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Crossing the Ocean of Life and Death
- Book 163: Crossing the Ocean of Life and Death
- Chapter 16:
The Yoga of Consciousness Transference in Tantrayana
- Written by Sheng-yen Lu
- Translated and edited by True Buddha Foundation
- Translation Team (Cheng Yew Chung, Satch)
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There is a certain category of individuals who certainly have no need for the Bardo Thodol (`Liberation by Hearing in the Bardo`). Among these individuals are Padmasambhava, Guru Milarepa and so forth.
The wise adepts of superior faculties like Tilopa, Naropa, and Marpa are certainly able to liberate themselves by their own effort. The Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng had said, `When people are at a loss, the guide ferries them over. When a person is enlightened, he ferries himself over.`
These wise Tantric adepts of superior faculties were aware of the supreme yoga of consciousness transference, and would not need any living being to guide them in the bardo. If the individual were a pseudo-adept or master, then he certainly needs someone to be beside his dead body and guide him on the Bardo Thodol.
Can this be done without being physically present alongside the deceased body? The answer is yes, but it would require a great teacher to first summon the departed spirit, so that the spirit of the deceased may come forward to listen to the guidance. The great teacher is ideally the root guru of the deceased, or a fellow cultivator of the deceased, a good friend, or perhaps a friend or loved one who knows about giving the bardo instructions.
Why is it that a wise adept of superior faculties do not need this guidance? It is because the adept has long known about the Alaya consciousness, mentioned as the eighth consciousness in the Treatise of the Consciousness-Only, as the base consciousness, and that the other seven states of consciousness are the Pravrtti or transforming consciousness (the Alaya consciousness is the Tathagata store consciousness).
The wise adept of superior faculties is able to transform the impure states of the eight primary consciousness into the four types of pure wisdom. This consciousness transference yoga transforms the mundane and impure eight consciousness into the four wisdoms of the Buddha. Thus, it transforms:
* The eighth consciousness into the Great Mirror-Like Wisdom
* The seventh consciousness into the Wisdom of Equanimity
* The sixth consciousness into the Wisdom of Discriminatory Awareness
* The fifth consciousness into the All-Accomplishment Wisdom
The Tantric doctrines mentions a ninth consciousness which is the undefiled Amala consciousness, seen as the True Reality, the True Mind. Thus, the ninth consciousness is the Wisdom of Ultimate Reality.
Therefore, an individual who can transform consciousness into wisdom is naturally a wise adept of superior faculties, who is able to liberate himself without anyone`s help. He certainly does not need to go through the Bardo Thodol.
Presently, how can I, a person living in a secluded retreat at Leaf Lake, help and deliver my own disciples? I will reveal the process to you truthfully, so pay close attention:
I have entered into retreat at the secluded Leaf Lake, where no one is aware of its location, and certainly no one here is aware of my identity. No one knows I am a great cultivator, and none is aware of my past. I have continued my cultivation in privacy, caring little about the world at large. I have distanced myself from the world of fame and fortune, keeping a low profile and living a simple life. Except for a need to purchase food and daily necessities, I have almost cut myself off from the outside world.
Yet, I am a person of feelings, and certainly not someone who is heartless. I miss my disciples, and I think of them and care about them. Even if I were to depart from this Saha world, I would still think about them. I may not express my feelings verbally, but it is there in my heart.
I may be in retreat, but my tears have been flowing until my eyes have almost dried up. My thoughts and concerns for my disciples are simply overwhelming.
Let me honestly say this to you: many of the True Buddha School disciples who have passed away have descended upon Leaf Lake in their spiritual body, with help from the dakinis. The dakas and dakinis have brought the spirits of the deceased to my retreat at Leaf Lake. There are masters, reverends, assistant teachers, disciples, and so forth. Even my former schoolmates who knew of my cultivation have looked me up when they passed away. Ghosts have five supernatural faculties, and they are able to track me down at my secluded place of retreat.
Like I have said, as long as your loved ones inform me by writing to the True Buddha Tantric Quarter, the dakinis would be notified, and the departed spirit will definitely find his root guru.
I will deliver the spirit with the appropriate methods, and help the spirit seek rebirth into the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds. Deliverance is ensured if the departed spirit finds me.
Besides delivering my disciples, spirits whom I have no connections with can be saved. Once the spirit of a departed master brought along seven spirits who were his relatives. I was surprised to see not only one, but so many of them, but I still delivered them accordingly, regardless of whether I know them or not.
While living in retreat at Leaf Lake, I had once traveled to Korea. A former schoolmate from Kaohsiung High thought of me upon his death, and called out my name.
I asked, `Who are you?`
`I am Gu Yi!`
`How did you manage to find me?`
`A ghost has the five supernatural faculties.`
`Why do you look me up?`
`You are my schoolmate, and a good friend. I know you have attained great accomplishment in your cultivation, so if I don`t look you up, who can I turn to?`
I recited the holy names of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to bless the departed spirit of my friend. I instructed him on the ways to avoid the lights of the six realms. I summoned the dharma protectors to guard the spirit of my friend, and told him not to be afraid of the frightening imageries that would appear before him. I taught him to immediately recite the Buddha`s epithet.
I said to him, `Gu Yi! Now is the time of your rebirth. You must focus on reciting the Buddha`s holy epithet, and I will help you see the Clear Light of the Buddha when it appears. When the Buddha appears, you must forgo all the affairs of the world, and abide in the state of thoughtlessness. At this time, everything will become a state of clarity like a sky without any clouds. The Buddha has appeared and is emitting light. This brilliance is the unhindered flawless light of wisdom, transparent and void in its nature. Gu Yi! Enter into this light quickly, and reside calmly in its radiance. Do not have doubts. I will help you reach the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds. Go now and enter into it!`
My schoolmate had listened to my guidance. To him, our meeting had seemed like a dream, and when the Clear Light of Pure Reality appeared, I wanted him to enter into it.
The reason that my schoolmate Gu Yi could reach the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds was because he missed me, thought of me, and knew I was a cultivator. Such great affinity we have between us!
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