The Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa: Volume Five (53 page)

By the time you reach the guru yoga practice, you are psychologically ready to identify with your guru, and immense devotion is born in your mind. This is connected with the third dharma of Gampopa, which is that, in following the path, confusion could be clarified. The actual transformation of confusion into wisdom, the fourth dharma of Gampopa, is receiving abhishekas and practicing various sadhanas. This is the main part of the vajrayana discipline, which comes much later.

Q:
In what ways, if any, will the manner of practicing the four foundations here in the West differ from that followed in Tibet? Will Westerners find the foundations easier or more difficult to practice?

CTR:
Because of the cultural differences, the practice of the four foundations will be somewhat different for Western students. Since they are not completely familiar with the cultural background of Buddhism, when they try to practice the foundations, they will encounter some cultural gaps which they will have to overcome. We must try not to impose the Tibetan tradition on them but to present them with the basic “mind’s work” of the teachings.

One problem in the West is that people are accustomed to focusing on their bodies. The whole society is based on comfort. Western students practicing the foundations make a big issue of their aches and pains and tend to get very attached and exaggerate them.

An important difference is that Western students need a lot more prior training in the hinayana and mahayana so that they will know what they are doing when they practice the foundations. Since they lack the cultural background of Tibetans, when introduced to the foundations they will not be ready to jump into the practices immediately, and they may see them as alien, as some sort of a gimmick. We cannot respond to their doubts by telling them to shut up and have faith. To help them overcome these doubts, we must train them in tranquillity and insight meditation much more thoroughly than was done in Tibet. Apart from these, I don’t see any particular differences.

Q:
Before an individual practices the four special foundations, what should he study and/or practice first?

CTR:
As I have said, before he tries to practice the foundations, an individual must be thoroughly trained in tranquillity and insight meditation. In addition, he must be familiar with the basic teachings of Buddhism—such as the four noble truths, six perfections, and five skandhas—so that when he is introduced to the vajrayana via the four foundations, it will not seem like a foreign product.

Q:
What type of person should practice the four foundations?

CTR:
It doesn’t matter. Any type of person can do these practices. As long as an individual has become involved in tranquillity and insight meditation, his personality has begun to dissolve somewhat. By the time he gets involved in the vajrayana through the foundations, he is no longer a “type of person,” particularly—he is already there!

Q:
What role does the guru play in guiding an individual through practice of the foundations before, during, and after completion of the practices? What is the nature of the guru-disciple relationship?

CTR:
A person who is practicing the vajrayana discipline should have some notion of what is known as the “vajra master” or root guru who instructs us in the vajrayana. In each of the three yanas, the teacher has a different role. In the hinayana, he is the elder (Skt.
sthavira
), or wise man. In the mahayana, he is the good spiritual friend (Skt.
kalyanamitra
). In the vajrayana, he is the master—almost a dictator—who tells us what to do. The relationship must be very strong, definite, and direct—one of great devotion.

When you practice the foundations, your prostrations are directed toward your root guru as Vajradhara in person. If your relationship with your guru is not very strong, this practice will be very feeble.

In these practices, Vajradhara has two aspects. The first, the dharmakaya or primordial aspect of Buddha—the awakened state of mind or the general existence of full enlightenment without any obstacles, obscurities, or definitions—is the Vajradhara at the head of the lineage [i.e., the top of the refuge tree]. The second aspect of Vajradhara is that very concept, transplanted into your personal root guru. So your root guru is the Buddha in person, not only in the sense of a nirmanakaya like Gautama Buddha, but Vajradhara himself—the complete Buddha. So the reference to Vajradhara is tied up with the notion of trust and faith in your root guru.

It has been said that the guru’s body is the sangha, his speech is the dharma, and his mind is the Buddha. In this case, Buddha has three aspects: nirmanakaya, sambhogakaya, and dharmakaya. So the guru buddha includes the whole thing.

Of great importance in the guru-disciple relationship is the samayabond (
dam tshig
), the commitment established between you and your guru once you have undertaken the vajrayana discipline. Although you may not yet have received any empowerments from him, once you have taken him on as your vajrayana teacher, the commitment has already been made and the bond established absolutely. There is no such thing as a mediocre samaya-bond.

Commitment to your guru and his teachings is very necessary; it gives you some guidelines for your life. Without that commitment, you might begin to make up your own version of the dharma, your own edition of the teachings, and sooner or later what you will get back is just your own ego version of the teachings. So the idea of commitment here is total surrendering, complete surrendering. You don’t edit your own version of the dharma anymore.

The commitment allows you to receive the pure teachings undiluted by the influence of ego. Commitment keeps the teachings clean, pure, and workable, so that the actual teaching, the teaching in its pure form, works for you. Maybe the teacher might be pure, and the teachings might be pure, but if you don’t commit yourself properly, then you end up putting a part of yourself into the teachings, and you don’t receive the pure thing. It’s like drinking out of a dirty cup.

If a student tries to practice the foundations without a guru’s guidance, probably nothing will happen, except that his confusion will increase. It will be a waste of time.

Q:
What is the importance of the mahamudra lineage for one who is practicing the foundations?

CTR:
The lineage is very important for the practitioner. Each teacher in the lineage had his particular skillful way of teaching. Each has contributed a great deal to the wealth of the Kagyü tradition. Each one’s life is a perfect example for us to study. Each one has left behind and passed on his experiences to us.

The lineage shows us that “it can be done”—even by us! It makes us aware that the teachings represent not one but many lifetimes of work. Each teacher sacrificed a lot, went through a great deal of personal hardship, and finally attained enlightenment. Belonging to this lineage makes us very rich and full of enlightenment wealth. Being part of this family gives us immense encouragement and also a sense of validity [regarding that which we are trying to practice]. We realize that the teachings we now receive have come down from all of them.

The lineage also enables us to place ourselves within a certain geography. We have happened upon somebody who has opened up the whole thing for us—like a gigantic rain descending on us!

Q:
What is the significance of the physical, verbal, and mental techniques used in practice of the four foundations?

CTR:
Prostrations originally came from the Indian tradition where you make a gesture of reverence to somebody higher than you. The idea of prostrations is that you have found somebody who is utterly worthy for you to open to, completely. So you fall on the ground and touch your forehead at his feet. Then you find something more to do, which is called ninefold prostrations, where nine joints of your body are completely on the ground. That’s the final idea of prostrations, which is much more elaborate and definite; physically, you are really doing something.

In the mandala practice, you are offering your wealth and yourself at the same time. You feel happy that you can walk on earth, you feel that the earth is yours, in some sense, and you just give all that in the form of piles of rice.

Mount Meru, the four continents, and so on, which are represented by the piles of rice, comprise the traditional universe derived from Hindu mythology. This is strictly a cultural phenomenon: in those days, the universe consisted of that. In modern times, we might offer the solar system and so on. The basic idea is that you are giving the world you live in and also the symbols of work, sense perceptions, basically everything that is worthwhile.

The geography is meant to be discussed. I hope that some day a conference will be called by Buddhist leaders in which we can discuss the geographical aspects and come up with some solution.

When we chant the liturgy in all the foundation practices, we actually say it. In ordinary life when we are very involved with ourselves, we usually talk to ourselves. In this case, you actually
say
it, which makes it much steadier and more solid—something definite happens.

The mantras we chant in these practices are not regarded as the same as the mantras used in the more advanced sadhana practices. Here, it’s still just a process rather than the actual, real mantras in higher forms of vajrayana. For example, the Vajrasattva mantra, which is a purification mantra, has one hundred syllables which contain the bijas for one hundred peaceful and wrathful deities. These are said in a certain way which invokes the essence which would be fundamentally, inherently pure. But it’s still a superficial use of mantra here, in some sense.

Visualization, the mental technique used in all four foundations, is something that most people find very difficult to do. In vajrayana, visualization is called kye rim, or the developing stage of meditation. It is slightly different from how we normally think of visualizing. Ordinarily, we think of visualization as just daydreaming. In this case, it is taking the complete attitude of the deity, actually seeing it mentally, rather than purely daydreaming it. This requires prior training—basically, sitting practice, which is tranquillity and insight meditation. Even people who have undergone this training have a lot of difficulty with visualization. But you have to start with the teaching of nirmanakaya, rather than relating first to dharmakaya. You have to start with body and then work with mind. Otherwise it will be very difficult.

Traditionally, while students are going through the four foundation practices, they are also taught certain particular formless meditations which are connected more closely to the mahamudra principle. That is the notion of the fulfillment stage, or dzog rim, which is always recommended a great deal. There should always be the developing stage and the fulfillment stage together, visualization and formless meditation together. Without that, somehow the whole thing is like finger painting rather than actually doing it. There are different levels of formless meditation, of course. Students usually begin by borrowing the hinayana practice of tranquillity and insight meditation, and then out of that some glimpse of the mahamudra experience might occur. That seems to be very important. The idea is not to trust purely in the gadgets of the practices alone, but that there is something happening behind that. Some kind of unseen, unformed—I don’t know what you’d call it. The incomprehensible is comprehended, with just a few glimpses. That has to happen. Traditionally that is done, and I did that myself.

Dzog rim or the fulfillment stage is a general term. There are different levels of dzog rim or formless meditation. From the hinayanist point of view, it would be shamatha and vipashyana, tranquillity and insight meditation. From the mahayanist’s point of view, it would be maitri bhavana or something like that. From vajrayana, dzog rim is finally mahamudra. But you can’t have that just suddently given to you without previous training. That’s why the basic training in shamatha and vipashyana is very important.

This idea of dzog rim or formless meditation is traditionally handed down from teacher to student. It’s not talked about even in the commentaries. That’s the company policy, so to speak. That is true for this text,
The Torch of Certainty,
as well. This commentary is very basic, direct, and written with a lot of heart, a lot of soul. It’s nice that people can read it. At the same time, I feel that people shouldn’t just pick up the book and try to practice without a teacher. We have to take some kind of measures to protect the teachings, so that they can be presented properly. I feel some concern about this, and I think the dharmapalas will be behind my shoulders, trying to mind my business: they always are.

Q:
In what surroundings should the four foundations be practiced?

CTR:
People have a problem deciding whether to practice in a group or alone. Generally, vajrayana practice should be done in groups. In the vajrayana, there is much more idea of sangha than in the hinayana or the spiritual brotherhood of the mahayana. In vajrayana, the concept of the vajra sangha is very important and very necessary. Actually, people might practice the four foundations in groups together or by themselves. It doesn’t make that much difference. The main point is that you can’t expect ideal surroundings; there would be no such thing, particularly, as ideal surroundings. People can’t afford to take a whole year off from work, and they have their families and so on. Of course, in Tibet in the monasteries, we had retreat centers, and we practiced quite a lot together. [To work with this situation here] I have some of my students practice the foundations in groups. We have set up prostration shrine rooms, Vajrasattva mantra shrine rooms, and mandala shrine rooms. The basic principle of practicing together is what’s known as the vajra feast: once you join the vajrayana discipline, there should be no holding back of yourself; everything should be shared together. It’s also a question of transmitting the insight that comes out of group practice, sharing that with your brothers and sisters in the dharma, rather than keeping it secret. It doesn’t particularly have to be a group-encounter type of situation, but just feeling and being together. When people achieve an understanding of the fulfillment stage of meditation, or mahamudra, there are some psychological happenings that can actually be felt as well as said by the whole group. Everybody’s prostrating together; you are in the same boat. The idea is that is should be more normal, definitely, rather than that you are doing some funny thing while your wife or husband and your kids are away.