Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute session on the Heruka body mandala, Kyabje Rinpoche systematically guides practitioners through visualizing the 62 deities within their own body. After establishing the bodhicitta motivation, he focuses on the eight “door” deities positioned at specific anatomical locations — tongue root, navel, sexual organs, anus, brow, nostrils, eyes, and ears — where forms such as the crow-faced, dog-faced, and owl-faced Heruka arise. Rinpoche emphasizes why this internal visualization is extraordinarily powerful: practitioners draw their gross winds inward through progressively subtle channels, ultimately realizing emptiness with the subtlest mind in a state of bliss. This direct realization constitutes Heruka in its definite meaning, fundamentally distinct from external statue forms. Intended for practitioners who have received Heruka initiation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-12-02 – 15A – KR.mp3
UUID: 140813f1-be7f-4641-853d-6ca59dc8402f
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Heruka Commentary
Date: 1989-12-02
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,756
So in the actual text, when it’s a mantra after a category, that’s kept on. Reciting. And afterward, when whole thing is finished, then on merit and so forth, there’s a verse which goes that sometimes recited and sometimes omitted. But still after that, the mantra is recited again and then followed by three times clapping and then followed by the words the words of auspiciousness. So after all, yeah, you have to do that.
I must I must lead all sentient being emphasizing on all. I must lead all sentient being to the state of precious sublime Buddhahood where there is excellent sublime happiness free of all suffering. And to do that, firstly, I must quickly quickly attain the state of Buddhahood. And to attain that state of Buddhahood I will engage in the activity of listening and studying the profound highest yoga tantra teaching of which this Heruka or Shri Heruka or glorious Heruka is one and this I will listen nicely, studied, and afterward, we’ll practice and meditate on it. So with that kind of thinking, which is the motivation of bodhicitta, we will meditate for about three minutes together.
So far, the teaching has explained, especially last time the 62 deities. And those 62 deities firstly generating the father and mother, the chief at the heart, and after that the four deities, and after that starting from the upper part of body from the hairline or the border of the hair touching the forehead starting from there generating the eight deities of the mind body deity and after that from shoulder on downward from armpit and onward so forth down shoulder are the eight deities of the speech body, and then from the lower part of the body starting from the secret organs and so forth, we had eight deities of the body deities. Eight secret, eight are deities of body, body deities. No. Altogether, 62 have been finished.
Among the 62, there’s remaining are the eight ones, which are the four of the directions and four of the subdirections. So last time, there was a bit of mention about that. And this morning, so-called, teaching will start from those eight the remaining eight. So regarding these eight of the four directions and the four sub-directions, these are the secret different parts in the body like the two eyes, ears, nose, and at the brow and, what I call, navel and the opening of the opening of the organ and so forth. And on those are the eight deities to be generated.
So these eight places are called we call literally the eight doors. So with these eight doors as a basis basis of how to generate the eight deities is within those what are called eight doors on their respective places there are eight channels and with the eight channels there are eight constituents or the elements of essence. What are called the essences. So in the last one with the last sets of three sets of the eight deities of the body, speech and mind there the channels has become the basis for generation of the mothers and the constituent as the general basis for generating the father and whereas here that separation of the channels and the constituents is not applied here. Here one has the channel and the constituent being one entity inseparable and from that one has to arise on the eight deities of the eight doors and how that is what could to be generated and how that arises firstly one thing that the channels and the constituent being inseparable becomes a HUM syllable, a very long HUM syllable and that HUM syllable transform or as visualized as being transformed and from that sphere arising in the aspect.
So So in the sādhana starts from the the point where it says on the places like mouth so on, in the respective channels long HUM and their nature or entity being inseparable, abiding that becomes the eight, or called eight goddesses of the doors and the sub directions. And here, first one is as in the sādhana is the root of the tongue on at where so root of the tongue at root of tongue, literally at root of tongue, black in Sanskrit, they have the Kakamukha. So the meaning is the crow faced one, black in color. So this is the opening or the hole where the root of the tongue lies so at that point one generates the goddess or female deity black in color one face two arm, and it’s called we’re calling the crow face. The emanation or or the magical incarnation of Īśvara in one specific place is of a crow face figure, basically human body and human head and black in color, but at the point of the beak or at that point of the mouth, it’s bit like a beaker of a crow bit pointing out or what could expose out in that shape.
And in order to in order to subdue that being, the Heruka transform and emanation in that aspect. Therefore, this one also is black color and it’s called the crow face. And at the navel is the owl-faced one. So literally in the sādhana is at the hole of the navel is the what I call green old faced one. That’s because they figured to be subdued is the owl one.
Therefore, the one who subdues also is an owl-faced one and it’s what I call green color. And then at the mark or yeah. At the secret mark, and that means to whatever what called sexual organ, either male or female. So that mark is a what call dog-faced one. The dog faced, and it’s red in color.
And then literally in the anus part, so that is where one excretes out one’s feces or in the translations, anus is mentioned. So at the anus anus, the door entrance, there is what I call the pig faced one and yellow in color. So those are the work of four principal doors and those are generated in their respective places and now starts the sub directions starting from the brow. So there the inseparable entity of the channels and constituent being transformed becomes the Shinjicema, Yamāntaka. So this one is at the Wakot sub direction subdirection the first one so with this one as in the sādhana it says it’s what called right is green and left yellow, so the Tibetan word interchangeable with blue is green, literally says blue so it’s interchanging with green so right green and left yellow is because if there is what called the right side of east is yellow and the left is green.
And in between between the two, if there’s a corner which faces both side, then it will have an aspect of the color of bone because lying in between. And same with here because of lying in between east and north that it has a color of the both sides, right yellow and right in right green and the left yellow. So this one, we have to think as facing inward. So facing inward and then I will call left left yellow and right green. And then in in the two, what I call, in the two holes of the nose, so meaning the two nostrils in there in there is generated the Shinjicema or Yamāntaka and right yellow, left red.
And in the two eyes, right red and left gray. And in the two ears, the the vocal holes of the two ears, the Shinjicema, Yamāntaka, right blue black and left is to be meant as blue black. Left blue black. And all these, meaning all these eight, so they are only one. And of one face, two arms, and holding a what I call left holding a curved knife and right a skull cup.
And then in the armpit arm yeah. In the armpit, what I call. And the they’re adorned with all the ornaments, and they’re standing on the cushion of the corpses that’s the difference they are not on cushion of a Sun or Moon so this is difference meaning it’s different to the previous one in the cushion that they remain standing on the corpse and the right slightly slight right stretch and left leg extended and wearing a skull cup skull five skull, sorry, head ornament and what called Dorje rosary of 50 human heads and like a Vajrayoginī same. So far, the 62 deities of Sri Heruka has been visualized, and it start at the heart oneself. At the start of ones it starts with at the heart oneself or the principal father and mother, and after that the four dakinis, and then starting the deities of the mind starting from the hairline and on the crown and so forth, eight with father and mother, and they can be were called they can be counted as one so meaning eight instead of father and mother 16 and then starting from the eight deities of speech they also can be counted as one instead of father and mother separate and same with the eight deities of the body they also can be counted as one.
So we have a set of eight or eight threes plus those five principle before that. And on top of that, we have the four directions and four subdirection, and in that proper previous order, it’s 62. So at this center of the heart is the principal deity, so meaning the father and mother and then on the four dakinis and then the eight of the mind together with the mother and then the speech and then of the the body and then the eight of the doors. So these all are to be visualized as facing inward to the principal father and mother. It has already been explained in the last teaching how greatly big difference there is between the two kinds of what I call two kinds of a representation of enlightened beings body in the form of first being in the form of external stages made even of gold, silver, bronze, and so forth with that of the second type being generated by oneself.
So meaning, it has it has been explained in the last teaching how big difference there is between an image out there made of substance matter and with that of one’s insight generated on the basis of one’s constituents channels and so forth. It’s enormously big difference. The second one is so many times much more beneficial, much more powerful, and more precious. Why the whole process of generation starts from the first the central channel being generated into the nature of the Heruka father and mother because the first time when the body is being formed and the channels being formed, the first one that is formed is the central channel of the central channel amongst the three channels, the central, right and left channel, and after that that central channel expands or it’s what call yeah. It expands into the four four what called branch channels, and after that, it what called it it expands into eight then making three to each of the eight making 24.
And that’s why first we generate the first we generate the principal deity, and after that, the 24 and so forth. And after that, the 24 further are each having three channels thus making what called 72,000 and then with each of the 72,000 having 1,000 thus making 72,000,000 channels. Anyway in the practice here mainly one generates deities on the basis of the principal channels. Why that is so is because if one generates the deities on the principal channels then those deities who are actually residing in the external actual places in this specific text or actual practice. So those deities who are externally residing those specific places mentioned in the text.
So those deities, they see these deities being generated by you, the practitioner, and thus by seeing, become pleased and they bless you and out of or due to the blessing, it becomes so so powerful and powerful in the sense that it helps to generate quickly quickly the realizations of the grounds and the paths, and that’s the purpose. So at the moment, most of the winds, the gross minds and the winds are all out there, whereas inside are the subtle winds and the subtle mind. And now when one does these practices, one will be able to draw all those gross minds wandering out there along with the wind together inside and finally can be absorbed into the 72,000 channels. And because being able to draw into the 72,000 channels, one can also be able to work on afterward further draw them into the 24 channels. And after having drawn, so in the sense of absorbing.
So when one is able to draw them into the 24 channels, slowly slowly, one can be able to draw into the three principal, what called central and the Roma and Kyangma, the right and left, and so forth. And when one is able to draw into the three principle one, then finally one can also be able to draw into the central channel. And because of being able to draw into the center, one can afterward be able to draw the central channel’s wind from below upward into the centermost, the heart place. And after that, when one has drawn, then the subtlest mind will be able to realize the emptiness.
And that realization of emptiness by the subtlest mind is the Heruka in the definite meaning. And then one is attaining in its most, what I call, ultimate meaning, the definite meaning. So how that is so is normally the winds of the attachment, hatred, and ignorance run into the central channel respectively, the wind of attachment runs in the right Roma channel and the wind of hatred into the left channel and the of ignorance in the central channel. And in a course of practice after attaining certain point of realization when one is able to draw the two sides wind into the central central channel. Then because of the power of that, the first tummo fire at the navel will be ablaze and that tummo fire ablazing so fiercely, or what call so intensely that it may that it will be able to melt down the white bodhicitta fluid which is at the crown. And that melting of the white bodhicitta fluid will generate immense what we call bliss.
And that immense bliss, within that state of immense bliss, one firstly has to realize emptiness in the what is normally called intellectual or what I call in the imaginative comprehension aspect. When when that is imaginative or imaginative comprehension aspect, when that is finished, then after some time being able to get used to it then there will come a time that emptiness will be realized directly with the subtlest mind being in that state of great bliss generated by that melting. So that realization of emptiness at that point is what is called the Heruka in its definite meaning. And whereas at the moment, the Heruka which are drawn outside on paintings and being visualized outside and being seen out in the form of statues and so forth, they are called of interpretive meaning. So once one has realized that emptiness through that way, then one is able to generate the path of seeing of the path of seeing and path of meditation of the what’s called of the secret mantra path, and one because of having generated those path, one will be able to apply those realizations of the path as an antidote to the obscurations of knowledge, knowledge obscuration and after that coming out of a meditation, so normally in the equipoise, so coming out of equipoise in the post equipoise time, the practitioner only will have to do a little bit of additional merit accumulation and then after some days he can become Buddha, attain enlightenment $2 within matter of some days.
And therefore, body mandala visualization and practices are incredibly powerful, incredibly to the point, called really what called going to where it should go to the core point, and it’s incredibly what’s called a blessing for, and that’s how it is. So that normally is explained as the benefit or the purpose of doing body mandala meditations.