Spiritual State of Immovability
●Book 51─Highest Yoga Tantra and Mahamudra
●Written by Master Sheng-yen Lu
●Chapter thirteenth
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There was once a Tantric guru who saw a vision of his death during deep meditation. He saw two strings of red pearls hanging from his nostrils, and five arches of rainbows appearing in the sky. His corpse emitted rays of red and yellow lights, and all of his bones displayed multiple colors. His heart remained intact and undestroyed, turning into relics (sariras). He left huge amounts of other relics, around five to six hundred of them, which could fill a big sack. He also saw his disciples cheering at the sight of his many relics. They were all elated.
After this experience, the guru longed to see the entire illusory scene again whenever he entered into meditation because this vision filled him with a great sense of pride. When this desire arose, he found himself experiencing the vision of his own cremation during each meditation session. Finally, when he sensed that something was wrong, it was already too late to erase the illusion. It was pitiful.
On another account, there was an adept who studied Vajrayana from a disciple of the famous Master Atisha. His master had studied dharma at the Tholing Monastery, and he had achieved union with his own inner mandala. He also learned the Three Cycles on Relaxation of the Great Perfection [Dzogpa Chenpo Gyuma Ngalso] and the Profound Quintessence of the Great Perfection [Dzogs Pa Chen Po Klong Chen Snying Thig]. One time, he encountered the following vision during deep meditative absorption:
“Who are you, pretty woman?” the adept asked.
“I am a Tibetan Princess.”
“Why are you here?” the adept asked.
“I am here to continue our past affinity.” The beautiful lady pointed to another dimension as she spoke.
A vision appeared in another dimension, in which he saw himself incarnating as a senior lama from the Nyingma School. He had practiced the consort practice with the Tibetan princess. Their practice began from the initial level reaching to the deep level, proceeding from the wonderful stage to the mystical stage. He lost his righteous thoughts of enlightenment and was overtaken by lust. His defiled thoughts blocked him from seeing through the illusion of the beautiful woman, who was none other than a pile of skeletons. Being caught off guard, he was led astray into a sexual fantasy. Ever since then, he was unable to pull himself out of it.
Every time the adept entered meditation, he saw the beautiful woman and they were sexually intimate. Initially, he felt that there was nothing wrong with that. However, it was only much later that he realized the vision was a camouflage of the three poisons, five dusts, and six robberies. The adept had lost the aura of light rewarded from the Great Perfection. All his radiance had been transformed into discriminating thoughts of love and disdain. When the beautiful woman failed to arrive, he was afflicted to an extreme. Subsequently, the adept could no longer cultivate, and his proper thought in enlightenment and endeavors in cultivation had become futile. He was worse than a mundane mortal. What a pity!
Here is a verse that I wrote in regards to this incident:
The practice of union is a supreme path,
Absence of grasping is the pith teaching,
Illusion and reality have no difference in truth,
A smiling beauty is also a laughing skeleton.
There was another adept who studied the Vajrayana teachings with a lay Buddhist known as Daxin. He professed to hold the lineage transmission of Mahamudra from Guru Tilopa and Guru Naropa. He had also obtained the quintessence from Guru Gampopa, and learned the Heart Essence of the Most Supreme Light of the Nine Vehicles. He completed a two-year dark retreat and was very proud of his supernatural powers.
–To Be Continued–
