Putri Repung - Phurba Retreat July 2012

31 December 2014
Putri Repung - Phurba Retreat July 2012
Instructions and Teachings
By
His Holiness Dungse Shenphen Dawa Norbu Rinpoche
Part 1 of 2
Introduction
The following instructions were given to a small group of students engaging in a
three-week closed retreat at Orgyen Chö Dzong, Greenville, New York. The aim
was and is to provide students with all the information necessary for the setting
up the mandala/shrine, and for making all the appropriate preparations for
entering, maintaining and concluding the retreat according to the Nyingmapa
tradition in general and the Dudjom Lineage in particular.
These particular instructions focus on Vajrakilaya as the central deity, in the
cycle of Putri Repung revealed by His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche. However,
the main principles can be transferred to all yidam practices. The purpose is to
create the necessary conducive conditions for a successful retreat. These are
extremely rare and precious instructions which Dungse Shenphen Dawa
Rinpoche has graciously allowed to be shared freely to anyone who is sincerely
interested in yidam practice for the benefit of all.
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 1 Rinpoche added to this introduction, “This is given in the hope that you will
practice with total sincerity so then it will become very valuable information.
However these teachings do require all three of the Wang, Lung and Tri—that is,
the empowerment, the oral transmission, and the instructions as to the meaning
and explanation about how to undertake the practice—which you have to
receive from a qualified teacher or a holder of the lineage.”
Orientation—Things to do and not to do
There is to be no showering, face washing, or cutting hair and nails; no brushing
teeth; all of this is forbidden. If (Rinpoche emphasizes) a need arises, i.e., you
need water, blow a mantra of purification on the water and then you can use it.
For example if you need to rinse your mouth or pat your face to cool yourself,
bless the water with the purification mantra—then you can use that water to
wash.
Obviously there is to be no sex and no masturbation—these will create obstacles
to understanding union in its true sense.
Once in retreat, nothing must go out of the retreat. Moreover, throughout the
retreat there must be silence. There should be no indications by mind or body.
No sign of any kind is allowed; no notes; no gesturing—no communication is
allowed at all. You can let Lama Sonam know if there’s a problem. Assume
you’re in a cave. Most of the problems will self-solve by themselves. That is the
blessing.
With the Dharmapala practice—no meat is being offered during this group
retreat, to avoid attracting animals. Generally, of course, on a solitary retreat,
meat would be offered daily with rice and whiskey. You can also use tea or wine
instead of whiskey.
Keep speech speechless. No mobiles, computers, cd players or ipods are to be
used during this retreat. Light lamps throughout. Incense is ok to light. The
office is out of bounds. Keep to your rooms as far as possible.
For the mandala you need all the ritual objects. You get the blessings through
the mandala. It is important to have all the ritual objects. These become samaya
substance objects which are necessary for you to have. This is when you need
the special objects like a terma phurba. A terma phurba is very important for a
Kilaya practitioner, although they are very hard to come by these days. This
phurba cuts the negative karma of one’s entire family or a curse carried by the
family; it removes epilepsy—it turns that which is negative into positive.
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 2 You need a mandala set, bell and dorje, good quality offering bowls and so on.
These should be made of precious materials where possible. Avoid plastic or
glass. Any metal is acceptable—copper, silver, gold, brass—invest in your altar.
You need these items for all your retreats. If you don’t have an item now, try to
get it. Improve your materials if you can, upgrade. To have something to offer in
gold or silver generates great merit. Don’t think that spending money on
wonderful offering materials is wrong. It is not for pride that you are doing this
but it is an offering to the Buddha. All these articles are now blessed; negativity
has been removed. This is very significant. You need to have these for all your
retreats. All these objects are now especially blessed. If you do this retreat
properly the blessings will carry over. The blessing cycle of this retreat will
continue. You’ll use these items for your daily practice too. The substances will
empower themselves—they will help in daily practice.
Etiquette of Practice
There should be no moving around—once you are sitting, stay still. Maintain
your vajra seat so the heat of the body stays with the seat. Once again, there
must be no gesturing with the hands or body. Concentrate on the yidam and
recitation. The less you move, the more will be your realization. If you maintain
your concentrations and remain immoveable then definitely there will be signs.
His Holiness said that you cannot imagine the swiftness of the blessings with
this practice. I will tell you how he discovered this cycle, its history and
significance later.
As you recite the Kilaya mantra, it should be neither too loud nor too soft. It
should be a ‘collar length’ recitation. Most importantly it must be clear and crisp
with no syllables missing. All fourteen syllables should be pronounced
distinctly, and be perfectly correct. I’m not looking for speed. You need a bone,
raksha or bodhi mala. If you have bone—it should be from one hundred and
eight different human skulls. Never use an animal bone, such as a buffalo mala.
You should pick either the floor or the bed to sit on. Don’t shift around. Don’t
do any other practices—just concentrate on the Putri Repung sadhana. There
should be no other practices except Ngondro, Sang and Dharmapalas.
Regarding not washing your teeth, you may object but every cell of the body is
going to get liberated. It may be rotten but it still goes to rainbow body. The
body will smell of the purity of practice. Foul smell comes from the ordinary
level of being. When the mind is engaged in higher levels of awareness, the
smell of purity comes. You can use deodorant if necessary, to save myself and
your neighbors suffering (Rinpoche laughs) and you can use floss and
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 3 toothpicks. (Rinpoche conceded on this last point following a request). Try not
to disturb the germs when in retreat.
Do a Phurba Tsok at the beginning and the end of the retreat. That’s the absolute
minimum. His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche recommended doing a Phurba Tsok
every day, but we will not be doing so during this retreat.
Regarding meals, you can have every type of meat. Avoid garlic, onion and
daikon. These will reduce the speed of your recitation and they are toxic. They
excite desire. Breakfast and lunch are important. For the evening meal, leave
about one-quarter or one-third of your stomach empty. This has a lot of virtue.
Both your body and your mind will feel lighter and you’ll have less drowsiness.
It will be easier to wake and get up in the morning and it will improve your
luminosity. Regarding clarity, your meditation will be better. His Holiness used
to say this to all his disciples.
With respect to setting up the mandala, we will follow strictly according to the
instructions. This is important since it helps to bring the body, speech and mind
blessings. The torma represents Kilaya himself. He manifests in an exterior form
in this way. The atomic form of the torma—all it’s molecules and atoms are
Kilaya. Without a main torma in retreat there will be no accomplishment and no
blessings. You need to know what works. Learning the mechanics of what
works is like a clock—all manifesting in the intrinsic. You need to know how
Kilaya is represented in the atomic form and at the molecular level. You will
understand later. You mustn’t think that these are just ritual objects.
There is much to be done for the activity of the Phurba. You need to come at
least one week ahead for retreat in the future and you should offer an additional
week of service to the center. You can read dharma books during the breaks. All
other practices are suspended. Do not write about your experiences. Your
experience is not permanent. The only thing you may need to write down is the
number of your recitations. Whatever arises—any visions or dreams—just leave
them be. Don’t be happy that you saw Kilaya or sad if you see the devil. The
opposite might happen in the next instant. Don’t count on your experiences.
This is hard for us since we are so used to accepting and rejecting. Devotion to
your lama is key to this practice. Keep pure samaya to the teacher. Then you
will get the blessings.
The gugul (an incense gum) is to exorcise the spirits—to get them out. There
should be three stacks—the gugul, blessed rice, and mustard seeds. Don’t
interrupt the practice for anything. In fact go back a mala if there is an
interruption in your winds i.e., if you fart go back a mala; if you burp or sneeze
also go back some beads. The five airs turn to syllables. When you fart it
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 4 becomes mundane. This is not wisdom wind—rather it is wind passing through
shit—which is not the same. If you have to go to the bathroom, you must first
conclude the sadhana. Better to time your needs to avoid breaks in sessions.
You can put a small amount of Indian camphor in the purification bumpa (not
the accomplishment bumpa) to make it stay fresh longer. If the purification
bumpa needs cleaning, empty the bumpa water somewhere clean, like a garden.
After cleaning and refilling it with water, add bumzey 25.
For the dharmapalas, include a few grains of dutsi to the whiskey bottle for the
serkyem (and men cup). Avoid letting the bottle become completely empty.
Either keep adding new whiskey to the same bottle or pour the whisky from the
almost empty bottle into a new bottle of whiskey. By extending this, it will
enhance with use and create a continuous flow. When doing the dharmapalas,
always open the men and rakta cups and close them at the end of the practice.
The men cup also includes a few grains of dutsi, whereas the rakta cup has some
rakta powder. Both cups should be filled with whiskey, wine or tea. But it is
important to make sure that the men and rakta contents, cups, holders, and
spoons are never mixed up. Mark each set to make sure it always stays as the
men set or the rakta set. Finally here, don’t pour whiskey in the rakta cup if it is
from a bottle containing dutsi.
The phurba mandala (that is, the diagram form itself) is just for retreat. Don’t
show it to anyone. The eight-spoked yellow chakra wheel goes in the kapala,
under the black rice. The arrow should be bamboo with seven knots and a
feather. The tip has four points with blades. The arrow symbolizes dzogchen—
an arrow with no target—shot only to penetrate wisdom. The five silken ribbons
represent the five elements, five wisdoms and the five buddha families. The
mirror represents primordial wisdom itself. It’s best to get this from a dakini,
ideally sixteen years old.
Altar/Mandala/Shrine Layout
Place the long life arrow on the left hand side of the altar (when facing the
shrine). In front of the arrow is the long life vase containing dutsi. The main
Kilaya torma must be in the center of the shrine and high—raised above the
other items. The kapala is on a tripod in front, lower than the torma. Inside the
kapala is the eight-spoked yellow wheel (in our case, cut out of paper, but
otherwise often painted) on top of which is black rice to fill it and to hold the
phurba in its stand, in place.
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 5 On the right of the main torma (facing the altar) is Kilaya’s main dharmapala
torma (that is, the 16 protectors). On the right of this you can place the serkyem.
The cheddo and the local deity offering can go to the left of the main torma,
(again facing the altar). In general, other than the main tormas, (ie the main
Kilaya Torma and the 16 protectors beside this) the other tormas can be placed
where it is convenient on your shrine.
There should be two sets of offering bowls at the front—peaceful on the left;
wrathful on the right (facing the shrine). The wrathful represent water of blood,
poison, the five senses, incense, the lamp is the fat of humans, the nectar of bile
and the samaya breakers. On the ground below the shrine is incense.
Draw a swastika using rice grains under your sitting cushion before you begin
your retreat. The correct way round to draw it is with the left side starting with a
vertical line—the right side starts with a horizontal line. So the arms look like
they are turning clockwise.
The picture of the Four Great Kings which has been blessed should be placed on
the outside of your retreat room door. It can be placed on the door-frame if that
works better.
To begin the retreat cut a purification pill in half and burn this on a lit charcoal
or use a safety-pin and a lighter. One-half is to purify the altar/shrine. The other
half is for yourself, your clothes and the rest of your retreat room. After the
purification pill is finished, put gugul and mustard seeds on the charcoal and go
around the room to purify it with the smoke once more.
This retreat will begin around dusk when you’ll open the short Kilaya sadhana.
Recite several malas of the mantra and throw the gektor out of the window.
Then, do a few more malas of the mantra before doing the Dharmapala practice;
then close the sadhana.
(Rinpoche gave the lung for the Vajrakilaya tsok and the teachings on Putri
Repung discovered at Paro Taktsang by His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche).
The Schedule
1st Calling the Lama from Afar, i.e., recognizing the Three Kayas and Calling
the Names of the Guru. You can use a drum to invoke the deity here. Mingle
your mind with the guru’s awakened awareness; unfold your mind within the
guru’s mind-space.
2nd The Long Ngondro—in particular reflect on the Four Mind Changes. You
can substitute this for the Short Ngondro.
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 6 3rd Ri Wo Sang Chö—this isn’t compulsory for all retreats but we will do here.
4rd First session of Kilaya
5th Formless meditation involving movement—stretch your body here. You can
do walking meditation and prostrations. You can also do Om Ah Hung, Vajra
breathing, and/or Tonglen. Combine the formless and the physical here.
6th Confession, Troma or The 100 syllable mantra.
7th Second session of Kilaya
8th Third session of Kilaya
9th Dharmapalas and Protector practice.
Origins of the Lineage
Develop the altruistic mind—that is, you will listen to these teachings in order to
benefit infinite sentient beings. When Guru Rinpoche did wrathful practices
bringing the dakinis under his power, one of the dakinis prophesized that if he
went to Tibet without practicing Kilaya there would be no access for the dharma
there. Negative forces needed to be subjugated and placed on the path of the
dharma in order to protect the teachings. She told him he needed to go to Nepal,
Yanglesho, and practice until the signs came. Then he could proceed to Tibet.
Thus as a result of his practice, Vajrakilaya yab yum appeared and transferred
his vajra body, speech and mind to him.
Before this though, he had to receive empowerment. This he received from
Lekyi Wangmo. The lineage line is from Kuntuzangpo to Dorje Chang to Guru
Rinpoche. He went deep into the forest to find Dakini Lekyi Wangmo. Once
there he saw a woman bearing auspicious signs taking water from a well and he
grabbed her and said, “Please give me the teachings of the Phurba.” But she said
she was not Dakini Lekyi Wangmo—she explained that she was not the dakini
he was looking for—but merely her servant. Rather the dakini he was searching
for resided in her heart. Guru Rinpoche asked for directions and she
immediately ripped open her chest and revealed the whole mandala of Kilaya for
him. At this point he met Dakini Lekyi Wangmo. When he saw her, she
transformed him into a Hung and swallowed him whole. Guru Rinpoche stayed
inside her for four days and received all the empowerments and rigpa awareness
of the Phurba. Following this, he immediately went to practice Kilaya at
Yanglesho and quickly became Kilaya himself.
Kilaya can be transmitted through hearing or through signs and symbols. The
transmission of Kuntuzangpo to Dorje Chang was all symbolic—from Guru
Rinpoche to Yeshe Tsogyal it was all through word transmission. These two
come together.
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 7 The History of Kilaya
Why did Kilaya appear? Kilaya appeared to subjugate Maharudra. Maharudra
was considered the father of all evil, like Lucifer in Christianity. There are two
views regarding this subjugation—two histories according to two different
perceptions. The first is that Maharudra was subjugated by Kilaya yab/yum. The
second is that Maharudra was subjugated by Hayagriva yab/yum. There is no
difference in effect.
Maharudra was in the womb when his mother fell into a coma. People thought
she was dead and buried her. Maharudra survived underground by sucking his
mother’s flesh and bones until he was born. When he was born he was
extremely angry. He was furious at having to survive in such a putrid
environment and to be forced to survive by eating his mother and then on top of
that, to be born into a cemetery. This is represented in the wrathful ornaments of
Kilaya, the elephant, human and tiger skin—ash, blood and grease etc on his
face all showing repulsiveness. Maharudra vowed to kill all men and screw all
women and create as many offspring as possible. So, his was the first lineage of
the demonic clan. They ate human flesh and terrorized the country. No kings
could defeat them. Maharudra’s pride got ever greater so the buddhas, Dorje
Sempa and others, had a meeting. They decided that it was necessary to liberate
him from his negative actions. Kilaya volunteered to go and subjugate
Maharudra and his clan. So Kilaya yab/yum entered him through his mouth and
came out through his secret center. Maharudra was totally overcome by shock
from Kilaya’s horrific, wrathful appearance.
Phurba means to strike, annihilate and destroy. The nail is to strike and
penetrate. When you practice Kilaya, you need to learn how to subjugate the
negative forces. When Guru Rinpoche went to Tibet the first wang he gave to
the twenty-five disciples was Kilaya. He said, ‘When you have the signs, go no
further.’ When Yeshe Tsogyal went into retreat she got a sign in thirteen days.
Her phurba rose up and said, “Who of your enemies do you wish me to
subjugate?” She replied, “I have no enemies.” So the phurba said it would go to
her birth place, Kharchen and subjugate the enemies there. To this day Kharchen
remains a stronghold for Kilaya practice.
Another terton master, Zilnön Namka'i Dorje, did a retreat on Kilaya at Paro
Taktsang. After twenty-one days all the phurbas in the mandala started to dance,
some with the leg turned upwards and the head facing down. One of the
disciples asked, "Why is this?" Zilnön Namka'i Dorje said, "When you cut the
tree you did not mark the top and the bottom. When you make sog shing, you
have to know which is the top and which is the bottom." They had carved the
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 8 head on the wrong end; so naturally some of the phurbas danced upside down.
He wasn’t rich. He’d made his phurbas out of wood but he still got
accomplishment. Whether metal or wood; upside down or not—so far as the
phurba is concerned it was accomplishment of the Putri Repung.
The Revelation of the Putri Repung
His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche did a Kilaya retreat at Paro Taktsang. He
wanted to do a month. Then on the thirteenth day the phurbas started to dance
in his cave. There were one hundred and eleven metal phurbas. All started to
dance and nectar (dutsi) started to pour from the tips of the phurbas overflowing
onto the floor. All the people from the village got an opportunity to drink some
of this nectar of accomplishment. That evening His Holiness had a dream that
Yeshe Tsogyal came to him and said “Your father has sent me something to
give you.” He asked, “What is it?” She put her hand in her chuba (Tibetan dress)
and pulled out a phurba. When His Holiness saw it he grabbed it and
immediately placed it on his head, throat and heart. She said, “You have taken
the blessing as it should be taken.” When he took the mind transmission it
opened up into space and he saw all his previous incarnations. In particular, he
remembered Guru Rinpoche giving instructions and teachings directly to him.
Then after taking the blessing of nectar and water, as he was sitting near to an
open window, a bird flew in carrying a yellow golden scroll in its beak. The bird
dropped it in front of him on the table and flew away. The scroll was in dakini
script. When he opened it he saw it contained all the teachings on the Phurba,
including the Putri Repung. In fact there was a great deal more than this one
cycle. This scroll contained four hundred volumes, but His Holiness saw that
no-one would be able to practice all of those teachings and instructions in the
future so he did not decipher anything other than the Putri Repung cycle. It was
as an auspicious connection (tendrel) that His Holiness took this one volume as
revelation. In fact, His Holiness revealed more than Dudjom Lingpa on Kilaya.
This New Treasure (tersar) of Putri Repung is a terma of both Dudjom Lingpa
and His Holiness—it is a cycle considered to be a revelation for our time. The
blessings it carries are extremely swift. So this describes how the terma of Putri
Repung was revealed by His Holiness.
The History of this Terma
The history of this terma is related to the time when Guru Rinpoche lived in
Tibet for one hundred and eleven years propagating the teachings. At the end of
his time there, he announced that he had to go to the land of the heretic demons.
He asked the king for his leave and the latter escorted him to the border along
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 9 with his queen, his daughter and Yeshe Tsogyal. All went with Guru Rinpoche
to the last border mountain of Tibet. When they got there Guru Rinpoche
thanked the king for offering his facilities and for the development of these for
the sake of the dharma in Tibet. In return, as a leaving gesture he said he’d like
to offer everyone an empowerment. With that, he snapped his fingers and in the
space in the sky before them, Lord Kilaya and his retinue appeared. Guru
Rinpoche then asked the queen, “Who would you like to receive the
empowerment from, me or the deity?” The queen said that she had never seen
such an amazing mandala so she opted for the deity. The princess/daughter said
she wasn’t sure and asked Guru Rinpoche to decide for her. Yeshe Tsogyal
immediately answered, “Since all the deities arise from the mind of the guru I
would like to receive it from you.” Guru Rinpoche then said “Dza, Hung, Phet,”
and the whole mandala dissolved into the space of his heart. Because of this
tendrel, the queen received nothing, though she would be reborn later as a terton.
The Princess had part of the mandala revealed and would receive the rest in the
future. Yeshe Tsogyal had the whole mandala revealed to her there and then. In
turn, she saw that she would only be able to give it to His Holiness Dudjom
Rinpoche in the future—no one else. Guru Rinpoche confirmed that it was so
precious it could not be revealed again before this time. Moreover, this
transmission from Yeshe Tsogyal to His Holiness was confirmed in the yellow
dakini scroll that Dudjom Rinpoche received at Paro Taksang. So His Holiness
was prophesized, as was this cycle of teachings, the Putri Repung. This is the
background of the practice.
As indicated, phurba means to strike and destroy. However, first you must
receive empowerment. Without empowerment there is neither blessing nor
result. By squeezing sand you will not get butter. Empowerment is necessary to
purify gross and subtle obscurations, and to transform one’s body into a body of
wisdom. The root of the wang is understanding the inseparability of the lama
and the yidam. This is extremely important. If you cannot see this then there can
be no realization or blessing. The blessing of Kilaya is devotion to the lama.
Buddha said if you see the lama as ordinary you’ll get an ordinary blessing, as a
bodhisattva, a bodhisattva blessing, and as a buddha, a buddha blessing.
Devotion comes from purification. The ultimate devotion comes from
purification, when you let wisdom flow and intellect rest. Devotion is clear
mind, knowing what to do and not to do. If you have no devotion, there’ll be no
clarity in practice. You need confidence in the lama/yidam. You need to really
believe in the sense of devotion that is not just ordinary.
There are different kinds of devotion. First there is uncultured devotion is
completely natural just like when Milarepa met Marpa. He didn’t have to hear
anything from him; it was just spontaneous when he heard the name of his guru.
If when you hear the name of your lama your body shudders, this shows that
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 10 there is something inborn due to your connection. The best devotion is
uncultured. It’s coming from faith and having practiced before in many previous
lives. Due to this there will be total trust. There will be a surrendering to the feet
of the lama. He can test you however he likes. No matter what he does your
faith is unwavering. Whatever he does you see with pure perception. It may
sound like blind faith but we are talking about something beyond the intellect,
which concerns the gravity of this presence. Here there is nothing to judge. The
natural faith which continues to blossom, will bring realization fast because you
are already in that field.
The second is cultured devotion. So when you see all the teacher’s good
qualities, you learn to trust with a sense of intellectual judgment; and then you
can take a step beyond this so it goes to devotion. Observance here is important.
What he or she says and does are important. Then suddenly you’ll see the result
of the practices which have been given to you. The trust keeps building until it
becomes total.
Third is the devotion of conviction. If you plant rice seeds, what will grow? Not
wheat but rice. You begin to understand the law of karma. You come to believe
that the teachings of the Buddha can bring you realization and positive
development of the mind.
In short, no devotion—no realization. Even if the Buddha comes you won’t see
him as the Buddha. In the practice of Kilaya as yidam, the yidam is the lama. All
this is crucially important. If you have no confidence in this and just visualize
then you won’t receive the superior blessings that you’re supposed to receive.
The Four Mind Qualities of Kilaya
The first aspect of Kilaya to realize is the Phurba of Compassion.
You need to strike at and penetrate all the six realms of sentient beings with the
phurba of great, objectless compassion. This involves the complete training of
the bodhisattva and includes the thirty-seven aspects of enlightenment. It also
relates to the kyerim and dzogrim. Here the phurba needs to strike each of the six
realms. It means emptying the six realms and emptying these from your
experience. So it is the exhaustion of the six realms from your awareness. This
is what needs to be struck. This is practicing both relative and absolute
bodhicitta. In particular it relates to post meditation.
With this phurba we examine the definition of absolute and relative bodhicitta
very carefully; we examine it from the point of view of post meditation. The
Ngondro is an essential or key practice of Thugje Phurba. Different levels and
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 11 ways of meditating extend from the kyerim and dzogrim which bring the
essence of tathatagarbha to its full potential. You could call it ‘bodhicitta mind’.
What is important is to fully activate it. You are exhausting and emptying the
conditioning of the entire experience into which you were born. Phurba is the
activity of all the buddhas—here the activity is brought into actualization
The second quality of Phurba is the Phurba of Substance and Alchemy.
Here we are dealing with signs and alchemy. These are important. It concerns
understanding the structure of the universe, astrology, and the energy of all that
needs to be struck in relation to the enemies, dra, and oath breakers, gek—those
that have broken samaya and are obstructing your practice. Though we use the
term enemies, in fact we are referring to aspects of your own mind that need to
be annihilated. So this refers to extinguishing the duality of negative forces
appearing to your own mind. The dra and gek are the manifestations of your
own ego. But by respecting that the absolute and the relative are always in
union, you should know that it is just arising from your mind. However, holding
to relative phenomena creates the existence of these forms. So long as you have
pain regarding the relative, then all relative forms exist. When you can drink
piss and eat shit, (with pure perception and awareness), you’re reaching a good
level of realization.
When you subjugate the dra and gek, you need the three satisfactions. You must
be satisfied, he or she must be satisfied and the mandala must be satisfied. In
other words, there must be evidence when you subjugate negative phenomena.
First you are happy that you have done some good and no harm. Second, he/she
is happy since they’ve been transferred to a buddha realm. Third, the mandala is
happy, that is, all the herukas and dakinis— peaceful and wrathful—are able to
liberate that person. However, on the other hand if you attempt to enact
subjugation without the three satisfactions taking place, then you have no right
to liberate anything at all and you will be creating great negativity for yourself.
The third quality of Phurba is the Phurba of Union.
This is the phurba that must be struck on the yum’s secret center. This concerns
understanding correct union—it arises from this point of view. The seminal
essence itself becomes bodhicitta. This enters the secret center and becomes the
retinue of the dharmadhatu. This means understanding tsa, lung and thigle. The
understanding here contains the whole tsa, lung practice—the entire field of
subtle winds, nerves and essences. With this comes the understanding of the
three kayas—thirty-two buddha fields at the crown; sixteen buddha fields at the
throat; eight buddha fields at the heart; sixty-four buddha fields at the navel;
eight buddha fields at the secret center; Half of thirty-two is sixteen; half of
sixteen is eight; sixteen times four is sixty-four; Then it goes back to eight. All
of these must be activated and practiced.
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 12 All of these buddha fields are in fact atoms within the space of purity. It all
comes with the visualization of the three channels; uma, roma and kyangma.
The three channels represent the three kayas by their colors—blue, red and
white. Here what occurs is the understanding of the body and movement of the
atoms within. First there is emptiness—the great space of emptiness. The wind
is in this emptiness. There’s no form—just wind, one great space within which
there is wind. When the wind forms it agitates the formation of the nerves. The
subtle nerves interconnect due to the wind. So with the union of the nerves and
the winds, then the thigle— that is, the light—is formed. This is the essential
drop or bindu. There is a whole revelation on union. Through union you can
reach enlightenment. Why? because the bliss here is the bliss in union with
emptiness. If you don’t manipulate the bliss and look at it directly, that is the
meditation—hence the practice of shiné in union. The whole point of tsa, lung
purification is about purifying the habitual patterns. The habits are the worst—
they come from the nerves which create the habits. So tsa, lung is primarily to
purify the obscuration of habit.
(Rinpoche confirmed that all his previous teachings on tsa, lung in the Dakini
Cycle and the Tummo teachings apply here).
The Fourth Phurba is the Phurba of Rigpa.
This is to strike the dharmadhatu. This is a teaching on the nature of mind from
the Great Perfection School. It concerns the view, meditation, action and
behavior and also progress and fruition. It contains the Togyal teachings. You
need to have courage to go there.
The Phurba is a vast field. These are the four main ones. You can decide which
you want to concentrate on.
Technically we should have four phurbas; gold, silver, copper and iron. These
four symbolize the ordinary powers—(pacifying; enriching; magnetizing; and
subjugating) and the extraordinary powers—(the five kayas). So this is the
background. Then according to your affinity, you concentrate on whichever type
of phurba you’re most affiliated with at any given time.
With respect to recitation, if you recite sixteen bums, you’ll be free from
samsara. If you really want this, it isn’t really so much is it? If you recite thirtysix bums, you’ll become a vidyadhara. If you recite one hundred bums, you’ll
become Padmasambhava himself! If you practice Phurba, you’ll become a
Phurba Khenpo—this will be very good. Once you reach there, there will be no
falling back and you’ll secure a firm ground which will be irreversible.
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 13 Wherever you go there will be prosperity and auspiciousness. Also, you’ll have
many children in the family!
The Short Putri Repung Sadhana
First do the Eight Branch Confession three times. The title, ‘Putri’ means,
‘razor’, thus destroying duality with razor sharpness. ‘Repung’ means touch,
penetrate and destroy. This needs to be practiced to eliminate the four
obscurations.
The Four Obscurations
First, is the obscuration of karma, including the five heinous crimes and all
the samaya breakages. Second, is the obscuration of the emotions—the five
poisons based on ego. Third, is the obscuration of the intellect—being
confused regarding subject, object and their interaction. Fourth, is the
obscuration of habit. This arises because we don’t understand the tsa, lung and
thigle and within this we don’t understand the nature of bliss. Not understanding
here means we try to grasp at the bliss and manipulate it along with the person
who appears to be the object of bliss. In short we objectify the bliss. We do not
understand the emptiness of the bliss. By not understanding this—instead of
understanding and liberating the bliss, we grasp at it. We don’t meditate on it.
When it comes and lingers for a moment, we don’t ask, ‘Where does it come
from?’ ‘Where does it go?’ —we just want to saturate our nerves until we are
completely drunk on it. Instead we need to watch it—we need to examine the bliss as we do thoughts.
The ultimate point of shiné is bliss—shiné will bring bliss, clarity and
emptiness. The shiné of union does the same thing. Sometimes the bliss happens
in union and you can’t handle it, but when it occurs in meditation you can. The
bliss of union is definitely more profound. In the depth of the bliss if you can
bring your awareness to this level of bliss then you will not be shattered by
anything. Mostly however, when the bliss arises in union you’re completely
shattered. You dissolve into phenomena rather than watching it all. You need to
bring your awareness to the bliss in union—with Kilaya in union, see the bliss
emptiness. Get into that practice. When teachers go into rainbow body, the white
ringsels that they leave behind come from the purity of their seminal essence.
They’ve turned this into molecules of light. It’s the same for both males and
females; both have blood and seminal essence. So by this practice we will
remove the four types of demons. The most important demon is ego—the most
important death is the death of the ego. This is the main thing. Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 14 After confession… The Hung
With this first line, take time with the Hung on its own. As this is a dzogchen
sadahana there is no invocation here. The text just goes straight into the Hung—
there is no jnanasattva or samayasattva at this stage; nor are there verses for
refuge and bodhicitta. Rather from the very start of the practice, you recognize
the nature of the luminosity of the mind which is represented by the Hung—this
is your rigpa. Don’t just say it and then start the sadhana straight away. First you
need to visualize the Hung in the space alone, high and blazing. The mind and
awareness must be focused on the blazing blue Hung. If you drop it down and
quickly make it turn into Kilaya this isn’t correct. It must descend slowly. This
is important. Concentration should not be lost. You should have no concepts
now. Don’t think of anything else. It should be total awareness that descends.
It’s radiating and absorbing multi-colored light rays, which are totally
penetrating the six realms. The Hung is so bright that you cannot look at it
directly with the eyes—it is awareness which sees it. If you looked directly at it
you’d be blinded. Its brightness is stronger than one hundred thousand suns. The
rays of light go to the all the different realms transforming and purifying. There
is no space left untouched. The light touches everything and goes everywhere.
The lights go to the buddhafields to make offerings—to the six realms to touch,
change and transform animate beings and inanimate objects. It transfers the
power back to the Hung which gets stronger with the power of compassion, and
thus brighter and brighter and more energized. So stabilize on this. Since the Hung turns into the vajra palace and Kilaya, first
the primordial awareness of the Hung itself is crucially important. Try to
stabilize this by making the Hung brighter and brighter. This Hung comes from
the sky-like mind of the dharmadhatu. It arises from the sky of the dharmadhatu.
Then slowly it comes down so the channels—our seminal essence, the thigle;
that is, the intrinsic Hung of the body itself, comes into tune with this ‘outer’ Hung. The landing pad is the uma, the central channel. So take time with this. The breathing should be slow—in and out. Let the winds
settle in your body. With Kilaya, anger will be there. You’ll become impatient
and irritable. But the irritableness here is good. When descending keep your
eyes open and look down just in front of the tip of the nose. Then the thigle in
the central channel will be active. The small thigle inside will want to jump out.
It will vibrate. Things are connecting so let the descent of the Hung be smooth
and slow, along with the winds of your breathing. Though the Hung is the Hung,
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 15 it is also thigle. In the nirmanakaya, it appears as the Hung. In the dharmakaya it
is thigle. So sometimes it appears as a syllable, sometimes as a thigle or
molecule of light. It interchanges between these appearances. Put confidence in
this Hung. It embodies all the deities. It is the essential heart syllable of all the
buddhas. They all have this in their heart. All the deities are present in this
syllable. In the Hung, thigle and rigpa are both there. This thigle, Hung or bindu
is the essence of Vajrakilaya. All the different rays of light radiate, touch and re-absorb. Because of the
radiation it is purifying the vajra palace that is about to arise. It is blessing the
land and preparing the soil. These rays are removing the impurities and blessing
the planet. We need a good foundation. Here we are just preparing the
foundation. The Hung is the primordial wisdom from within which the five
primordial wisdoms manifest. This thigle embodies these five wisdoms. So it
means that Kilaya is going to manifest from these five primordial buddha
families. It’s a way of saying that Kilaya has been enthroned and empowered by
these five buddha families. We have the five primordial wisdoms in the uma—at the crown, throat, heart,
navel and secret center. We also have the tathagatagarba in us. This light
touches and prepares the ground, which becomes a charnel ground with the eight
great cemeteries. The palace is made of bone, the roof of skulls and the ground
of lapis lazuli. In the wrathfulness there is compassion—the inner is peaceful.
That’s why when we visualize Dorje Sempa he is white in color indicating that
within the wrath, the inner nature of it is peaceful and vice versa; within the
peaceful there is also wrath. In the cemetery—it’s completely awful—the sounds are frightening, with people
being chopped up and wailing and blood everywhere. This is all to cut our
concepts. We need to be sensitive enough to see through the outer appearance of
it and to see its essence. Thus, the oceans of blood, the pus and shit—all become
an offering to the wrathful buddhas. So within the repulsiveness there is beauty.
For example if we see blood—a normal reaction might be to faint, but in essence
there is nothing there. Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 16 Visualization of Kilaya
Kilaya has three substances on his face—ash, blood/seminal essence and fat.
Ash on his forehead is to show impermanence, as in, when we are burnt this is
what we amount to. We are nothing but a compound of dust. The thigle and
blood on the cheeks show the essence of awareness. The fats and gristle on the
chin, represent the essential nature of our body but fats are burned to create light
so this also indicates clarity. The whole visualization of Kilaya is about how to
reverse our ordinary mind and make it become extraordinary. The main thing
here is to purify our aversions.
Kilaya has three heads representing the three kayas. They are wrathful, semiwrathful and almost peaceful. The blue represents abandoning anger. The white
represents abandoning ignorance. The red symbolizes abandoning ordinary
desire. The five skulled crown on each head shows empowerment by the five
buddha families and the five wisdoms. A white snake representing royalty
interweaves and binds these.
The three eyes on each head are rolling ferociously and looking around in space
all the time. They also represent the three times, the three kayas and the three
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 17 realms. It is important that the body be visualized as having motion. It is not an
inert picture. Each mouth has four fangs to show cutting through the four types
of birth. This is exhorting us to be free of the cycles of birth and death. He has a
mass of hair—one hundred thousand strands at least. At the root of each, there is
a vajra. From his eyebrows, sparks of fire are constantly shooting out. He has three human head garlands, one with dry heads, one with semi-dry and
another totally raw and wet. This again shows the three kayas—the dharmakaya,
sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya respectively. His vajra wings are spread out as
wisdom and skillful means in perfect union. At the base of each feather is a
diamond dorje, indicating indestructibility. There are seven qualities of the dorje
including it being indestructible, invincible, firm, fixed, not holding to duality
etc. These dorjes lie at the base of the razer sharp feathers of Kilaya’s wings
which also all have razor sharp edges. Anything they come in contact with will
be cut and sliced up—pulverized into essencelessness. The six arms represent the Six Paramitas. The four legs represent the Four
Noble Truths. Kilaya has three skin dresses, all flayed out with open bodies:
an elephant on his back; a human around his midriff; and a tiger skirt.
There are five snakes on Kilaya showing that he connects with all the different
castes: - white on top of the crown (royalty), black around the neck
(untouchables—i.e. no caste showing all sentient beings have the
tathagatagarba), yellow (ministers) on the armlets; red (priests) on the anklets
and green snakes (ordinary people) all around his body. Kilaya is in union with his consort, Korlo Gyen Dep Ma. She has five
ornaments: A crown, necklace, bracelets, anklets, and a bone bra and girdle
around her waist. All these are represented by both royal and bone ornaments,
just as they are for Kilaya. Her right leg is stretched out and her left leg is
wrapped around the waist of her yab. She is holding an utpala lotus flower in her
right hand and a skull cup filled with blood held to her yab’s mouth. The blue
Utpala Lotus is extremely rare, it only blooms once in a kalpa, and so it is
showing both the rarity of this practice and its purity. Like ordinary lotuses it
cannot be contaminated or influenced by anything negative—it will still
blossom in that period. It is important to visualize the fire blazing all around
from Kilaya’s body, burning all the noxious beings. This is important. Kilaya’s Stance - Nine Dances
First, in respect of his body, Kilaya appears lustful and flirtatious. He is Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 18 1) Irresistible and captivating. When one sees his wrathful body, desire arises
in the feminine principle. So Kilaya is seducing those with desire to have union
with him. 2) Second, he is heroic. This is his warrior aspect. He wrathfully
demonstrates his supreme bravery and courage. In this way he leads those with
hatred to the path of Dharma. 3) Third, he shows a repulsive appearance through
his body. He has ash and blood on his face, live snakes coiled all over him and
flayed bodies of elephant, human and tiger, oozing with blood and guts, draped
around him. 4) He is terrifying. This is to subdue those with ignorance. In
respect to speech, he makes thunderous sounds like: - ‘Hung Hung; Phet Phet;
Rul Rul’: With ‘Rul, Rul’ he is bringing those with desire under his control.
With ‘Phet Phet,’ he is bringing them to the path of desire. 5) And with ‘Ha,
Ha, Ha,’ a deep and captivating resonant laughter he seduces those with desire.
‘Hung, Hung’ is to catch those with hatred. ‘Whir,Whir Dir Dir,’ gets those with
ignorance. 6) With these sounds he is fierce and fearsome. 7) In respect of
Mind, he is compassion personified; 8) magnificent and intimidating and yet
within all this – 9) he rests in perfect equanimity. The Four Nails
With the recitation, four nails need to be firmly pegged. The first nail is the clarity of the visualization. Nail the visualization as much
as you can. It is not easy. You cannot do it in one shot with Kilaya, or with any
deity for that matter. Just get the head first—the eyes, the nose, the ears, the
hair—with the white royal snake family holding the crown in place —with a
thousand million hairs all curling upwards due to his wrath. See sparks of fire
shooting out from his eyebrows and his whole body. With his eyes, check out
the white of his eyes, they are ferocious. His nose is big like an African
brother’s nose. Don’t forget the ears. Then consider these aspects on all three
heads. Once you get really familiar with his head, then there’s the garuda holding a
snake with his hands above his head. He is suppressing the nagas. The main
point that the garuda symbolizes here is that he is born with the innate and
instant ability to fly. He goes straight from the egg to take his first flight. This is
just like uncontrived wisdom. Then when you are confident with the head, move
to the middle of the body with your visualization and then to the lower part.
Then join all the parts together. Then you will have the full image. If you go
section by section it will be clearer and easier. So first nail the clarity of the
visualization. The second nail is in respect of the mantra recitation. Here you should recite
all the syllables clearly. They should not be too rushed. Move your mala
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 19 clockwise and downwards. Your mala has one hundred and eight beads.
Actually it should be one hundred, forty-two for the peaceful deities and fiftyeight for the wrathful. However, eight extra are added to cover mistakes in
recitation and for auspiciousness. The guru bead is to show that all the mandalas
come from the guru. The fact that the peaceful and wrathful buddhas are held
together by one string shows bodhicitta. Only use your mala for recitation, not
for anything else. Don’t sit on it or play with it. If you throw it around this is a
breakage of samaya. Be respectful and treat it with great care. Your personal
mala cannot be lent to anyone. Make sure you know the history of your mala.
Hold it in your left hand to your heart. Your mala should be spinning around at
your heart level. And in your heart you should visualize the root syllable around
which the mantra spins. Visualize the outer and inner spinning together. Don’t
recite with your mala on your lap. It’s best to hold it up to your heart. The third nail is regarding the activity—the radiation and the absorption of
light. Later you will have hooks which pull the negative forces in. Right now
just visualize the lights going to all the phenomena, radiating touching and then
absorbing. The fourth nail is the most important; it is the view of the great perfection and
is the base for the previous three nails. You need to understand that this whole
practice has come from the nature of mind. There is nothing to hold on to here.
This fourth nail understands that everything is emptiness. It is very important to
be completely settled with the realization that there is nothing whatsoever
existing in reality. This is rigpa awareness. The fourth nail also refers to
objectless compassion. If there is no fourth nail then there would be no first,
second and third nail. This is the reason why in the kyerim we always dedicate
the merit in the field of the dharmakaya so there is no holding to subject, object
or action. If you think, ‘I’m doing really well,’ it is nonsense in the context of
reality, that is, the fourth nail. So the dedication must be totally free of any kind
of reference.
The Three Elements There are three elements that must be developed within this practice. First you
must develop pure perception. Second you must get a firm hold on vajra pride
with the unshakable conviction that, ‘I am Kilaya’. This is not ego—it is
confidence in knowing what you really are in your full potential. So actually it is
not really pride in any ordinary sense at all. Third, you must develop thorough
awareness or mindfulness. At all times you should have this awareness that, ‘I
am Kilaya’. All the phenomena are to be seen through the awareness of your
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 20 yidam. Think that all you meet are deities. This is very, very important. This is
the advice of Kilaya practice.
Whatever thoughts and emotions you have, ride them out—let them go. Lots
will come up and the nature of it will become rough due to the nature of the
practice. But nonetheless, don’t entertain these, rather, let everything fall into
silence and peace. Actually the outer is really just a pretense of wrath. Any
emotion, if you really look at it, is peaceful. But when you don’t understand and
you entertain it by becoming emotionally involved, well—then you just get
caught in emotionality. If you don’t understand that anger itself is in stillness
then you will be blown away by it. It is said in the Sutras that anger can destroy
a kalpa’s worth of merit, so the consequences are very severe. We are so quick
to judge and come to our own conclusions. For example, tears can be a sign of
anything—we cannot assume they are due to sorrow. Our eyes interpretation is
based on our projection. Therefore don’t judge about anything based on what
you see. Kilaya’s Nine Ornaments - Elaborated
On the whole these ornaments are meant to be repulsive. They are: - 1) The three substances 2) The three skin dresses 3) The three reversing articles – royal, bone and snake. The Three Substances
These show Kilaya has gone beyond the concept of death so they are
demonstrating the natural state of awareness. First ash, (on his forehead) is
showing the purity that life is transcended. It understands the impermanence of
everything by indicating that when the body is burnt, it turns to ash. It’s a sign
of transmutation. Second, he has rakta and seminal essence/thigle on his cheeks and grease/fat on
his chin. These substances indicate the union of male and female. On the right
side there is rakta and seminal essence, on the left there is just rakta. It is saying,
we cannot ignore the seminal essence—it is the essence of good health—the
buddhas feast on these substances. When you see how difficult it is to produce
pure rakta and thigle—it’s really no easy thing—then you see their value. The
best food goes to pure blood. Other less pure food is filtered out. The pure
filtered blood goes to the heart. This blood first circulates around the heart, then
it gets pumped out to the nerves—first to the bone marrow on the left and right
side—then to the little pockets in the bone which further filter it and then it
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 21 radiates out to the subtlest nerves feeding the thirty-two buddhas at the crown,
the sixteen at the throat, the eight at the heart, the sixty-four at the navel and the
eight buddhas at the secret center. In this way, it drops down in union with the
blood and the wind. But every drop is not considered thigle. Only some is in the
blood and fluid. Only a well-trained yogi knows when it drops. The way the
thigle drops—such a yogi knows its dropping or not. It takes a month to produce
one pinhead of pure thigle. This thigle is the essence of realization. So when the
thigle is wasted, the mamos get furious. With masturbation, it is like throwing
the life force away. It brings bad luck, bad health and all bad things. Thigle refers to seminal essence and light essence. Females have an extra step of
purification to go through due to menstruation. It is seen as a lower rebirth
because of the difficulty of menstruation. This is an extra weight females have
to carry. From the point of view of realization, the feminine principle is superior
to the male. Guru Rinpoche made this point clearly. This is the reason the
feminine represents wisdom and the male, method. No matter what practice you
do, whether it is tummo, vase breathing, channel focus or yoga movements—
here all the practices are to purify the thigle. They are all different methods to
purify this. In terma medicine you can look at the thigle and diagnose the state
of health of the individual, their life force, karma and so on. A high lama can
taste thigle and through this see the state of realization. It is the thigle itself,
which turns to blessings. Rainbow body is the thigle absorbing all the light. The
thigle can dry up if you don’t cremate a realized body. The key point of tsa, lung
is how to filter this essence. There is a constant refinement. Then third, there is fat or grease on his chin. Fat is also oil, which is used for
burning butter lamps, which are very meritorious. With the wrathful buddhas,
human fat is used for lamps. Fat is formed from the blood, winds and nerves.
With these three substances Kilaya is saying, “Understand the true nature of
awareness.” The Three Skin Dresses
First Kilaya has the elephant skin around his neck. This is raw, wet and fresh.
Actually, it’s disgusting. The elephant is the king of the jungle and has a long
memory. The skin of the elephant refers to his acute memory and his powers.
The elephant always takes the shortest route, that is, the short cut. This signifies
the directness of Kilaya’s path of practice. There are no detours on this one.
Second, around his back he wears a human skin. The human skin represents
great magnetic power to draw material and spiritual wealth/ wisdom. Here it
shows that the human body is the ground on which to draw wealth and power.
Third is the tiger skirt. This demonstrates that Kilaya conquers anger and hatred
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 22 at its root. If you annoy a tiger he’ll remember and get you for this. All three
skins are raw and fresh. This is important.
The Three Reversing Articles
First are the garlands of skulls with three types of skull; dry, semi-dry and
wet/raw. He also has a royal/skull crown. Second are the royal/bone ornaments
on the crown and ears, armlets, bracelets and anklets. Third are the snakes
showing the different castes of families. The white (royal) snake is on the
crown; the black snake (untouchables) is draped around the neck; the yellow
(ministers) on the armlets; the red (priests) are on the anklets and the green
(ordinary people) are all over. The snakes are alive. This shows the
Mahamudra—the great seal. Kilaya subdues the snakes and wears them as
jewelry. When you see Kilaya you cannot imagine the repulsiveness and fear
induced by the vision he manifests. The smell of death of the animals and
humans is tangible and all around. He is draped in dismembered bodies. At the
sight of Kilaya even the most frightening negative forces faint away. There is a
story of an artist who fainted when a commissioning lama demonstrated to him,
through a shared vision, what Kilaya looks like in actuality, even though the
artist’s yidam was Kilaya. The Kilaya in the Mindroling Monastary at Dehra
Dun in India is said to be the closest replica of Kilaya. What’s the point of all this?
It is important to cut through our concepts of what is clean and dirty—what is
acceptable or not. We need to go beyond the mind’s boundaries—to be sensitive
but still go beyond the sensitivity.
The Kyerim and Dzogrim—Four Steps Each
It’s very simple—just four steps for each stage. The Kyerim—Creation Stage First, the Hung syllable descends. Then it manifests the palace. This Hung
syllable comes to rest on a multicolored lotus. This lotus is already within the
palace.
Second, the Hung on the lotus turns into Kilaya and consort with full attributes.
Third, is the visualization of the yeshe sempa. Here it is Dorje Sempa himself
with all the thirteen adornments of the sambhogakaya.1 He is holding a bell on
1 The
thirteen sambhogakaya adornments are the five silken garments and the eight jewel
ornaments. The five silk garments are: (1) patterned silk scarf, (2) five-colored diadem
pendants, (3) sleeves for dancing, (4) vest-like upper silk garment, and (5) the lower silk
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 23 his left thigh and a dorje towards his heart, showing wisdom and method in
union. Reflect on the nine qualities of the peaceful deity. The nine qualities of a
peaceful deity are: - soft, perfectly proportioned, firm, supple, youthful, radiant,
attractive, with an intense presence. He has the thirty-two major and eighty
minor marks of a buddha’s body. Dorje Sempa means ‘hear me and be liberated’.
He is here smiling radiantly.
Fourth, you visualize the dorje in the heart of the yeshe sempa with the seed
syllable Hung. This dorje can be visualized as whatever material you see as
most precious, whether it be diamond, sky-metal or crystal. The idea is
preciousness. It sits on a sun, while Dorje Sempa sits on a moon. This is how the
kyerim begins. Second the Dzogrim – Dissolution Stage
Similarly for the dzogrim there are four steps to the dissolution stage. First, the
palace and the ground will dissolve into Kilaya. Second, Korlo Gyen Dep Ma
dissolves into her yab. Third, Kilaya into Dorje Sempa. Fourth, Dorje Sempa
dissolves into the dorje at his heart, which then dissolves into the Hung which in
turn dissolves into the nadi/thigle tip and lastly, into the empty space of
shunyata. This is all very simple and clear. Remain in that clear awareness. Don’t rush!
This is the true face of the lama and the yidam—it is the emptiness that is the
rigpa. Try to stay as long as possible before the ordinary concepts creep in.
Then, when they do, see all form as Kilaya, sound as his mantra and thought as
none other than Kilaya’s mind. Don’t let the mind fall into ordinary perceptions.
Try to maintain the meditation as much as possible.
The Benefits of Accomplishment of Phurba
The benefits of accomplishing this practice are that you will have wealth, retinue
and your mantra will have power, i.e., your words will have power. In fact there
are nine qualities to note: - 1) Having profound understanding not separate from the dharmata. 2) Having great devotion not separate from the lama.
3) Having great samaya not separate from the yidam. 4) Having great loving kindness not separate from one’s brothers and sisters. 5) Having great ability not separate from one’s samaya substances. 6) Having great compassion not separate from sentient beings. garment. The eight jewel ornaments are: (1) crown jewels, (2) earrings, (3-5) three necklaces
which are one short necklace, one longer necklace, and the longest necklace, (6) upper arm
ornaments, (7) bracelets, and (8) anklets.
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 24 7) Having great union not separate from the feminine principle. 8) Having great meditation not separate from the profound blessings. 9) Being free of defects not separate from realization. The Six Faults
There are six faults that appear in this practice. They concern body, speech and
mind, samaya, devotion and concentration: - First, with regard to the body—weak effort in practice is the fault of the body. Second, the fault of speech is gossiping, talking too much and not doing much
practice. Third, the fault with regard to the mind is having strong anger and weak
compassion. Fourth, is the fault of samaya—having a weak memory and not being dutiful.
For example reversing the order of the offerings or omitting offerings. Fifth is the fault of concentration. The occurrence here is particularly apparent
in those who love to drink and who sleep profoundly. Sixth, is the fault of devotion (or lack of). This fault is apparent where the
person is happy to be distracted and sad to practice. So be aware of these faults. This is the advice of Guru Rinpoche. It comes in all
the texts.
The Visualization of Kilaya Continued…
The Hung descends, radiating light rays of compassion and absorbing the
grasping at the essence of things as real. Here, lift your head forward and stare
slightly in front of your nose. All the protectors, all the buddhas and
bodhisattvas appear in this syllable. Realize that the Hung is the essence of
Kilaya and the embodiment of all the enlightened beings of the universe. The
syllable should be blazing with fire and with sparks shooting out from it. This is
the dharmata; and with this the dharmadhatu. It is the great perfection—the three
kayas. The rays of light are rays of compassion—they arise from emptiness,
becoming luminosity, and become compassion. It is the primordial mind, the
unity of emptiness and compassion. The Hung descends down and a perfect
buddha field manifests, with it, the eight charnel grounds. This is called the
Palace of Great Liberation. In the ground of the palace, the first formation is the
eight-spoked chakra wheel. Upon this wheel are the moon and the sun discs. On
these are the mahadevis and mahadevas, represented by two of the principal
deities, i.e. gods. They are under Kilaya’s four feet—one faces up and one
down. Here it is saying that Kilaya’s awareness is greater than all the gods’.
They are completely subdued. He is also subduing the male and female negative
energy. He is saying, in a positive sense, that he has got the gods under his feet
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 25 as well as all the male and female negative spirits because he manifests from
absolute space. He’s already there anyway. Then the Hung settles on the lotus, moon and sun and turns into the full
manifestation of Kilaya. His right face is white, showing his subjugation of
ignorance. His left face is red, showing his subjugation and transformation of
desire into desireless great bliss. His central face is blue showing the subjugation
and transformation of anger and hatred into sharp, luminous, clarity and mirrorlike wisdom. He is saying, “I will transmute these ordinary emotions into
medicine.” The opposite of poison is medicine, which here is wisdom. His four legs represent the Four Noble Truths. His six arms demonstrate the Six
Paramitas. The nine and five pronged dorjes in his right hands signify the Nine
Yanas and Five Buddha Families/Wisdoms respectively. The ball of fire in his
top left hand shows that he is going to burn all noxious beings – Kilaya is
saying, “I’ll purify their impurities.” The fire is wisdom fire - he’ll burn them all
to ashes and turn them into pristine wisdom. The three-pronged trident in his
lower left hand shows the three kayas (i.e. the heads on the top of the points);
the three points show that Kilaya totally absorbs the three poisons. His central hands hold a phurba. This phurba is being rolled from left to right
and right to left. It means, “I am always in constant meditation.” There is an
element of invincibility here. This phurba that he’s holding is going to pierce,
strike, cut, and destroy duality. It is a Mount Meru Phurba indicating the weight
of it. It is a manifestation of the universe. Rolling the phurba and stabbing the
three realms with it, he is conquering the universe, the six realms and the planets
in order to benefit beings. He’s trampling on the heads of the maharudras. From his mouth roar the sounds, “Hung Hung; Phet, Phet.” They are thunderous sounds that conquer phenomena.
Nothing can obstruct this sound. All beings hear this sound and are captivated
by it. So when you visualize Kilaya, you have to visualize this sound coming
from him. The most important utterance of Kilaya is “Hung, Hung.” Later in the
dzogrim, as the kyerim dissolves, it remains his essence drop of all the
appearances – which dissolve gradually with the triple ‘Hung.’ Around his body there are flames of wisdom fire with sparks. This is a display
of the kalpa of fire—it is vast and all consuming. His hair curls upwards towards
the right and at its root is a vajra. The root of all hair is vajra. These roots are a
sign of the power of the dakinis. Each hair represents a family of the dakinis.
The whole of samsara can be wrapped up in his hair - so even his hair is
wrathful. Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 26 Kilaya is in union with his consort, Korlo Gyen Dep Ma, who is sky blue and
holding a utpala lotus flower behind Kilaya’s head and a kapala filled with blood
to his mouth. An utpala lotus grows once a kalpa and when it grows a buddha
appears. Kilaya’s central face is dark blue, representing the dharmadhatu. The color dark
blue cannot be changed by other colors, showing the unchanging nature of the
dharmadhatu. He is saying, “I’m unchanging throughout the four times.” His
consort is a lighter blue, like the deep blue sky, saying, “According to sentient
beings needs I can accommodate change according to whatever they need.” The
color of the deep blue sky is showing the appearance of the sky-like nature of
the vast expanse of my mind. Korlo Gyen Dep Ma’s right leg is stretched out
and the left wrapped around her yab - clasped around his waist. They are well
connected—Kilaya’s dorje is in the lotus of his yum; actually it is in the lotus of
the space of awareness. Her five mudra ornaments represent the five wisdoms.
For ignorance, desire, anger, pride and jealousy she wears five bone ornaments
to purify these. First, her bone crown represents the wisdom of the dharmadhatu,
the basic space of phenomena. Second, her bone earrings represent
discriminating wisdom. Third, her bone necklaces represents equalizing
wisdom. Fourth, her bone bracelets and anklets represent mirror-like wisdom.
Fifth, her bone girdle represents all-accomplishing wisdom. So by these five
bone ornaments she brings awareness of the five wisdoms. Above their heads is
the great lineage garuda. This represents inborn wisdom, which is spontaneously
and instantly present. He is also able to subjugate the nagas. From this whole vision of Kilaya, wisdom fire darts out and surrounds them. At
this time you need to consider yourself—the samayasattva, (commitment being)
and Kilaya himself, the jnanasattva (wisdom being) as one—inseparable in one
taste. In the heart of the jnanasattva is shining white Vajrasattva. He has the
thirteen ornaments of the sambhogakaya. He’s seated on a lotus and moon disc.
At the center of Vajrasattva’s heart visualize a deep red (i.e. garnet) tent as a
protection of indestructibility—this is Hayagriva—so no negative spirits can get
in. In this, there is a five-pronged dorje on a sun (and moon if you wish). The
five top spokes of the dorje represent the five male buddhas, the five bottom
spokes represent the five female buddhas. There in the center of the dorje is the Hung seed syllable circled by the root
mantra, which is arranged anti-clockwise and spinning clockwise. Don’t try to
lift or spin the mantra immediately. You won’t be able to. Just have the mantra
radiating and absorbing. After the mind is sure that it recognizes the syllables
then gradually it will try to move. Slowly the mantra will start to spin and it will
rise half way up the top half of the dorje and spin there. It is like a magnetic coil.
Then it will give wisdom sparks. So you may raise it later and then the mantra
will really move. First it will move slowly, then it will pick up speed. Then it
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 27 will really spin. When it does, then you will be Kilaya. So don’t try to spin it,
thinking, ‘It’s spinning.’ It is better to leave it there radiating light from the
syllables and absorbing. When it starts to move then the purification is really
beginning and all the obscurations of beings are transforming into deities—all
the wrathful deities and protectors are being commanded to come. Then all the
obstacles in the way will be shattered to dust. Any and every obstacle will be
destroyed. It eradicates all obstacles, illnesses and negative planetary influences.
You need to have the confidence that you’ve received the wisdom blessings of
the body, speech and mind of Kilaya. Recite the mantra in this way.
The meaning of the Mantra Om – mind Vajra – dorje Kili Kilaya – Kilaya Sarwa – all/many Bighanen – enemy Bam – subjugate and overpower Hung – destroy Phet – disperse Thus: “Dorje Mind Kilaya—Disperse, Destroy and Subjugate All Enemies” Recite as much as you can and then come to the dissolution—the four steps
noted above in reverse ie, First, the palatial ground into Kilaya; second the
consort into her yab; third Kilaya into Dorje Sempa; fourth Dorje Sempa into
the dorje which dissolves into the Hung. At the end here the dorje goes into the
syllables which dissolve into the dharmadhatu—the Hung—bottom up, so the
moon crescent touches the bindu and this dissolves into emptiness. Stay and
relax once the bindu has dissolved into space. Say Hung three times. Here you
are freeing yourself into space. Then apply pure perception to all the phenomena
you see. See all forms as the forms of Kilaya, sounds as his mantra and pure
hearing and thoughts as Kilaya’s mind display. Before getting attached to
phenomena, cut it with the three ‘Phets’—then utter “Benzar Ka Wa Tsi Raksha
Hang” meaning ‘May I be under your protection.’ Finally, dedicate the merit
and make aspirations that having accomplished this practice, ‘May I be of
benefit to others.’
Please note—these teachings were not recorded, thus this is not a transcript as such, but
rather notes taken from the teachings and verified through Dungse Shenphen Dawa
Rinpoche’s advice and guidance.
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 28 Copyright ©YesheMelong2014.
All rights reserved. If anyone wishes to publish or distribute these teachings they must first
receive authorization from His Holiness Dungse Shenphen Dawa Rinpoche.
Putri Repung Teachings © YesheMelong 2014 29