THE PRACTICE OFKALACHAKRA
by Glenn H. Mullin
Including translations of important texts on theKalachakra Tantra
Foreword by H. H. the Dalai Lama
Snow Lion Publications
Ithaca, New York
P.O. Box 6483
Ithaca, New York 14851
USA
Copyright © 1991 Glenn H. Mullin
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without prior written permission from the publisher.
Printed in the USA
ISBN 0-937938-95-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mullin, Glenn H.
The practice of Kālachakra / by Glenn H. Mullin : with
translations of important texts on the Kālachakra tantra : foreword
by H.H. the Dalai Lama.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-937938-95-5 : $12.95
1. Kālachakra (Tantric rite) I. Title.
BQ7699.K34M85 1991
294.3’925—dc20
91-27945
CIP
Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Technical note
Preface
PART ONE: THE KALACHAKRA LEGACY
1 The Contemporary Kalachakra Ambience
2 Buddha’s Outer, Inner and Secret Teachings
3 Exoteric Sutrayana and Esoteric Vajrayana
4 Sutrayana as a Preliminary Path
5 The Tantric Path to Enlightenment
6 The Three Lower Classes of Tantra
7 Entering into the Highest Yoga Tantras
8 Four Highest Yoga Tantra Systems
9 Completion Stage Yogas in the Mainstream Tantras
10 The Kalachakra Yogas
11 The Lineage of Transmission
12 The Shambala Connection
PART TWO: SELECTED TIBETAN READINGS
13 Prayer of the Kalachakra Path, by the Sixth Panchen Lama, Lobzang Tubten Chokyi Nyima (1883-1937)
14 Concerning the Kalachakra Initiation, by His Holiness the Present (Fourteenth) Dalai Lama
15 The Prerequisites of Receiving Tantric Initiation, by the Seventh Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Kalzang Gyatso (1708-1757)
16 Summary of the Kalachakra Tradition, by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Lobzang Tubten Gyatso (1876-1933)
17 Notes on the Two Yogic Stages of Glorious Kalachakra, by the First Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Gendun Druppa (1391-1474/5)
18 A Kalachakra Guruyoga Method, by Kyabjey Khangsar Dorjey Chang (1888-1941)
19 The Best of Jewels: A Sadhana Focusing on Glorious Kalachakra, by Buton Rinchen Druppa (1290-1364)
20 An Aspiration to Fulfill the Stages of the Glorious Kalachakra Path, by the First Panchen Lama, Lobzang Chokyi Gyaltsen (1567-1662)
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. [Page 8.] Drawing by Alexander Kocharov
Suchandra, the first King of Shambala. [Page 128.] Drawing by Alexander Kocharov
Raudra Chakri, the future King of Shambala. [Page 146.] Drawing by Alexander Kocharov
The First Dalai Lama. [Page 216.] Drawing by Robert Beer
Kalachakra Deity. [Page 257.] Drawing by Sidney Piburn
Buton Rinchen Druppa. [Page 264.] Drawing by Robert Beer
The First Panchen Lama. [Page 280.] Drawing by Robert Beer
All teachings given by the Buddha have as their essential purpose the taming and transformation of the mind. The Buddhist view is that when we improve the quality of our mind, our wisdom, not only do we benefit ourselves in the most lasting and pervasive sense, but indirectly we also greatly benefit all other sentient beings. Training the mind is the key to achieving lasting inner peace and happiness.
The spiritual path can be likened to building a house. Even though we might like to begin by erecting the walls or roof, in fact we must first put in the foundations.
Similarly, when we approach the task of transforming the mind we have to begin by establishing a firm foundation. We may feel that because the real enemies of sentient beings are our own delusions, we should immediately apply the most powerful antidote in order to totally remove them from their source. However, the transformation of the mind is one undertaking that can only be accomplished in stages. We must begin at the beginning.
The first step is to cultivate the intention to avoid engaging in negative, harmful, self-destructive ways of body, speech and mind. This creates an inner environment wherein we can accomplish the second step, which is the elimination of the delusions. Thirdly, we attempt to extract the very seeds or imprints of delusion.
For this reason the Buddhist path begins with cultivating the three higher trainings of self-discipline, meditative concentration, and the wisdom understanding emptiness. When these three have been made firm one can take up the methods of the bodhisattva path, in which one cultivates the aspiration to achieve highest enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, and on the basis of that aspiration engages in the six perfections of generosity, self-discipline, patience, effort, meditative stabilization, and wisdom. Finally, these methods can be complemented with the tantric practices, which begin with the receiving of the initiations and tantric commitments, and involve the powerful trainings of the generation and completion yogas.
In this way we can gradually build the house of a spiritual practice having the potency to totally uproot the delusions, and to transport the mind to the state of final enlightenment.
Tantric practice is more powerful than the general sutra trainings for a number of reasons. One of these is that it fully integrates the factors of method and wisdom. In the sutra path one meditates on emptiness, or the non-inherent existence of phenomena, within the framework of the compassionate aspiration to highest enlightenment. Meditation on emptiness is the factor of wisdom, and the bodhisattva aspiration is method. However, in the sutra path these two cannot be generated simultaneously within one moment’s consciousness by a practitioner on ordinary levels. In the tantric path, as method one generates the mandala and deities, and then focuses on their empty nature. In this way method and wisdom arise simultaneously in the entity of one mind.
In buddhahood, method and wisdom, body and mind, are of one taste. The tantric path utilizes this dynamic from the very beginning, and thus produces a far more rapid enlightenment. The exclusive nature of the tantric path is that it brings an important aspect of the result of practice - ie., the integral character of buddhahood - into the structure of our training right now. The meditation is performed with awareness of emptiness, and it is that consciousness focused on emptiness which is generated in the form of the mandala deities. This is a feature of all four classes of tantras. In highest yoga tantra this principle is taken even further, with the practitioner utilizing the most subtle levels of bodily energies and of consciousness, levels inaccessible to the untrained person.
Here the clear light mahamudra is taken as the exclusive substantial cause of a Buddha’s wisdom-truth body. Through bringing clear light mahamudra into the path, sudden enlightenment becomes possible. This most subtle technique is found only in highest yoga tantra.
In general, an understanding of a spiritual method is itself a blessing; but in order to enter the tantric path it is said to be necessary to first receive the blessings of the initiation ceremony from a qualified master holding an unbroken lineage of transmission. This empowers one to enter into the tantric yogas, and plants the seeds for future realization.
Later, when one engages in the generation and completion stage yogas, one must rely upon a qualified teacher in order to apply the powerful tantric methods successfully. The traditional scriptures advise us to choose a teacher carefully, using reason and wisdom as our tools, and not to rely on blind faith. Moreover, even though we are advised to maintain respect and faith in the teacher, this too must be done on the basis of common sense; should an instruction of our teacher contradict what we know of Dharma, we should respectfully and politely voice our qualms, and not just mindlessly acquiesce. As the glorious Indian master Nagarjuna pointed out, faith must always be guided by intelligence and wisdom.
There are several different views as to the exact time when Buddha first gave the Kalachakra teaching. The Second Dalai Lama’s guru, Khedrub Norzang Gyatso, and other lamas like Taktsang Lotsawa, conclude that Buddha taught it a month before he passed away. Another view is that it was given the year after his enlightenment. Both of these groups have well-developed theses to support their views on the subject, based on diverse sources.
Nonetheless, both accept that the transmission was carried from India to Shambhala soon after it was taught, and that it remained there until the master Chilupa retrieved it.
The system was brought to Tibet in two separate lines, known as the Dro and Rva Traditions. Later these were united by the omniscient Buton Rinchen Drub. It was from Buton’s immediate disciple Chokyi Pel that Je Tsongkhapa received the transmission.
Tsongkhapa in turn extensively practiced and taught the Kalachakra teaching. Eventually it came to the Seventh Dalai Lama, who contributed significantly to its preservation, clarification and transmission. In this way the lineage was passed from generation to generation, coming down to us today in an unbroken stream.
In most tantric traditions initiation is given to small groups of trusted students, the number often being limited to twenty-five. However, Kalachakra is an exception in this regard, and there is a tradition of giving it at large public gatherings. Certainly, not everyone who attends will have a sufficient inner basis to receive the full benefits of the initiation, but it is believed that anyone attending with a positive attitude will establish and strengthen positive karmic instincts.
The Kalachakra system belongs to the category of highest yoga tantras, and therefore is a secret doctrine. In ancient days all tantric teachings were practiced and transmitted with extreme discretion. The open publication of tantric literature was discouraged, and access to it was restricted to initiates. However, over the last century numerous Western scholars and enthusiasts have written extensively on tantric buddhism, often without sufficient grounding in the system as a whole. As a result, many erroneous ideas concerning the nature of tantric practice have emerged. There seems to be no other remedy to the situation than to allow scholars trained within the tradition to write and produce translations on the subject.
In addition, today’s world seems to be in need of a powerful medicine. And of all teachings given by the Buddha, those of highest yoga tantra are the most powerful. These methods are said to be especially applicable to the condition in which the human community finds itself today. When the techniques of highest yoga tantra are applied on the foundations of the three higher trainings, the bodhisattva’s compassionate aspiration to highest enlightenment, and the practice of the six perfections, they have the ability to induce enlightenment within this one short lifetime.
Kalachakra represents one of the most extensive of the highest yoga tantras. I offer my prayers that this volume may contribute to the understanding and appreciation of this sublime teaching of the Buddha, that he delivered to humanity out of his profound sense of compassion two and a half millenniums ago.
10 May 1991
Throughout the text I have written Tibetan names of people and places as they are pronounced rather than as formally transliterated. Tibetan abounds with prefixes, superscripts, subscripts and suffixes, many of which are silent or change the sounds in ways the non-specialist could not possibly guess. For example, ’Phrin-las is pronounced Trinley; ...
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