Purple Lotus Publisher > Journal > Volumn NO. 14

Words of Transcendent Wisdom---A New Discourse on the Rainbow Accomplishment

Words of Transcendent Wisdom is the transcript of a series of Dharma discourses given by Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-yen Lu at the True Buddha Tantric Quarter in Redmond, Washington, U.S.A. from July 1st 1996 to ..

Translated by Janny Chow

(1) Introduction (07/01/1996)

Today I would like to discuss the Rainbow Accomplishment. The Rainbow Accomplishment is the highest achievement in Tantrayana practice.

What, then, is the Rainbow Accomplishment? A full treatment of the subject will take a long time. Basically, the Rainbow is just a symbol selected from the physical world to represent the invisible Cosmic Consciousness --- or, rather, the most profound state of consciousness of the universe. If you are able, through your cultivation, to attain union with the Cosmic Consciousness, then that accomplishment is the Rainbow Accomplishment.

To engage in spiritual practice while one is in the human world is a very lofty endeavor. Spiritual cultivators know that everything in the universe is inherently empty, illusory, and non-existent. If you are able to take up spiritual practice, then you are engaging in the most significant life task there is. The ultimate outcome of spiritual practice is the Rainbow Accomplishment, and it happens when an ordinary being penetrates the Cosmic Consciousness and becomes one with the whole universe.

I will also touch briefly on the differences between esoteric (Tantrayana) and exoteric (Sutrayana) pathways. While the exoteric pathway is like a classroom where one learns doctrines and theories, the esoteric is like the laboratory where one conducts experiments after attending a classroom lecture. So the greatest difference between the two pathways is that Sutrayana emphasizes theories while Tantrayana emphasizes practice. One occurs in a lecture room while the other occurs in a laboratory. This way, you will be able to clearly understand the differences between Sutrayana and Tantrayana.

Rainbow Accomplishment is the ultimate achievement in Tantrayana practice. When you succeed in this achievement, unusual phenomena will manifest. Your body will engender a light, the Clear Light. Whenever and wherever you are, there will be the presence of the Clear Light. Whenever you call upon the Cosmic Consciousness, it will respond and commune with you. That is why, when many great spiritual adepts arrive at the moment to enter into nirvana, there is the appearance of a rainbow in the sky. This is a special sign manifested in the sky. Rainbow light also will be found on the bodies of such adepts.

In the True Buddha Tantric Dharma of our True Buddha School, there is, at all time, the manifestation of rainbows. If you become an accomplished adept, you can call upon the rainbow to appear. And it follows that you also will be able to merge with the Cosmic Consciousness in the future.

Today is the first talk in this series of discourse, the Rainbow Accomplishment. When I began my talk, I saw Vajrasattva. Today's Vajrasattva differed a little from Vajrasattvas I have seen before. His right hand was holding the vajra scepter, and his left hand was holding the bell. Then he raised the vajra and tossed it up into the sky. Even the vajra scepter was transforming into a great rainbow light.

In this series of lectures, I hope to explain the practice methods leading up to the Rainbow Accomplishment, so that all spiritual cultivators, and everyone else, will understand the practice of pure awareness.

Doing spiritual cultivation in the human world is very important. It is also not easy to come across a genuine spiritual practice. I hope you will cherish this teaching on the Rainbow Accomplishment, a supreme high-level practice of Tantrayana.

We will stop here today.

Om Mani Padme Hum.

(2) Differences Between Sutrayana and Tantrayana (7/1/1996)

Beyond the analogy of lecture room versus laboratory, there are also many other differences between Sutrayana and Tantrayana. For one thing, Sutrayana mainly cultivates the mind, while Tantrayana cultivates both mind and body.

Tantrayana places great emphasis on working with the body. We consider the entire universe to be comprised of earth, water, fire, and wind. Similarly, our human bodies also are comprised of earth, water, fire, and wind. We look upon the human body as being the same as the universe. By working with the human body, one can become connected with the earth, water, fire, and wind of the entire universe. This is why Tantrayana emphasizes body-work practices.

To attain Rainbow Accomplishment, you have to engage in practices that will develop the energies in your body. You will perceive and experience concrete sensations during these practices. Many other people do not perceive these sensations when they talk about their cultivation experiences. In Tantrayana practices, however, such sensations and perceptions develop. Because of this, a formidable kind of power is engendered. We call this power Dharma Power.

The Dharma Power referred to in the context of Tantrayana is very real. A Tantrayana practitioner can feel it in his body as well as in his mind. This is because Tantrayana stresses experimentation and validation and does not rely merely on theories. Here lies a significant difference between Sutrayana and Tantrayana schools.

In Rainbow Accomplishment practices, you bring out the potential of the energies in your body. We call this the development of inner fire. Fire engenders light. You can transform your whole body into fire and light. At the moment when your entire body is fire and light, you can communicate with the Energy of the Universe --- that is, the Cosmic Consciousness. This is the basic principle behind Rainbow Accomplishment practices.

Although we stress energy work inside the body, we of course also pay attention to the mind and have mind practices. We do not abandon mind practices entirely. Tantrayana practices involve both body and mind. We think that, apart from body, there is no mind, and, apart from mind, the body is useless. There is no separation between body and mind. Therefore, in my opinion, Tantrayana is more comprehensive. It does not just offer lectures in the classroom or just carry out experimentation in the laboratory. It does not only talk about the invisible, it also talks about the visible. It strives to attain the condition wherein the physical and the spiritual are completely integrated and inseparable. This is Tantrayana.

When you open up the blockages in your chi channels and gather the chi together, you can transform your body into the rainbow light. Of course, to arrive at such a state, you have to have a guru to transmit to you the various methods of practice. When you follow the instructions and go forth, step by step, you will attain Rainbow Accomplishment.

Tantrayana is regarded as esoteric because energy practices dealing with chi, subtle channels, and light drops have long been guarded as secrets. In Tantrayana, there is more than just theories, you also engage in internal-level energy yoga, working with chi, channel, and light drops. Sutrayana deals with theories therefore, it is referred to as exoteric.

Sutrayana was taught by Shakyamuni, while Tantrayana was transmitted by the Great Sun Tathagata. Many techniques employing the body, speech, and thoughts are used to develop energies hidden in our body. Rainbow Accomplishment is the most important outcome of these practices. At the beginning of this new series of discourses, I must explain that the Rainbow Accomplishment is also the highest accomplishment attained through our True Buddha Tantric Dharma Practice.

For a spiritual cultivator to be able to embark on this path and make progress until one become united with the Cosmic Consciousness is, in my opinion, the most significant endeavor in one's life. Just give these questions some thought: What are your values in life? What is the meaning of life? What is life and death? Give these some serious thought, and you will know that taking up this pathway of spiritual cultivation is, indeed, the greatest task in life.

Om Mani Padme Hum.

(3) empowerments in Tantrayana (part A) (07/01/1996)

Today, I would like to discuss empowerments in Tantrayana. Empowerment rituals are very important in Tantrayana. Due to the lofty nature of the practices, initiation into them takes place in ceremonies or rituals. First, you have to take refuge in the guru. Then you receive an empowerment from the guru to do the practice. The rituals for Tantrayana empowerment are solemn, grand, and have multiple meanings.

First, the ritual signifies "purification." When your guru bestows upon you an initiation, it means that, from that moment on, you have become completely cleansed and purified. Karmic hindrances from the past will be removed, and you will become a newborn person.

Second, in the empowerment ritual, your guru instills his Dharma Power into your body. In this process, a combination of the Dharma Flow of the Cosmic Consciousness and the personally cultivated Dharma Power from the guru are instilled into your body. This is a little like in the wuxia (martial arts) novels, when some powerful person's prowess is transferred into one's own body, one instantly gains an extra power that would otherwise have taken five hundred years to develop. It is of course a very tremendous power. The greater Dharma Power a guru has, the greater will be the power instilled into you.

Empowerment is also a kind of "prophesying." Generally, Sutrayana can be described as a path going "from causes to fruition," while Tantrayana is considered as taking "fruition as the path." When you start as an ordinary mortal and continue to practice until you reach the realm of holiness, you are going "from causes to fruition." In Tantrayana, taking "fruition as the path" does not mean, however, that you start out as a sage and will end up as an ordinary mortal. Not at all. It means that at the moment you receive the empowerment, you are being "prophesied" the "fruition." For example, a former incarnation of Shakyamuni Buddha had been empowered and "prophesied" by the Lamp Lighting Buddha that he would become a Buddha in the future.

The implicit meaning in this is that, when you receive the empowerment, a place is being held for you in the ranks of the Buddhas. You are guaranteed this future fruition at the moment you take refuge. But, you still have to continue practice until you arrive at that position. A place in the fruition level is being reserved for you all you have to do is to practice to reach that level.

Empowerment is also a kind of "conferring." After your guru performs the ritual of empowerment for a particular practice, he is conferring the right for you to do this practice. Without such an empowerment, one is not allowed to engage in the practice. Of course, in supreme and unexcelled Tantrayana practices, it is requisite that one first takes refuge, as well as receives the various empowerments.

Why must one first take refuge? This is because Tantrayana places great emphasis on lineage transmission. Without a guru to give you the empowerment, you cannot engage in that practice. In Tantrayana, one has to invoke one's Personal Deity and guru for empowerment. Without refuge in a guru, from where does your root guru empowerment come? Therefore, you must first take refuge, then there will be a guru to transmit to you the practices. After refuge, your root guru and a successive line of past lineage gurus will be sitting above your crown --- they become a kind of empowering force for you.

The most significant purpose of empowerment is "to sow the seed of the Buddhas' Consciousness into the body of the spiritual cultivator." This is not a matter to be taken lightly. The event is more than ritualistic. A guru with authentic Dharma Power can completely instill the seed of the Personal Deity into the eighth consciousness of the student. In the future, this seed will germinate, take root and grow, enabling one to become a true vessel for cultivation and, eventually, becoming the Personal Deity.

In the empowerment phenomenon, the Cosmic Consciousness, guru, and student merge to become one.

When the empowerment force is instilled in you, you will feel its presence. Unlike ordinary refuge-taking, as in some exoteric schools where you do not feel any special energy, a genuine Tantrayana empowerment will let you feel its power very quickly. An energy from the empowerment will descend immediately to your body.

It is just like Popeye and his spinach. Popeye is about to be beaten to death but suddenly a can of spinach appears. After downing the spinach, his strength soars. The empowerment phenomenon is much like Popeye eating his spinach, which gives him a boost in strength and power. Tantrayana recognizes the existence of Dharma Power. When you receive an empowerment from a real guru, your power and energy will immediately increase.

We will stop here today.

Om Mani Padme Hum.

(4) Empowerment in Tantrayana (part B) (07/02/1996)

There are four gradations of Tantrayana empowerments in the True Buddha School. In regular school, one starts with kindergarten, then goes on to elementary, junior high, high school, college, and graduate schools. Our True Buddha Tantric Dharma is also categorized into gradations, in this case four major levels.

The first level empowerments are those for the external practices, the second for the internal practices, the third for the secret practices, and the fourth for the inner secret practices. Empowerments for external practices are conferred with a vase. During the ritual, the guru sprinkles water from a vase on the student. "Vase empowerments are the first level of empowerment's and represent "purification."

After one succeeds in the external practices, one goes next to the internal practices, which are energy yoga working with chi, channels, and light drops. In the rituals for these empowerments, red and white flowers are used. Red and white flowers symbolize "red bodhi" and "white bodhi" respectively.

The third level of practices is the secret practice of Unexcelled Tantric Yoga. In the True Buddha Tantric Dharma, this level of empowerments is called "contact empowerments." These are high-level, secret empowerments wherein the guru uses a pen to touch upon one's chakras.

Finally, the inner secret level of empowerment is the Great Perfection Empowerment. It is a prophecy of Buddhahood. This kind of empowerment is very high and can be categorized as the ultimate empowerment.

In Tantrayana, empowerments are divided into four categories: external, internal, secret, and inner secret. Our True Buddha Tantric Dharma also has these four divisions. We have to first engage in external practices. After completing these practices and receiving confirmation that we have succeeded in them, then we may receive the second level of empowerments. After success in the second level practices is validated, we can go next to receive the third level of empowerments. After proving that we have succeeded with the third level practices, we go to receive the fourth level of empowerment.

There is no ritual for the final type of empowerment. In the past, the moment Shakyamuni picked up a flower and smiled, Mahakasyapa understood it. The Buddha had conferred an empowerment on Mahakasyapa. There was no special ritual accompanying this empowerment. Therefore, a true vajra guru can just raise an eyebrow or utter a sound, and the empowerment is conferred. Taking a sip of tea is also a kind of empowerment. This kind of empowerment does not depend on particular forms. If the guru makes a comment, and you understand him, then this is also a kind of empowerment. In Zen, a batting or shouting is an empowerment.

In Tantrayana, this kind of empowerment is not transmitted through rituals, but it causes you to immediately and tacitly understand that "the Mind is the Buddha." At that moment, the mind is Enlightened and abides in the state of Great Perfection. Everything is full and perfect. This is the Great Perfection Empowerment.

In Tantrayana, one starts with forms and rituals and ends with the formless --- the Great Perfection Empowerment is entirely unencumbered by any rituals. Since Zen, on the other hand, points directly at the nature of Mind and Emptiness, not relying on any ritual, it can be regarded as an equivalent of the Great Perfection in Tantrayana.

In Tantrayana, one starts with practices characterized by formal rituals and eventually reaches the formless empowerment --- the Great Perfection. Zen, on the other hand, is very special --- the direct transmission of Mind takes place without any language. Zen is a pathway for people with superior root qualities.

Although Tantrayana has also been called Mahayana, the highest realm of Tantrayana is no different than Zen. The highest realm of Zen is also not confined by any form at all. Some people have even suggested that it was really not necessary for the Buddha to pick up a flower or for Mahakasyapa to smile. All the Buddha needed to do was let the light in his heart radiate out, and Mahakasyapa to let the light in his heart shine. At the merging of the two lights, where it cannot be traced, it is Zen.

By picking up a flower, Shakyamuni Buddha revealed his intention. With his smiling, Mahakasyapa revealed that he had understood it. This is an event still marked by overt traces of formalities and therefore not quite as good as Zen or Great Perfection! The Empowerment for Great Perfection is completely free of any visible signs, as it is a kind of confirmation between one Buddha and another. It is a very high level of realization.

A novice Tantric practitioner must start at the external level of practices first. The external level of practices is equivalent to the general practices in the scriptural school. The goal of these practices is to purify the body, speech, and mind. Afterwards, one goes on to receive the second level of empowerments and embark on energy works with chi, channels, and light drops, continuing until there are yogic responses. Then, one can enter into practices of the third level of empowerments --- the Unexcelled Tantric Yoga. The ability to enter into Unexcelled Tantric Yoga signifies an understanding and direct experience of Emptiness. When one is able to extend this yogic response with Emptiness into a continuum, it becomes the Great Perfection, and one attains Buddhahood. The Tantric empowerments are in effect a ladder going from the most superficial to the most subtle.

If one wants to embark on the Tantric pathway, one must take refuge in a guru and be initiated into the practices through empowerments from the guru. This is very important. This is also the significance of empowerments. Tantrayana is an extraordinary pathway. Now that such great practices are made available to the world, people should cherish them.

I will stop here today.

Om Mani Padme Hum