Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 150-minute teaching on the Guru Puja practice, His Holiness the Dalai Lama presents a systematic explanation of the nineteen uncommon pledges corresponding to the five Buddha families, the core of the six-session Guru Yoga. He begins by emphasizing the importance of proper motivation for hearing teachings and maintaining tantric vows, arguing that pledge integrity is more essential than meditation volume. He then walks through each of the five categories: the six Vairochana pledges centered on refuge and ethics; the four Ratnasambhava pledges of generosity; the four Akṣobhya pledges involving vajra and bell and guru veneration; the three Amitābha pledges of practicing all three vehicles and tantric systems; and the two Amoghasiddhi pledges of protecting all previous pledges and making varied offerings. Throughout, he grounds each vow in practical daily actions—taking refuge three times upon waking, generating bodhicitta, practicing the perfections—and describes how these mundane ethical practices, when performed with understanding, form the foundation of tantric transformation. The teaching culminates in the dissolution yoga of the six-session practice itself, connecting pledge-keeping to the development of clear-light mind and the path to enlightenment within a single lifetime. Intended for practitioners who have received tantric initiation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: SSGY 110913 000.mp3
UUID: 826a9ec1-443b-450f-8c54-2bde8db35068
Teacher: HH Dalai Lama
Collection: Guru Puja – Lama Chopa
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~3,132
So to attend Dharma teachings and for the Dharma to be explained, it is important to generate a good motivation, the motivation of taming an untamed mind. It is for this reason that the Dharma is taught. And with this as a motivation, extending it not just to one’s own self, but the sentient beings which are measureless in number, whereas we are alone, single, and understanding that these sentient beings just like us wish for happiness and wish to avoid suffering, yet do not understand how to create the causes of happiness and how to abandon the causes for suffering, we generate the resolution from our side since they have been our parents since beginningless time to help them in this goal. We ourselves are at present totally unable to do so, And therefore, we strive for the state of full enlightenment in which we will be able to do so. Now whether from our own side we are actually able to help them or not in the process does not depend on us, but on them largely.
But for us, when we train in this way, there will definitely be great benefit. And with this as a motivation, we should listen to these teachings and generate this motivation. As I said, the highest of yogis should protect his pledges. If his pledges degenerate, there will be no attainment of supreme siddhi. So here, supreme siddhi or supreme attainment represents the supreme attainment of the generation and the completion stage.
There is no such attainment if the pledges have degenerated, let alone that one does not even attain ordinary siddhis. Therefore, maintaining the pledges is more important than meditation. In addition, it is said that the stronger the pledges the better the future. And for the pledges.
And in the Kagyu, Sakya and Nyingma traditions, the accumulation of the so called four practices calling for commentaries, which are the practices of refuge, generating bodhicitta, Guru Yoga and Vajrasattva by groups of 100,000 was an extremely advanced practice, very developed practice. However, this is not the tradition of Je Tsongkhapa. In Je Tsongkhapa’s tradition, what is critical is to be a pure holder of the three categories of vows. And if one is able to do this, then it is unnecessary to recite Vajrasattva because one will not have accumulated any breaches of the pledges. Pledges.
On the other hand, if one keeps breaching the pledges, then irrespective of how many Vajrasattva mantras one recites, ultimately, there is no benefit because one keeps accumulating non virtuous deeds. Likewise, generally speaking, the practice of refuge and of bodhicitta in the four sets of 100,000 is an excellent practice. However, this is included within the six-session Guru Yoga. So the six-session Guru Yoga includes the generation of bodhicitta. It includes taking refuge, detailed description of the pledges, as well as offering mandala, which is so important since it is said that of yogis who merely offer mandala saw the true face of the spiritual teacher.
Through this, it is possible to attain full enlightenment if one is an excellent practitioner in this life, a middling practitioner in the Bardo, and a lower practitioner after 16 lives. Therefore, the Root Tantra of Heruka says, upwards and upwards increase your maintenance of the pledges. And this refers to the pledges of all three categories of vows, pratimoksha, bodhisattva, and tantric vows. If one does not protect the pledges, then irrespective of the mantras one recites, whether they are manis or Vajrasattvas, this is a powerless practice. The main goal of this practice of the six-session Guru Yoga is the protection of the pledges.
Therefore, if one recites the elaborate forms since the pledges are listed in detail, this will be of great benefit, difficult. In the concise form, the pledges are not explicitly listed. Rinpoche would like to ask you all to take a piece of paper and a pen, and from now on, take note of what he says as he will be giving the detailed explanation of the 19 uncommon pledges of the five families or five lineages of the Buddhas. You can then memorize these and know whether you have kept them or not. And we have five aggregates, the form, feeling, recognition, volition, and consciousness aggregates, which are mentioned in the Heart Sūtra.
The form aggregate is our body. The feeling aggregate is the feelings of happiness or of suffering, for instance. The recognition aggregate is that capacity to identify things. This is a man, this is a dog and so forth. The volition or non compositional aggregate includes everything which is not included in the four remaining aggregates.
And the consciousness aggregate is mind. Therefore, everything which is a thing is included within the five aggregates.
And the aggregates which we have at present, which have arisen from karma and affliction are impure aggregates. They are said to be adventitious aggregates because their nature is to disintegrate. Adventitious here refers to the fact that at times they exist and at times they do not exist precisely because they are arisen out of ignorance. Now these impure aggregates are to be purified. And when purified, they are transformed into the five lineage Buddhas.
This is the ultimate result. Generally speaking, this process of purification occurs in the three lower tantras through the yoga with and without signs, whereas in Anuttara Yoga Tantra, it occurs through the generation and the completion stage. Rinpoche would like to insist that you take notes. He will now give the detailed explanation of the transformation of the aggregates and the vows which are related to them. So the first aggregate, which is impure, is a form aggregate.
When purified, it becomes Vairochana. There are six vows which are connected with Vairochana. The second aggregate, which is impure, is the feeling aggregate. When purified, it becomes Ratnasambhava. The third impure aggregate is consciousness.
When purified, it becomes Akṣobhya. The fourth impure aggregate is recognition or discrimination. When purified, it becomes. The fifth impure aggregate is compositional factors or volition. When purified, it becomes.
Each of these Buddha lineages has its corresponding pledges. So the five aggregates must be generated in the aspect of their corresponding deity. Now generally speaking, the great initiations such as Yamāntaka, Heruka or Guhyasamāja have or include a purification of the five aggregates and their generation as deities. Should this actually be led to fruition, one would have attained enlightenment. The practice of Vajrayoginī, which is a subsidiary initiation does not include such a purification.
Now regarding the detailed vows, the six pledges connected with Vairochana are the three pledges connected with taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, as well as the three pledges of pure ethics. This is a pure ethics of abandoning faults, which is an ethics of abandoning the 10 non virtues and specifically killing, stealing and sexual misconduct. The ethics of practicing virtue, which is a practice of perfections motivated by bodhicitta, and the ethics of fulfilling the welfare of beings, which is to benefit beings through giving them medicine and so forth. This should be practiced three times by day and three times by night. In so doing, one fulfills the pledges.
The second category of pledge is or are the pledges of Ratnasambhava. Ratnasambhava is the purified form of the purified form of miserliness. In other words, the purified form of generosity. There are four pledges which are connected with Ratnasambhava. The first is giving material objects.
This does not refer to the act of giving physical substances like bread, apples, and so forth, but that mind which wishes to give them. The second is giving dharma. The third is giving fearlessness, which is referred to when one says, may they be bereft from the suffering of hatred and of attachment, which make one close and distant. So for instance, regarding this third practice, even an insect has feelings. And when that insect is on the point of being eaten up, it experiences fear.
If one protects it from this fear, one has practiced the generosity of giving fearlessness. And the fourth practice of generosity is a generosity of giving love. This is, for instance, to meditate on love for all sentient beings. No. No.
So we have presented 10 pledges at present, the six pledges of Vairochana and the four pledges of Ratnasambhava. Then we brought the pledges of Akṣobhya. Akṣobhya is the purified form of the aggregate of consciousness, which is none other than mind. Akṣobhya’s initiation is included within the four initiations of Anutara Yoga Tantra within the initiations into the five lineage Buddhas of the Vajra master initiation. And there are four pledges of Akṣobhya.
The first is the Vajra mind pledge, which is a mind pledge. Second is the Bell Speech Pledge. The third is the Body Mudra Pledge, which symbolizes or represents the union of male and female consorts. And the fourth is the Vajra Master Pledge, which is to pay homage and make offerings to the body and mind of the spiritual teacher. Now the fourth category of vows are the vows of Amitābha.
Amitābha represents the purified form of the aggregate of discrimination. There are three vows of Amitābha. The first one is to practice all three vehicles, which refers here to the Śrāvaka or Hīnayāna vehicle, the Pratyekabuddha or solitary realizer vehicle and the Bodhisattva vehicle. This is one vow. The second vow is to practice the two lower tantras from within the fourfold division of tantra.
This refers to practicing Kriyā and Caryā tantras, which are the exterior tantras since they focus extensively on the use of mudrā and ritual. This is the second vow. The third vow is to practice the secret tantras. This refers to the yoga and anuttara yoga tantras. And since Amitābha is the purified form of impure speech, these three vows arise naturally from that understanding
Of Amitābha. The Buddha taught these three vehicles. Therefore, the first vow of Amitābha is to practice these three vehicles. The Buddha taught Kriyā and Caryā Tantra. Therefore, the second vow of Amitābha is to practice these two.
And the Buddha also taught yoga and Anuttara Yoga Tantra. Therefore, the third vow of Amitābha is to practice the latter two tantras. And the Buddha’s body bears the three syllables om, ah, and hong. Om represents the purified form of the body of the Buddha and Vairochana. Ah represents Amitābha and purified speech, and Hung represents purified mind.
And the final category of pledges are the pledges of Amoghasiddhi. For there are only two such pledges, they are nonetheless the most vast of all pledges. The first Amoghasiddhi actually from one standpoint is known as Amoghasiddhi and from another standpoint is known as Vajrasattva. So the first pledge of Amoghasiddhi is to protect all of the previously explained 17 pledges without exception. These are the six pledges of Vairochana, the four pledges of Ratnasambhava, the four pledges of Akṣobhya and the three pledges of Amitābha, which makes 17.
The second pledge of Amoghasiddhi is to offer outer inner secret and such ness offerings. This is what is referred to in the six-session Guru Yoga with the verse, what I own and what I do not own, page 28 of the Tibetan text.
And to recapitulate the 19 lineage pledges, when we wake up in the morning, if we take refuge in a heartfelt fashion three times, we will have fulfilled the three first pledges of Vairochana to take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Then generating the strong wish to abandon specifically the 10 non virtuous deeds. Once we make this a commitment, we will give rise to ethics. If we merely do not engage in these deeds without committing not to do so, ethics itself does not arise. This is the fourth commitment.
The fifth commitment is animated by bodhicitta to practice the six perfections. And the sixth commitment is to perform the welfare of others. The second category pledges are the pledges of Ratnasambhava. These mean to practice the generosity of giving material objects, Dharma, fearlessness and love. And once within our mind, we generate the intention, I will give these, that pledge is fulfilled.
The third category of pledges are the pledges of Akṣobhya. There are four pledges of Akṣobhya, the Vajra and Bell pledge of mind and speech. Here, ideally, one would have a Vajra and bell. If one doesn’t have one, the minimum is to have pictures or drawings of these. It is indispensable for a so called mantra practitioner to have Vajra and bell since the definitive Vajra represents great bliss and the definitive bell represents the wisdom realizing emptiness.
And without their union, there is no attainment of full enlightenment. The third and fourth pledges of Akṣobhya are the Mudra pledge and the pledge of making offerings and venerating the Vajra master. It is said that if one keeps the pledges well, the Dakinis will come as flies attracted to a piece of meat. The fourth category of pledges are the pledges of Amitābha. These are threefold.
The first is practicing all three vehicles, the hearer, solitary realizer and bodhisattva vehicle. The hearer realizer vehicle refers to meditating on the four noble truths. The solitary realizer vehicle on the 12 links of dependent origination and the bodhisattva vehicle refers to meditating on generating bodhicitta through the interchange of self and others and the sevenfold cause and effect generation. The second pledge of Amitābha is to practice both Kriyā and Caryā Tantra. This means to practice practices like Vajrasattva or 1,000-armed Avalokiteśvara.
The third pledge is to practice Yogatantra, which means to practice, for instance, Vajrapāni and to practice Anuttara Yogatantra, practicing Yamāntaka, for instance. The fifth category of pledges are the pledges of Amoghasiddhi. The first is to practice all 17 pledges so far. If one just generates a mind saying, I will do so, this pledge is maintained. The second is to make outer inner secret and suchness offerings.
Outer offerings are offering flowers and so forth. Inner offerings are offering the inner offering. Secret offerings are offering the substances which are received during initiation, such as when one tastes milk, for instance. And suchness offering is reflecting on emptiness. A supreme practitioner on this basis attains enlightenment in this life, a middling one in the Bardo and a low one within 16 lives.
Basically, pledges mean to practice what is to be practiced, in other words, to generate qualities, and vows mean to restrain from what is to be abandoned, in other words, to restrain from defects. This twin process of practicing and abandoning is what leads to Buddhahood. It is said that mediocre Dharma practitioners have a huge pile of commitment and just drone through them, while top Dharma practitioners actually focus on the meaning. So to maintain these pledges means to practice them. There is no higher Dharma than actually practicing and practicing these pledges, pledges.
And there’s no practice higher than this, which leads to full enlightenment. And this is the reason for which we recite commitments. We recite commitments because through reciting the words of the commitments, the meaning arises to the mind. And if we do not recite the words, words, the meaning does not arise to the mind. His Holiness the Dalai Lama says that someone to whose mind the totality of the meaning arises does not actually need to recite the commitments.
However, in our case, it is a clear sign that when we reflect, we are merely verbally reciting the commitments, and they don’t arise within our minds. So we have reached the point of the practice of a six-session Guru Yoga yoga where we have invited the guru on our crown, and he dissolves. He enters our crown, travels through the central channel and dissolves within the letter hong at our heart between the white drop received from the father and the red drop received from the mother. Our mind, the mind of the guru, and our tutelary deity, our Yidam, become one. And at present, manifesting with the body speech and mind of the guru, we emanate rays of light from our heart.
They purify all of the environment and the beings within it, which in turn absorb the back within the heart. At this point, everything dissolves within this letter hong at the heart, and the vowel below the hung, the short a, dissolves into space The body of the letter dissolves within the top line. The top line dissolves within the moon disk, which dissolves within the dot, which in turn dissolves within the nada, which dissolves into emptiness. We generate at this point the mind of white appearance, red increase and black near attainment. And when they dissolve all into emptiness within the state of the mind of clear light, we meditate on emptiness.
And this mind of clear light is the fundamental mind which has been traveling from body to body beginninglessly since beginningless time. This is what progresses all the way up to full enlightenment. If it is possible for this mind to cognize emptiness, then and to cognize it authentically, then probably one will attain full enlightenment within this life. And therefore, with this mind of clear light and the bliss which arises through union with a consort, if one is able to meditate on emptiness and travel the path to the grounds in this life, then one will definitely attain enlightenment. And this practice of the six-session Guru Yoga is both easy and extraordinarily profound.
Says there is none of the other so called golden dharmas of Tibet which can compare with it in-depth. Since since we have at present attained a human rebirth, we have all of the favorable conditions. We have eliminated the unfavorable conditions. We have received the teachings. And since after all, it is up to us to create our own happiness, Rinpoche thinks it would be good if we put some effort.
So in the past, we have not attained these conditions. At present, we have. Therefore, it will be beneficial if we practiced at present. And, therefore, if we practice a pure, a careful, and a an authentic practice, then life after life, we will move upwards and eventually reach enlightenment.
Next week, Rinpoche will be starting the presentation of the Bodhisattva vows. We have the root text, of Chandragomin in 20 verses. And Rinpoche will be giving me for translation the text of the, 18 root and 46 branch vows. So if you could get those for next week, it would be very good.