanasattva is more sublime than the samayasattva. This is not true. The

samayasattva is the visualized or apparent aspect of the deity’s true nature, but it is not a mentally fabricated state. It is the appearance of jnana. Both aspects are insep- arable and co-equal -- an indissoluble unity. Since one always implies the other, using the skillful means of samaya (of visualization and invocation) is a good way of realiz- ing the nondual jnana aspect, isn’t it? We are not fabricating a nondual state; it is al- ways inherent in all appearances. So whenever you practice dissolving the jnanasatt- va into the samayasattva, remember that there is no implied hierarchy.

HUNG! On the northwest border of the country of Oddiyana, In the pollen heart of a stemmed lotus,

You revealed marvelous supreme siddhi. Renowned as the Lotus Born,

You are surrounded by a vast retinue of dakinis. As I practice, following in your footsteps,

Please come and confer your blessings.

The verse for this practice is the famous Seven-Line Supplication to Guru Rin- poche. Each word is a vajra word of many meanings. In Mipham Rinpoche’s commen- tary White Lotus, there are four levels of meaning -- outer, hidden, secret, and inner- most secret. Tulku Thondrup has published a brief summary of this commentary and I have taught the first two levels with the help of the translator, Lama Chokyi Nyima. These tapes are available, and in the future, I hope we will have a transcript. We defi- nitely don’t have time in this retreat to cover this material, but I will give a brief over- view so that everyone can make an auspicious connection with this most important prayer.

Traditionally this prayer is regarded as the supplication the dakinis chanted to invite Guru Rinpoche to their ganachakra. “To invite Guru Rinpoche to a ganachakra” is a metaphor for the process through which Guru Rinpoche, as the personification of dharmakaya, appears in the pure realms of sambhogakaya and the impure realms of nirmanakaya. At the nirmanakaya level, this prayer appeared at the time of a great

spiritual debate at Nalanda University in India between Buddhists and non-Buddhists. The Buddhists were highly trained but were losing the debate. One night, they all had the same dream. The dakini Supreme Peace told them that they would be defeated unless they enlisted the help of her brother who was currently living in the charnel grounds. “If you do not invite him”, she said, “your tradition will surely perish”. Then she told them to go to the highest rooftop and set out elaborate offerings, burn in- cense, and play sacred music. She gave them the Seven-Line Prayer and told them to recite it with devotion and faith. The next day, the scholars agreed to follow her ad- vice. Her brother was Padmasambhava. He immediately appeared and took his place at the head of the five hundred scholars. He defeated the non-Buddhists with his knowledge and miraculous powers. Later, when he visited Tibet, he taught this prayer to the kings and nobility, and for future generations, he hid it in every terma. Even today, people continue to experience the powerful effects of this prayer and it remains a vast repository of accomplishment.

The syllable HUNG at the beginning of the prayer has several functions. Here, it is the life force of immutability and the embodiment of the five primordial wisdoms. The circle represents dharmadhatu wisdom; the moon, mirror-like wisdom; HA, equal- ity wisdom; short AH, discerning wisdom; and the hook, all-accomplishing wisdom. With the sound of the syllable, relatively we arouse yearning and faith and invoke the enlightened mind of all the buddhas and ultimately we recognize our own nature as the actual Guru Rinpoche.

The first line, On the northwest border of the country of Oddiyana, refers to Guru Rinpoche’s birthplace in our world. Of course, there are other stories about Guru Rinpoche in other universes, but this is our story. The second line, In the pollen

heart of a stemmed lotus, explains how he appeared in our world. The third line, You revealed marvelous supreme siddhi, praises his spiritual qualities. The fourth line is

the name Lotus Born that was given to him by the dakinis at his birth. The fifth line refers to his magical emanations as a vast retinue of dakinis. The sixth line, As I prac-

tice, following in your footsteps, is a reiteration of our vow to attain the level of Guru

Rinpoche through practicing the nine vehicles. The seventh line, Please come and

confer your blessings, is a heartfelt supplication for the purification of our ignorance. I

have to stop here for now, but please read the spiritual biography of Guru Rinpoche. It will make a big difference in the quality of your practice.

HRI. From the buddhafield Lotus Net of Supreme Bliss,

The palace of the glorious mountain of Ngayab, O great master Thotrengtsel,

With your ocean-like hosts of dakinis,

When you are fervently invited by the lineage holders, Through your magical display of unobstructed compassion, At that very moment, please come to this place,

Bestow empowerments, send down your blessings and grant siddhis! VAJRA SAMAYA ABESHAYA AH AH AH

On a relative level, we meditate that from our heart center as the samayasatt- va, because of our faith and devotion, immeasurable rays of light issue forth throughout the ten directions and three times. In particular, the light streams towards the southwest, to the Copper-Colored Mountain on the continent of Ngayab where Guru Rinpoche presently resides. In his celestial palace, a ret- inue of male and female deities of the Three Roots surrounds him. When the light invokes them, they all appear in the sky above us. Their wisdom forms appear as mudras, their wisdom speech as seed syllables, and their wisdom mind as symbolic implements. These representations of wisdom body, speech, and mind descend upon us like rain. They dissolve into us like snow dissolving in a lake. We become Guru Rinpoche and his retinue of deities. The three se- cret vajras are apparent and all experience is enjoyed as the ornament of dharmadhatu, the basic sphere of all phenomena. In addition, we play sacred music, burn incense, and don’t forget the secret ingredient – arousing deep de- votion and yearning. As a result, our immediate environment becomes a pure- land, our home a celestial palace, our retinue enlightened, and we are the manifest Guru Rinpoche.

On an ultimate level, we reject the notion that we are ordinary beings asking for and receiving blessings from Guru Rinpoche. Instead, we adopt the view that we are inseparable from the Three Kayas. Remembering that the samayasattva is not in- ferior to the jnanasattva, we realize the inseparable unity of appearance and empti- ness. There are certain indications of having accomplished this practice. One sure sign is feeling that without a doubt, we are Guru Rinpoche, that our surroundings are pureland, and that our home is a celestial palace.

HRI From the buddhafield of the Lotus Net of Supreme Bliss,

de-chhen pema dra-wai zhing

HRI is the seed syllable of the Lake Born, the secret emanation of Guru Rin- poche. The historical background of the Lake Born is recorded in the Nirvana Sutra. At the time when Shakyamuni’s disciples were pleading with him not to enter nir- vana, he prophesized that an emanation greater than himself would appear. I think I already mentioned this in the beginning. He said that this emanation would be born on a lotus. When he passed into nirvana, he dissolved into the heart of Amitabha. Some time later, rays of light radiated out from Amitabha’s heart to the ten direc- tions and the three times, invoking the wisdom of all buddhas and magnetizing their omniscience, enlightened activities, and qualities. These rays then gathered back into Amitabha’s heart, and again radiated forth in a stream of five-colored light form- ing a five-pronged vajra marked with HRI at its center. Light rays radiated forth from the HRI into our world known as Dzambuling. It reached the land of Oddiyana and a lake that was filled with lotuses -- Lake Danakosha. At that moment, Guru Rinpoche miraculously appeared on a lotus in the center of that lake.

The next word is exaltation or bliss (de). As we all know too well, ordinary hap- piness and joy is something that comes and goes. It's very unstable. Exaltation, how- ever, is not like that. It is unchanging and inherent at all times. The main distinction is that happiness is the experience of an ordinary being and exaltation is the realiza- tion of all-pervasive stainless purity. Even the word purity is glossed as that which does not change. The word great (chhen) means that unchanging exaltation is com- plete and ultimate realization.

Pema is of course lotus. Net (dra-wai) usually means an enclosure or fence. In this verse, it means that all phenomena or experiences in this realm are free of duali- ty. They are “lotus phenomena”. For example, in Guru Rinpoche’s pureland, the foun- dation is actually a thousand-petalled lotus and lotuses are blooming everywhere. The purpose of this imagery is to evoke an appreciation of beauty, wisdom, and stainless purity. Also, lotus signifies enlightened speech and the wisdom of discern- ment. And, as I explained before, the image of a lotus is closely connected to Guru Rinpoche who is described as having a lotus-like face, lotus-like wisdom eyes, and a white lotus colored body tinged with red.

The palace of the glorious mountain of Ngayab

nga yab pal ri pho drang nay

Ngayab is one of the twelve continents surrounding Mount Meru, the center of our three thousandfold world system. It is located in the southwest. Generally, there are two kinds of nirmanakaya pure lands: terrestrial and celestial. Ngayab is a terres- trial nirmanakaya pure land. It is the land of the rakshas and Guru Rinpoche is now living there as the king of the rakshas. Mountain (ri) refers to the Copper-Colored Mountain where there is a three-tiered palace (pho drang) of lotus light. The upper level is Amitabha’s Dewachen pureland; the middle level is Chenrezig’s Potala pure- land; and the lower level is Guru Rinpoche’s pureland. The palace is inconceivably beautiful beyond imagination but it cannot be seen with ordinary eyes. It is made of jewels that are the self-occurring expression of nondual wisdom and it is naturally lu- minous both inside and outside. The practice of visualizing the palace destroys our habit of grasping to objective appearances.

Nay means from and indicates on a relative level that this palace is the source

from which we are invoking Guru Rinpoche. Ultimately, it indicates that Guru Rin- poche isn't actually coming from any source or going anywhere because he is insepa- rable from all-pervading dharmakaya.

O great master, Thotrengtsel

maha guru tho treng tsel

Maha guru is Sanskrit for great master, the embodiment of the wisdom of non- duality and enlightenment’s natural qualities. Guru or lama refers to a wisdom form that is unchanging, inexhaustible, and spontaneously self-occurring bliss. It is also glossed as a heap of enlightenment's qualities. The dakinis blessed Guru Rinpoche with the name Thotrengtsel, Garlanded with Skulls, when he became an accom- plished tantric yogi in the charnel grounds. This name is equivalent to the title “ma- hasiddha”.

With your ocean-like hosts of dakinis

khan-dro gya-tsho tshok dang chay

The word dakinis (khan-dro) includes both the masculine and feminine gen- ders. Kha means sky and dro means to move around. But this is not literal because even insects and airplanes can fly in the sky. Sky is symbolic of dharmata, the true nature of reality-itself. When combines, these syllables mean to function in the true nature of being -- to be enlightened. When enlightenment is realized, the universe

becomes an ocean-like retinue (gya-tsho tshok). Here ocean means that it is impossi- ble to count the numbers of dakas and dakinis in Guru Rinpoche’s retinue.

When you are fervently invited by the lineage-holders

gyu-dzin dung-way chyen-dren-la

The lineage holders (gyu-dzin) are those who uphold Guru Rinpoche's lineage. Yearningly (dung-way) describes the way we invoke (chyen-dren-la) Guru Rinpoche. I have already talked about the role of devotion in the Descent of Blessings.

Through your magical display of unobstructed compassion,

thok-me thug-jei dzu-thrul gyi

At that very moment, please come to this place.

kay-chik nyi-du nay-dir-shek

These two lines are the main supplication. Unobstructed (thok-me) describes Guru Rinpoche’s compassion (thug-jei). Magical (dzu-thrul) describes his compassion as the radiance or magical power of dharmakaya. It refers to the miracle of unmani- fest wisdom becoming tangible through the compassionate expression of nir-

manakaya.

Bestow empowerments, send your blessings, and grant siddhis!

wang-kur jyin-phob ngo-drub tsol

The supplication concludes with a request for empowerments, blessings, and siddhi.