Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 52-minute session, Kyabje Rinpoche presents the complete eleven-tier structure of the field of accumulation in Guru Puja. He maps each level with precision: performance and action tantra deities at the apex, Buddhas including the 35 Buddhas of Confession, bodhisattvas, solitary realizers, hearers, and heroes and heroines (vīras and vīriṇīs), transcendental Dharma protectors in an inner circle, and mundane protectors positioned beneath the field. He explains how Dharma books represent the two cessations and two paths of the Dharma jewel, then details the inner visualization: seed syllables (Om/Ah/Hum) at crown, throat, and heart; the three vajras marking body, speech, and mind. A central section covers the distinction and inseparable fusion of commitment beings (samaya sattva) and wisdom beings (jñāna sattva). Questions clarify what constitutes a worldly versus transcendental being. For practitioners initiated in Guru Puja.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1992-08-07 – 9B – KR.mp3
UUID: 95d1b422-bcad-4ab8-a500-de6b55acccd3
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Guru Puja – Lama Chopa
Date: 1992-08-07
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~1,630
No. So I don’t know the name of this deity. An example of a deity performance tantra, the name is is an example of the deity of performance tantra. And then a deity of the fifth lotus down which is action tantra and this would be such deities as Tārā, Richö, Amitābha. So this is the action tantra, lower four of the tantra.
And the sixth lotus tier, Six tier. Then the sixth, one the sixth tier downward and this this begin this level of the lotus on the on this lotus is positioned all the various all Buddhas such as Śākyamūni Buddha along with other Buddhas such as the 35 Buddhas of confession. Then the seventh tier are the various bodhisattvas, the eight bodhisattvas such as Maitreya, etc. So up to this point, these have all been packed with the categories within the universal vehicle the Mahāyāna. Now below this comes the category of the fact with those beings which are categorized within the individual vehicle the Hīnayāna.
So on on the ninth tier are the solitary realizers, a grouping of 12 solitary realizers. On the tenth tier are the hearers. The eighth was the I made a mistake. Okay. The So the the.
The eighth here are the 12 solitary realizers, a group of 12 Pratyekabuddha. On the ninth is a group of hearers, the 16 arhats, 16 here, Pratyekabuddha. The 16 And then the tenth tier are the the heroes and heroines or the viras and vīriṇīs, heroes and heroines, vīras and vīriṇīs and these So they can be positioned in either three ways. One way is that the heroes are positioned, on the right side representing method, the heroines on the left representing wisdom, that’s one way, or they can be positioned alternately hero, heroine, hero, hero, hero, they can be positioned in consort with one another. Then on on the eleventh here are transcendental transcendental Dharma protectors, but those who, yeah, transcend the world transcendental Dharma protectors such Dharma protectors as Mahākāla, Kālarūpa, Yamarāja, Dharmarāja.
These are the beings who protect those who are seeking to practice the Dharma and protect the doctrine. So these are all transcendental that is beyond beyond the world, transmundane beyond the mundane. So we are not to place any mundane deities on the within field. These various protectors are emanations of Buddhas who are, whose purpose is to protect the doctrine and there’s practice in it. For example, the emanation of Chenrezig and the protector aspect is Mahākāla, the emanation of Mañjuśrī in the protector aspect is, Kālarūpa.
The Tārā, So the aspect of the protector the protector of Heruka is due to a double due to double. I don’t know. Can you can you can you can you you go to double? Vajrayoginī aspect of protector is due to… due to. The same.
Aspect of the dermal protector. So this is the object toward which we’re going for refuge and that we go for refuge to this field we when we recite include a mundane being within this field this would be, we would lose our the vow of going for refuge. We degenerate the vow of going for refuge. So beneath the tree upon clouds are the, the four mundane protectors in in each of the four directions. So I don’t know, I just give you the Tibetan.
In the South south is in the West is in the North is and in the East is So they have they have promised to to protect the they made promises to the Buddha to protect his teachings and but because they are not, they are still worldly beings, they are they are placed beneath the actual tree. So all of the okay, so to so with all of the the beings within this field, this field of collection collection to their to their right in order to symbolize the, so there is so these represent the the in order to the the Dharma, the Dharma jewel has two aspects, the Dharma jewel has two aspects, two cessations and two paths. Since they cannot be visualized in order to symbolize these two two cessations two paths, in order to symbolize them are Dharma books. Dharma books are placed to the right of all of the beings within the field in order to represent the jewel of Dharma in its two aspects of two cessations and two paths, are placed books. So it is as it’s it’s in this as it’s stated in this thirteenth verse.
Surrounding you in the respective orders is in a certain sea of actual Mañjuśrī Gurus. We’ve been the various deities of those to say the various yidams of the four levels of tantra and the host along with their host of the mandala deity and then beneath that are the Buddha and then the bodhisattvas and then the, it’s not listed here but then would come the solitary realizers and the hearers and then the vīras that is the heroes and heroines included in that would be the dakas and dakinis on that level and then the various protectors of teachings of the Dharma. When you imagine the field of accumulation, field of collection before you, you should not imagine it as being a lifeless flat painting, but in fact you should that these are all living beings and they’re engaged in all their various activities such as teaching the Dharma for the sake of sentient beings. And then if we were if we were to explain in detail at the at the crown of each deity is Vairocana. I was mistaken.
It’s the seed syllable of Vairocana which is Om at the crown which is the seed syllable of the Buddha body. White. And then the the seed syllable of of at at which is red, which is the seed syllable of the Buddha speech. Then the seed syllable of Akṣobhya, blue, which is the seed syllable of the mind of the Buddha at the heart of all the But then as it says in verse 14, it goes under the three doors of each are marked with the three vajras. So the three doors are the the body speech and mind are marked with the three Vajras that is the Vajra, the Vajra body, Vajra speech, Vajra mind marked with the Om Ah Hum.
Lights radiate out from the Hum. So this what we have visualized up to this point is called is the commitment being or the or the samaya sattva. Then light radiates out from Hum at their hearts inviting the wisdom beings, the jñāna sattva, to drawing them forth, hooking them and drawing these lights radiate out, drawing the wisdom beings, drawing them forth, and they become they come forth and become inseparably fused as one. So that’s a complete that’s an explanation of the complete field of accumulation. Accumulation.
So we’re going to stop there if you have any questions. Yeah. So in general, a worldly being that is a mundane being, an ordinary being. It can even up to a superior, is a is a worldly being. So I meant up to a superior.
So superior is not a worldly being. The superior is one who has direct realization of emptiness. Once one has so anyone who has not had direct realization of emptiness is an ordinary being, a worldly being. Anyone who has direct realization of emptiness is Anyone who has direct realization of emptiness, that is to say superior, is a transcendental being. But this explanation does not apply to Dharma protectors.
In general Dharma protectors are all emanations of Buddhas but some of the emanation Buddhas are displayed in the aspect of worldly beings, worldly Dharma protectors, others are transworldly or transmundane, mundane, transmundane. So those who though in general they are transmundane beings because they take on they are displayed in the aspect of non-mundane in the aspect of mundane or worldly beings they are not one is not to go for refuge to them but one can go for refuge to those Dharma protectors which take on the displayed aspect of transmundane Dharma protectors. So, those worldly Dharma protectors often display the display, the worldly qualities of jealousy, anger, wrath. So the the the the wisdom being into into the commitment being. The the rushing the rushing in there.
So the wisdom beings are the, the wisdom being is the mind realizing emptiness, the ultimate mind which has realized emptiness. So they abide in emptiness in meditative equipoise and emptiness. They are within emptiness that is to say they abide within the sphere of the dharmadhātu, sphere of quality, dharmadhātu. That’s their natural abode within Because the object emptiness is numberless, the wisdom beings are numberless. Yes.
Because conventional phenomena are numberless. Such phenomena as earth, water, fire, and air, all the various conventional phenomena are numberless. Therefore, of them has an emptiness, and therefore emptinesses are numberless, and the beings which are realizing each of those numberless. So the protector associate is an emanation of Heruka is Mahākāla and the two arm, there are many mahakalas. Two arm, four arm, mahakala.
Arm, four arm, mahakala. Four arm. Arm. Three three Three face, four arm. Knock.
So they’re all the same except except except for in the case of except for the heroes and dakinis, one’s male, one’s female. The the and are female. But but and are the same. So it it says in the text, so it is it’s listening just for the sake of ease of recitation, rather than saying So the vīriṇīs, the heroines, and the Dakini are the same. But the hero heroes and heroines are vīras and vīriṇīs are just different sex.
Vīras Yeah.