To resolve the matter a Tibetan translator was sent to Nepal to consult a famous Vajrayogini practitioner who had great powers of clairvoyance. After the translator had explained what had happened to Purang, the Nepalese practitioner replied that on the day of the disappearance, while in meditation, he had seen through his clairvoyance that Purang had been invited to Dakini Land by a Hero and eight Heroines. The Hero was Heruka and the eight Heroines were the eight Goddesses of the doorways of Heruka’s mandala. As a result of Purang’s pure practice, Heruka and Vajrayogini had come to his cave and taken him to Dakini Land.
Many great practitioners of the Gelug tradition such as Takbu Tenpai Gyaltsen, Drubchen Cho Dorje, Changkya Rolpai Dorje, and many of their disciples have attained Dakini Land. Such things happen even today. For example, in recent years there was a Tibetan layman called Gonche who lived in eastern Tibet in a place called Chatring. To all appearances he was an evil man, always fighting and stealing, and generally engaging in many negative actions. The Chinese invasion of Tibet eventually forced him to flee from his motherland. One day, on his journey into exile, he saw a boat crossing a stretch of water carrying about thirty Chinese soldiers. He shot holes in the boat, causing it to sink, and all the soldiers drowned. When he finally reached the Nepalese border he joined the Tibetan resistance.
Some years later, as an elderly man, he travelled to Dharamsala in India where he visited Dorjechang Trijang Rinpoche, who advised him to abandon all negative actions and to devote himself to spiritual practice. From that day Gonche’s mind changed. He developed strong regret for all his past harmful actions and promised to practise Dharma sincerely. Some time later, Trijang Rinpoche gave a Vajrayogini empowerment to a large group of his disciples, and Gonche was among them.
Trijang Rinpoche advised Gonche to go to Nepal to do a long retreat on Vajrayogini. Receiving material assistance from his family and spiritual advice from some local Geshes, Gonche entered into retreat; but during his retreat he died. At the time of his death many people saw a rainbow above his retreat hut. Three days later he was cremated and this time a rainbow appeared over the funeral pyre. These rainbows were seen by the local people as well as by the monks who had assembled to pray for him. High Lamas said later that the rainbows were signs that Vajrayogini had led Gonche to her Pure Land while he was in the intermediate state.
Many female Vajrayogini practitioners have also attained enlightenment through this practice. These accounts of the attainments of past practitioners demonstrate the great value of the practice of Vajrayogini and are a source of inspiration for our own practice.
THE QUALIFICATIONS NECESSARY FOR PRACTISING THESE INSTRUCTIONS
Before we can practise the two stages of Vajrayogini Tantra we must have certain qualifications. Through the study and practice of the stages of the path, Lamrim, we should have gained at least some experience of the three principal aspects of the path: renunciation, bodhichitta and the correct view of emptiness. These are sometimes known as ‘paths common to both Sutra and Tantra’. Once we have built the foundation of experience in the common paths we are qualified to enter the special path of Tantra. The gateway to Tantric practice is empowerment. Before we can engage in Vajrayogini practice we must receive from a qualified Tantric Spiritual Guide the empowerment of Heruka, and the empowerment of Vajrayogini in her sindhura mandala. These empowerments place special, virtuous potentials on our consciousness which, when nurtured by subsequent spiritual practice, eventually ripen into the realizations of generation stage and completion stage. During the empowerments we take certain vows and commitments, which we must observe scrupulously. Upon this basis, if we practise Vajrayogini’s instructions continuously and sincerely we will receive all the benefits mentioned above.
THE FOUR SPECIAL CAUSES OF SWIFT ATTAINMENTS
To gain swiftly the realizations associated with Vajrayogini practice we need four special causes. These are:
1 Having unwavering faith
2 Having wisdom that overcomes doubts and misgivings concerning the practice
3 Integrating all our spiritual training into the practice of one Yidam, or Enlightened Deity
4 Practising in secret
HAVING UNWAVERING FAITH
We should not become discouraged if after only a few days or months of intense effort we do not attain any special results. We should train consistently, with unshakeable conviction in the benefits of our practice. Our practice should be like a broad river that flows steadily and continuously.
HAVING WISDOM THAT OVERCOMES DOUBTS AND MISGIVINGS CONCERNING THE PRACTICE
We should have a clear understanding of the eleven yogas of generation stage and of the meditations of completion stage. In general, whenever we practise Dharma we should first overcome all doubts about the instructions we have received and reach clear conclusions about them. By listening to and studying complete and correct instructions we develop the wisdom arisen from listening, and through thinking about the meaning of the instructions we develop the wisdom arisen from contemplation. Only then can we proceed to meditate single-pointedly on the conclusions we have reached.
It is most important that while we are engaged in Dharma practice our concentration should be single-pointed. If we practise with a distracted mind and do not gain realizations it is not the fault of Dharma, Buddha or our Gurus. Even when we are not engaged in formal meditation we should be able to focus our mind clearly on any virtuous object we choose. If our mind continually wanders to a multitude of extraneous objects our progress will be hampered. As we begin to control our mind and gain the ability to direct it at will, we will experience results from our meditation and make swift progress along the spiritual path. Our mind should be like a fine, well-trained horse that is powerful but easy to control and direct. Such a horse will take a rider wherever he or she wishes to go, whereas an unruly horse will follow only its own wishes and disregard the wishes of its rider.
Once we can direct our mind to a specific object and keep it focused on that object we will have a well-controlled mind and our life will not be wasted through distracted thoughts. Even in worldly activities, success comes only as a result of single-minded concentration, so how much more important is strong concentration for successful Dharma practice? In Dharma we gain realizations only by practising with single-pointed concentration, and this is possible only if we have understood the instructions thoroughly.
INTEGRATING ALL OUR SPIRITUAL TRAINING INTO THE PRACTICE OF ONE YIDAM, OR ENLIGHTENED DEITY
Je Tsongkhapa showed how all the essential practices of Tantra can be included within the practice of a single Yidam. Following Je Tsongkhapa’s instructions, later Teachers composed the Vajrayogini sadhana, the ritual prayer that we now practise. When we practise this sadhana we practise the essential meaning of all the Tantras.
Our progress towards gaining Tantric realizations will be seriously obstructed if doubts and dissatisfaction cause us to switch continually from one Deity to another. We should be like a wise blind person who relies totally upon one trusted guide instead of attempting to follow a number of people at once. There is a traditional Tibetan analogy that illustrates this point. Tibetan farmers used to allow their cows to roam freely during the day, mixing with the cows belonging to other farmers, but every evening all the cows would return to the right farm. If a blind person wished to go to a particular farm, all he or she had to do was to hold on to the tail of a cow that belonged to that farm. If he did this he would definitely reach the right farm, but if he kept switching from one cow to another he would soon be completely lost. Similarly, by following the practice of one particular Deity wholeheartedly we will definitely attain enlightenment, but if we keep switching from one to another we will never reach our goal, no matter how much effort we make.
During his stay in Tibet the Indian Buddhist Master Atisha met the renowned translator Lama Rinchen Sangpo and was greatly impressed by his knowledge of Dharma. One day