Tantric Techniques (91 page)

With respect to this, many early and recent Tibetan vajra masters agree in asserting that the reason for positing four sets of tantras is that it is said that since the outsider Forders [
t
ī
rthikas
, that is, Hindus] have four lineages, the four sets of tantras are for the purpose of accommodating them. That is so because it is said that Highest Yoga, Yoga, Performance, and Action Tantra were spo-ken in order to accommodate the four lineages of the proponents of

a
P4536, vol. 81, 155.1.6.

b
Textual note at 15a4: mistakenly reads
yod
instead of
med
.

380
Tantric Techniques

tenets respectively: the desirous following
Īś
vara, the hateful following Vi
ṣṇ
u, the ignorant following Brahm
ā
, and those of indefinite lineage who become followers of whichever of those three they encounter. Furthermore, the masters
Ā
nandagarbha and Subh
ū
ti-p
ā
lita say this following the
Compendium of Principles
.

Why do they assert this? Is it [1] that the desirous whose lineage follows
Īś
vara are the intended disciples of Highest Yoga Tantra and thus Highest Yoga Tantras are posited from the viewpoint of having been set forth for them? Or is it [2] that Highest Yo-ga Tantras are posited considering that, through being taught to such disciples, there are cases of any of those four types of disciples being tamed by them? The first is not correct because there is no possibility that the outsider Forders who are desirous followers of
Īś
vara and whose views and deeds are mistaken could be the intended disciples of Highest Mantra. The second possibility is also incorrect because the reasoning is definite. Even if it means that persons of such four lineages are needed for the main of the intended disciples of the four tantras, it is not acceptable. For, it is not feasible to posit the Forders who have mistaken views and deeds as the main disciples of the Vajra Vehicle, the essence of the Buddha’s teaching.

Others hold this position:
There is a reason for positing four sets of tantras because such is done from the viewpoint of four different rites of deity generation that are paired with the four proponents of Buddhist tenets. They are posited this way because Action Tantras, in accordance with the Hearer schools of V
ā
ts
ī
putr
ī
ya and Eastern Vaibh
āṣ
ika, involve the appropriation of feats through mainly performing ablution, purification, and so forth without generating oneself as a pledge being (
samayasattva
), but inviting the wisdom deity (
jñ
ā
nasattva
) in front, and performing offering, praise, repetition, and so forth within viewing oneself and the wisdom deity as servant and master. Performance Tantras, in accordance with the tenets of Sautr
ā
ntikas and K
ā
shm
ī
ri Vaibh
āṣ
ikas, involve the appropriation of feats through generating oneself as a pledge being, then drawing the wisdom being into oneself or causing the wisdom being to enter oneself, inviting the wisdom deity in front, performing offering, praise, repetition, and so forth, within viewing oneself and the wisdom being as friends. Yoga Tantras, in accordance with the school of tenets of Solitary Realizer superiors, involve generating oneself as a pledge being, drawing the wisdom being to oneself

The First Pa
ṇ
-chen Lama’s Reformulation
381

and causing the wisdom deity to enter oneself, performing offering, praise, repetition, and so forth, and finally requesting the wisdom deity to depart. Highest Yoga Tantras involve generating oneself as a pledge being, drawing the wisdom deity to oneself and causing the wisdom deity to enter oneself, performing offering, praise, repetition, and so forth, and finally not requesting the wisdom deity to depart. This is because such is explained in the
Wisdom Vajra Compendium
and also is asserted by the protector N
ā
g
ā
rjuna, the master Jñ
ā
nap
ā
da, and so forth.

Response:
Asserting this is not correct because the statement in the
Wisdom Vajra Compendium
that [in Action Tantra] there is no divine pride
a
of oneself and no excellent bliss of a wisdom being does not indicate that self-generation is lacking in Action Tantra in general. For, that was said in consideration of some types of the lowest disciples who, if they meditated on themselves as a deity, would be frightened. It is not correct that such is asserted by the protector N
ā
g
ā
rjuna and the master Jñ
ā
nap
ā
da, because these two do not explain such a system in any of their works. Further, such an assertion is not correct because Solitary Realizer is not one of the four schools of tenets.

Furthermore, the master Ala
ṃ
kakala
ś
a, in his
Commentary on the Vajra Garland Tantra
(
Vajram
ā
la
ṭī
k
ā
), asserts that the four sets of tantras are posited from the viewpoint of the four castes of hu-mans, in that Action Tantras were spoken for Brahmins, Performance Tantras for the merchant caste (
vai
ś
ya
), Yoga Tantras for the royal caste (
k
ṣ
atriya
), and Highest Yoga Tantra for the servant caste (
śū
dra
) and outcastes (
c
āṇḍā
la
).

However, this is not correct because: [1] if the four castes are taken as the intended disciples of the four sets of tantras, there is the fault of being overly broad, [2] if it is asserted that the four castes are needed for the main disciples of the four sets of tantras, there is the fault of being overly narrow, and [3] if one thinks that it occurs that members of the four human castes are trained by this or that of the four sets of tantras, there is the fault of indefiniteness.

The condensed
K
ā
lacakra Tantra
explains that the four sets of tantras were spoken from the four mouths of K
ā
lacakra when it says, “From the east, wisdom tantras, then again from the western

a
Textual note at 16b4: mistakenly reads
bsnyen
instead of
snyems
.

382
Tantric Techniques

mouth, those of yogic realization.
a
From the right mouth, the Lord of Conquerors taught the Yoga Tantras, and from the left mouth, Action and so forth.”
b
There is also the statement in the
Stainless Light
applying four periods [of the day] to the four sets of tantras.
c
Also,
d
the great adept K
ṛṣṇ
ac
ā
rin says in
Illumination of the Secret Principles
(
Guhyatattvaprak
āś
a
):

From the divisions of the four eras The tantra sets are of four aspects.
e

Some explain that these statements from the condensed
K
ā
lacakra Tantra, Stainless Light,
and
Illumination of the Secret Principles
indicate the means of positing the four sets of tantras. However, this is incorrect because these are just correlations of objects purified with means of purification.

Our Own System

There is a reason for positing four different doors of entry by way of the four sets of tantras, because the main of its intended disciples who are engaging in the Vajra Vehicle are placed in four lineages. This, in turn, is because there are four different modes of using the desire for Desire Realm attributes in the path, and there are four different types of superior and inferior capacities for developing a yoga that is a union of the wisdom realizing emptiness and deity yoga—the path using such desire in the path. If these are explained according to the meaning of the names of the four tantra sets as explained in Highest Yoga Tantra, the
Sa
ṃ
pu
ṭ
a Tantra
says:

Laughing, looking, holding hands. The embrace of the two are four,

The four tantras abide in the mode of worms.

The last line indicates the final essence of how to use the desire for Desire Realm attributes in the path. For example, even though wood-engendered worms are born from wood, they consume the