Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 49-minute commentary, Kyabje Rinpoche guides practitioners through intricate visualizations of the Heruka sādhana, building on the previous session’s mandala overview. He details the celestial mansion: its square shape, dimensions, eight-petal lotus floor with precise color assignments, and central sun. He describes Heruka—four-faced, twelve-handed, blue-black—at the center embracing his consort, with protective figures Bhairava and Kalarati trampled beneath their feet. A key theme: why these negative forces are subdued—they reside atop Mount Meru, emanate harmful forms obstructing sentient beings, and Buddha Śākyamūni himself emanated as Heruka to address this. The teaching also covers the deity’s ornaments and nine splendors of body, speech, and mind. Pitched at practitioners who have received Heruka initiation.
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File: 1989-10-28 – 9A – KR.mp3
UUID: cdb757c9-b678-40b1-a16a-fd83ea770482
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Heruka Commentary
Date: 1989-10-28
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,521
In order to lead all the sentient beings equal to infinite space, in order to lead these sentient beings to the excellent happiness where there would be no suffering, firstly, I must attain a state which is complete with all the good qualities and which hasn’t got slightest or So in this way, try to generate the motivation. And in trying to generate that, let’s meditate for two minutes. In the last teaching, there has been brief explanation about about the point where the practitioner generates the mandala. So mandala in this context refers to the celestial mansion. So there has been brief explanation about the as well as the surrounding protection wheel, protection of those and the and so forth.
So in the sādhana, it is on this point where in the lines it says the maybe it could be different translation but, goes like, celestial mansion which is piled of different, different buildings, different houses, different houses piled up forming the celestial mansion. So, at that point in the So, in normal case, if there’s a person, then firstly, the person should have the house which is his residence. So, it’s same here when the practitioner generates as a deity. Firstly, he should have a residence. So that residence, in this case, is the celestial mansion.
So celestial mansion in Tibetan literally translated means immeasurable mansion, a mansion which cannot be measured. So that is the celestial mansion and this is as yesterday explained. And outside this celestial mansion is the protection circle or protection wheel. So this is like a normal case if a person is in the house, it is possible he might receive harms from outside. So in case to protect from the outside harm, at this point outside this celestial mansion, we visualize the protecting circle as explained before.
We call in the eastern black and then green and then red and yellow in the south, those protection circuits. And outside the protecting circuits are the five colored fire mountains. And outside those five colored fire mountains are the eight great cemeteries. So there are eight great cemeteries starting from a cemetery called the Joyful One. So in each of these eight great cemeteries there are eight things or features which each of the great cemeteries have like each of the cemeteries they have eight great persons, and then eight great stupas, and eight great clouds, and eight great, what’s called, yogi practitioners, siddha practitioners.
So each of these has like these things. They have eight different features in each of them. So why are these eight great cemeteries? It’s because to protect the person in the course of his Dharma practice. So cemeteries are normally a cemetery would be a place where corpses are burned and left uncared for.
So because cemetery represents a kind of ownerless, which in Tibetan is the same word for selfless. So because cemetery is place of ownerless, selfless, therefore, cemeteries represent the selfless nature of phenomena. And also, cemetery represents the kind of object on which the practitioner generates renunciation, the antidote of renunciation. And inside each of the cemeteries are the fire, five colored fire, turning from left to right anticlockwise. So these five colored fire represents the five pristine wisdoms or five pure wisdoms.
So this five pillar system, in meaning, represents the dharma wheel. And inside this inside these cemeteries, have what are called the protection wheel. So that protection wheel represents the body of the deity. So the cemeteries represents the and the five mountains represents the correct view, and the protection circle represents the in this case. Therefore, three represent the three principal aspects of the path.
So, maybe to clarify the first and the second one, the fire, is one which already has been explained before. So with with these three, the practitioner should be able to understand that to practice the secret mantra or Tantra path, he needs to have these three principal aspects of the path. So, these are the what are called the base piled upon on top of which is the Mount Sumeru. So all this has been explained before in last year, how they represent the causes of birth, together with the parents and conceiving and so forth. On the center of the Mount Meru is the place where the deities used to stay, the room or celestial mansion.
And that celestial mansion is square in shape and has four doorways. And on the top of the celestial mansion, the roof is like as we normally would see on the top of the Buddhist temple’s roof. So something like that in shade, which is the roof. And it has the victory banner and the precious umbrella on top of it. And it is also endowed by so many precious jewel ornaments around it.
So the celestial mansion in size and shape is square. Now, its width to the right is 32 hatang, Hatang is a Tibetan term. One hatang consists of a fathom.
So one charting has one far along about this. So meaning, 32 foot long. About this. This is one. Yeah, arm span.
Arm span. So about 32 arm spans to the right, to the left, to the front, to the back, so in meaning square with these measurements. And then the celestial mansion has four doors and also a little bit at distance from the four doors on each side, means on each door, a little bit from distance, and the four archways. So archways in this context will have to be something like normally when a great dignitary person, we said we make temporary gates. So it’s something like the gates.
And it’s very beautiful. You have to imagine on top of the archways on its roof are the deer, deer, and deer animals, and adorned with precious jewels. So with the mentioned, it’s a square. And now the front, which is the east part on the top part of the east, as Leslie mentioned, is white. And to the left, which would be north, is green in color.
And then the rest is red in color. The south. And then then on the ground in the center, that’s the ground. The surface is blue in color. So with the, celestial mansion at the center is blue in color, and on the blue surface is variegated eight pattern lotus.
So eight pattern lotus, means it’s of different color. So Tibetan word is the various lotus of various kind. So the four directions are red in color. One. The East South is yellow in color.
So that’s the color of the lotus patterns. So in between north and the West is. Yellow. So that means Northwest. And then North south is green color.
So which would be over there? North South is green color. Is that yeah. No. The rest of the South.
So the rest of the Yeah. And then in the East and north, that’s East North, is black in color. Did we have that before? No. No.
These eight petals of the lotus are thin and so huge that it covers the whole surface. At the center of the lotus is a full sun. It’s around sun red and so the what we we mentioned at this point is formed means it’s complete. So at the center of the celestial mansion So at the center of the celestial mansion is the round sun, red in color. And at the center of this sun is oneself in the aspect of Heruka, blue black in color.
Today So in this round sun, at the center is oneself in the aspect of Heruka, visualize it like that. One of the has four face. The main face in the center is black, and right is green in color, and back one is blue in or red in color, and the right one is yellow in color. So it has four faces, four heads. Like that.
Each has three eyes and both eyes like normal and the third eye standing up at the center. So if you look at the sādhana, it’s quite plain, the sādhana, at this point. So when each face has three eyes, and the deity has 12 hands on this side, six on the right, six hands to the left. And then in the sādhana where it says at the forehead is the garland or crown of five skulls. So it cannot exactly be on the forehead.
It has a little bit higher. So this refers to the crown vajra, which is so four colored. They what I call as normal white in the East, red in the West, and green in the North, and the rest one. So in meaning, the crown at the top of the head, that’s what is now in the the five skulls at the forehead. So it’s not a haircut, just what are unrelated.
It is oneself. So oneself is in the aspect of the deity Heruka. So afterward, when you daily do the practice, you yourself has to be visualized as at the center of the. And the right right leg is stretched, and underneath the stretched leg or right leg is Bhairava. Black bear is one face of forearms and two legs, and he’s being trampled or being pressed down by the right leg, and that black Bhairava is upside down.
And it has four hands. The first two hands are folded in anjali towards Heruka. And the the left or right hand the second right hand is holding is is holding a ḍamaru drum, and the second left hand is holding a sword. And then on the underneath the left foot, left foot, which is drawn slightly inward, underneath it is the red. Red Kalarati, and she is with one face, four arms, four hands.
And the first two hands folded in anjali towards Heruka, and the second right hand holding a skull cup and the second left hand holding a sword. And the red is facing on its back, lying on its back. So both of these being which are under the feet trampled down, each of them has three eyes and five ornaments like the ornaments of the necklaces, anklets, and sacred thread which is worn across one’s shoulder and so forth. So why these two are being the black and red color. Why these two are being down?
Because these two represent Mara, negative force owner Īśvara and his consort or his wife. So these two negative force owners being suppressed down is the meaning. Why these two beings which represent Īśvara and Ishvari, why these two are being suppressed under the feet because these two beings and Īśvara used to reside on the top of Mount Meru. And being on top of Mount Meru, they emanate so many different emanations in the form of and so forth, harming sentient beings and trying to influence sentient beings to do negative actions. So because they are so negative in harming the sentient beings, therefore, Heruka together with his consort have subdued them, and they are being pressed under their feet.
Why does the whole practice visualizing oneself in the identity aspect of Heruka Father-Mother on top of Mount Meru is because in the past during the time of Buddha there were four goddesses. So these four goddesses requested to Buddha Śākyamūni saying. These two beings, Īśvara and Ishvari residing on top of Mount Meru, they emanate so many different forms and bring harms to sentient beings. Therefore please help to subdue them. So, out of great compassion, Buddha emanated or arose in the form of Heruka Father-Mother on top of Mount Meru and having arisen in that form, Buddha started preaching the tantra of Heruka.
So has 12 hands. The first two hands, this and the second, the left hand, the first two hands holds a vajra and bell and holding in this aspect embraces the consort And the second two hands, the right, second hand and the left second hand are holding, red elephant, skin. So the right hand holding the right hand of the elephant skin and the left hand holding the left leg of the elephant skin and holding at the level of about the eyebrows. And in this aspect. So the third right hand placed and the fourth right hand placed the or hold curved knife.
And the after that, the. So it’s in the So that’s It’s the. No. And the fourth one is x. And the fifth one is.
And the sixth implement is the three-pointed spear. So why it’s important is what is called the normal tendency to not look, because then we can have our sacredly transmission. The left hand holds marked by which normally you would see. And then the sixth left hand holds a four-faced head of Brahma. So, you might wish you had a little bit of hand and a bit with neck part and holding and four faced like a snowman.
I had to be. So the hairs are tied upward with the on the top, you see, the hair is tied upward like a knot on the top. And on each on each head, therefore, on each head, there are the garment of black hair hanging down. And on top of on top of the crown, the the what called garland or a crown, a crown garland of five skulls, strung with two strings on top and bottom with the purpose that the skulls may not fall down.
So perhaps, we can know in detail by looking into the picture. And then on the. Toward this side is the white half-moon, a little bit reclined. And they said it to the back of the. And the face is slightly slightly slightly, what I call, moved.
So in each instance, it says changing phase, which literally is like that. Means slightly. And four things like that. No. And then having nine splendors, which in Tibetan says moods.
So it’s actually saying splendor showing the personality of the deity. So three splendors of body, three splendors of speech, and three splendors of mind. So the first three what I call first three are splendor of body, which starts with gap in the translation says erotic. So the explanation that’s what I call it. So because the deities press down the two beam.
And the third one literally means beautiful. So this is to be explained as a little bit of a little bit of a rough wrinkles on the forehead. The third one. Might explain this way. The first one, gateful.
Graceful is to be explained as meaning quite beautiful with the slight aspect of the deity in this way. Quite attractive. So and then comes the three three splendors of this place. Where now with the first one, it means bit laughing. Laughing.
The laughing on the first one. And second one is fierce. They’re fierce because the fangs are bared. And third one is terrifying. One terrifying is because the crown hair is moving like a wrathful one.