Yoga Tantra: Paths to Magical Feats

186 Pages·2009·2.34 MB·English

Yoga Tantra
Paths to Magical Feats
Yoga Tantra
Paths to Magical Feats

His Holiness the Dalai Lama
-ka-
Jeffrey Hopkins

Translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins

Co-edited by Kevin A. Vose and Steven N. Weinberger

Snow Lion Publications
Ithaca, New York
Boulder, Colorado
Snow Lion Publications
605 West State Street
P. O. Box 6483
Ithaca, New York 14851 USA
[phone]
www.snowlionpub.com

Copyright © 2005 Jeffrey Hopkins

First edition USA 2005

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means without the
prior written permission of the publisher.

Printed in USA on acid-free, recycled paper.

ISBN 1-55939-237-1
ISBN 978-1-55939-237-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Yoga Tantra : paths to magical feats / Dalai Lama, Dzong-ka-ba ; translated, edited, and
annotated by Jeffrey Hopkins ; co-edited by Kevin A. Vose and Steven N. Weinberger. --
1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes English translation of the fourth section of Rgyal ba khyab bdag rdo rje chaº
chen po i lam gyi rim pa gsaº ba kun gyi gnad rnam par phye ba.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-1-55939-237-2 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-55939-237-1 (alk. paper)
1. Yoga (Tantric Buddhism) 2. Spiritual life--Tantric Buddhism. 3. Buddhism--China--
Tibet--Doctrines.
I. Bstan- dzin-rgya-mtsho, Dalai Lama XIV, 1935- . II. Hopkins, Jeffrey. III. Tsoº-kha-pa
Blo-bzaº-grags-pa, 1357-1419. Rgyal ba khyab bdag rdo rje chaº chen po i lam gyi rim pa
gsaº ba kun gyi gnad rnam par phye ba. English. Selections.
BQ7805. Y65 2005
294.3'4436--dc22
2005012799
Contents
Detailed Outline 7
List of Charts 11
List of Illustrations 11
Preface by Jeffrey Hopkins 13
I: The Features of Yoga Tantra
by His Holiness the Dalai Lama 22
1. The Basics 23
2. Yoga With Signs 34
3. Yoga Without Signs 57
4. Feats 64
II: The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra: Yoga Tantra
-ka- 67
1. The Root Tantra 69
2. Initiation and Vows 78
3. Observing a Deity 82
4. Observing a Hand-Symbol 91
5. Yoga Without Signs 98
6. Feats 110
III: Supplement
by Ke-drup-ge-lek- -sang 121
1. Five Manifest Enlightenments 123
2. Four Seals 128
IV: Practical Outline of the Steps of the Path
formulated by Jeffrey Hopkins 141
6
Appendix: Achieving Buddhahood through the Five Manifest Enlightenments
by Lo-sang-chö-»yi-gyel-tsen 154
Backnotes 159
List of Abbreviations 165
Bibliography 167
Index 175
Detailed Outline
List of Charts 11
List of Illustrations 11
Preface by Jeffrey Hopkins 13
I: The Features of Yoga Tantra
by His Holiness the Dalai Lama 22
1. The Basics 23
Yoga Tantra 24
The Root Tantra 26
2. Yoga With Signs 34
Coarse Yoga With Signs 34
34
Seal-Impression 38
-Completion 42
Three Meditative Stabilizations 44
Meditation on a Subtle Object 47
Process of Achieving Calm Abiding 48
Developing Meditative Dexterity in Yoga Tantra 54
3. Yoga Without Signs 57
Meditating on Emptiness 58
Progress on the Path 61
Purpose of Yogas With and Without Signs 62
4. Feats 64
II: The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra: Yoga Tantra
-ka- 67
1. The Root Tantra 69
How the Stages of the Path Are Taught in Yoga Tantras 69
[The Parts of the Compendium of Principles Tantra] 69
[The Four Sections as being Both for Separate Persons and for
One Person] 71
[Seventy-Two Meditative Stabilizations] 72
[Four Sections, Lineages, Maòçalas, Bases of Purification,
Afflictive Emotions, Seals, and Effects of Purification] 73
[Pattern of Deity Yoga] 76
8 Detailed Outline
2. Initiation and Vows 78
Stages of Practicing the Meaning of the Yoga Tantras 78
How to Become a Receptacle Suitable for Cultivating the Paths 78
Having Become a Receptacle, How to Maintain Purity of Pledges
and Vows 79
3. Observing a Deity 82
How to Perform Prior Approximation while Abiding in the
Pledges 82
Yoga With Signs 82
Yoga of Four Sessions Observing the Coarse, a Deity 82
Cultivation of the Yoga Observing the Coarse, a Deity, in Four
Sessions 82
Yoga of Four Sessions for Those Who Have Obtained
82
Yoga of Four Sessions for Those Who Have Obtained a
86
Procedure for Those Unable to Cultivate the Yoga Observing a
Deity in Four Sessions 89
4. Observing a Hand-Symbol 91
Yoga of Four Sessions Observing the Subtle, a Hand-Symbol
91
Purpose of Meditating on a Subtle Object 91
Making the Mind Stable through Observing a Subtle Object 92
How to Perform Diffusion, Gathering, and so forth Once
Stability Is Attained 96
5. Yoga Without Signs 98
Yoga Without Signs 98
How Yoga Without Signs Is Explained in the Compendium
of Principles Tantra 98
How Yoga Without Signs Is Described in an Explanatory
Tantra 100
How Yoga Without Signs Is Cultivated in the One-Gone-Thus
Lineage 100
How Yoga Without Signs Is Cultivated in the Vajra Lineage 101
How Yoga Without Signs Is Cultivated in the Jewel Lineage 102
How Yoga Without Signs Is Cultivated in the Lotus Lineage
103
Brief Exposition of How to Cultivate Yoga Without Signs 104
6. Feats 110
Detailed Outline 9
How to Achieve Feats once the Approximation Is Serviceable 110
How to Achieve Feats through Concentration 110
Revealing Treasure 111
Not Sinking into Water 112
Going in Space 112
Knowledge-Mantra Bearer 113
Physical Transformation 113
How to Achieve Feats through Repetition 115
Physical Transformation 115
Pledge Seal 115
Protection 116
Diagnosing Possession through Descent 116
Finding Lost Articles through Descent 117
Physical Displays through Descent 117
117
Love and so forth 118
How to Achieve Feats through Burnt Offerings 118
III: Supplement
by Ke-drup-ge-lek- -sang 121
1. Five Manifest Enlightenments 123
2. Four Seals 128
Etymology of Seal 128
Divisions of Seals 128
Order of the Four Seals 131
Purpose and Benefit of Seal-Impression 134
How to Do Seal-Impression 134
Pledge Seal 134
Cause Giving Rise to a Pledge Seal 134
Rite of Constructing the Entity of a Pledge Seal Itself 135
Cause of Achieving a Pledge Seal 135
Cause of Mastery over What Has Been Achieved 136
Doctrine Seal 136
Cause Giving Rise to a Doctrine Seal 136
Rite of Constructing the Entity of a Doctrine Seal Itself &
Cause of Achieving a Doctrine Seal 136
Cause of Mastery over What Has Been Achieved 137
Action Seal 138
Cause Giving Rise to an Action Seal 138
Rite of Constructing the Entity of an Action Seal Itself 138