Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 47-minute commentary, Kyabje Rinpoche walks practitioners through Heruka deity yoga—visualizing the sacred syllables (white OM at the crown, red AH at the throat, blue HUNG at the heart) within the doctrine of emptiness and transcendental wisdom. He covers the hand gesture called the five-round, noting variants between the Sakya and Tsongkhapa traditions, and teaches self-generation as the deity in union with consort. The teaching then focuses on offering practice: protocols for making offerings to the root lama, the 62 deities of the mandala, and other protectors and beings, specifying exact hand positions (higher for root lama, knee-level for external protectors) and visualizations for each category. Pitched at practitioners with prior Heruka initiation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-12-13 – 16B – KR.mp3
UUID: 5470773b-e6dd-4cd1-aeb4-093421227972
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Heruka Commentary
Date: 1989-12-13
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,858
And one’s a sword vajra, sword is chain, iron chain, and last one is. So all being merged being merged the into all the deities within one’s body and in the mandala. And then think on the crown of all the deities on moon is a white om syllable and at the throat or at the throat in on the lotus R syllable in red color and the speech nature of speech and at the heart is on sun, a blue hong. So this being on all the deities. And then at the point comes the mantra where it starts with Aum, yoga as the integrating practice, sudha pure, refers to all Dharma phenomena in the context referring to all things.
And yoga as before integrating practice, sudha pure, svabhavam. That hasn’t been explained, svabhavam. And that line says the purity of all things purified of its nature. And that being the purity of all phenomena or purity of all integrating practices which being in the form of transcendental pure wisdom is the definitive meaning ‘Heruka’. And that definite meaning ‘Heruka’.
Blessed is the interpretive meaning ‘Heruka’ where the blessing mantra starts, Om ah om after that. And then Om as before, Sarva, all Vira, heroes, Yoginī, integrating practitioners in female form, kaya, body, speech, chitta, mind, vajra, indestructible. So aham, atma, myself, is. So in meaning, definite meaning Heruka, which is the purity of all things in the form of wisdom is myself in the form of interpretive meaning Heruka arising in the form of deity. When one says that one has to do that hand gesture which Rinpoche did.
So this one in Sakya tradition has a five round. It’s called five round. So I will clarify after. It’s called five round, two swing to the right, two swing to the left and one in the front. Whereas in Lama Tsongkhapa’s tradition, it has been explained that five perhaps may not be needed.
Just being having three swing is fine. So whichever you feel is fine. You can only do three. Now that’s inside your five five swings. You got it?
So literally, it’s called the five round aspect. Five aspect round. So perhaps you just say five round is five. Fine. Five round.
So the whole gesture is called the five round. So all the wisdom being, pure wisdom being has now already absorbed into oneself. Therefore, now one has to think that one is the whole or soul entity of all the, what I call, enlightened beings, all the deities of the and Vira heroes and Virani heroines. So one thing wants to be the entity of all the enlightened ones. And now in the sādhana, again there is the offering mantra Om Argham Padesh Svāhā.
So this is being offered to the empowerment deities who are up there in the space before ones are invited and who are countless in number already invited there. So for them one is offering this local offering and it is a short one and if one has to do the extensive offering then one has to make the whole offering, and so forth, the whole the way through to rupa, shabda, the sense objects offerings. So if one is to extensive one, then one has to make the offerings of the six to knowledge consorts and also one has to make the praise starting from Om Chandinde Pao Gyatso and so forth. I think the eight line of appraised. Yeah.
Eight line. Eight eight normally called eight leg or eight verse. So to do extensive one, one has to make offering of the 16 knowledge consort as well as the eight line praises of both father and mother and also the song of Queen Spring. And after that one has to make the request to kindly bestow empowerment. The Tathagatas, all the Tathagatas, kindly bless empowerment upon me.
So having requested one visualize the empowerment, a whole work of multitudes of empowerment deities up in this space offering or bestowing empowerment upon you by the or continuous stream of the nectar water and enters to one’s body and nectar completely fills one’s body. One shouldn’t think that the nectar exits out of one’s body instead like a water being poured into vase it fills the whole vase instead of going out. So like that one has to visualize nectar going into one’s body and the excess water overflows from the crown. And now with the nectar, perhaps some might think it is water. It shouldn’t be thought as water.
Instead it should be nectar in aspect and very much nature of transcendental pure wisdom. So this enters one’s body, fills one’s body, overflows and as in the sādhana, for the father, the overflown overflow nectar transforms and becomes Vajrasattva. And for Vajivari, the overflow nectars transform into Akṣobhya. And for the dakini and so forth, the four at the center. For them, the overflown nectar becomes Ratnasambhava and for the deities of the mind will or mind circle, the overflown water, oh sorry, the overflown nectar becomes or transforms into Akṣobhya.
And for the deities of the speech circle, the overflown nectar transforms into Amitābha and for those of the body circle transforms into Vairochana. And for the deities of the place circle, so these refers to deities of the four directions and four sub directions. So for them the overflown nectar transforms into Amoghasiddhi. Therefore they are all adorned by the Dhyāni Buddhas, the six lineages or six families of Tathagatas So, at this point, this is quite a brief way of what is called requesting and receiving the empowerment. During the Chakrasamvara, if it’s to be done extensively, then one has to, or literally saying, if one has to do it extensively, then the four usual empowerments like the vase empowerment, the secret empowerment, the pure wisdom empowerment and so forth, they can be taken at this point.
So The complete four empowerments can be taken at this point in the extensive one. That the date is complete. All the date can be absorbed into one’s Now at this point, what is left up what is left up in this space? The wisdom beings have been absorbed. The empowerment deities have been absorbed.
And now only the empowerment deities are left, sorry the outer goddesses are left and now the outer goddesses have to function their work or have to do their functions and at this point the offerings are to be made and offerings are being made to oneself as the self generated deity and that is because one is already generated into the self generated deity of father, Heruka and mother. And before one makes the offering one has to bless the offering. Of course at the beginning of the sādhana one has what we call blessed but still it is a kind of practice that at this point also one blesses the offerings. So at this point, the four offerings can be made, outer offering being related with vase initiation and inner offering being related with secret empowerment and the other two suchness offering it hasn’t been explained. So only the first two has been referred.
And So the four offerings can be made in relation with the four empowerments. The rest two haven’t been recorded. So the outer offering one is to make starts from Om Argham Padesh Svāhā so up till Om Vajradumi Hung. So regarding the meaning of the mantra of offering Om Argham Padesh Svāhā, Om is the name of the offering to be made. Means please have.
Have in Tibetan. Please eat. So please eat. And Svāhā, the foundation of happiness be established. So that’s how the meaning goes like.
So at this point the offering auto offering starts with the three waters, In the tradition of the Heruka Luipa tradition, Master Luipa’s tradition, which actually should have been the context commentary, in there the water along with achamanam and padyam. Here this sādhana is basically based on the tradition of Ghantapa. Four waters are to be offered. And then the one is as normal. When the flower, when the dhupe, the incense, it doesn’t say when the dupae for nose tilts or for nose, and when the naivedya or food, and shabda, what is called the music and hong Svāhā as before.
Svāhā has the meaning of the foundation of happiness established. And then one one offers the Om Banza Adesha Hung which is we call mirror offering. Om as the heading of all the mantras also represents body of all the victorious Buddhists and awe of speech and Hung at the end of the mantra together Omahung represents the body speech of the victorious one, Banza is identical with Vajra, and Adarsha is mirror. And then so that is the offering of the form reflected in mirror. Then which is offering of the vina So that’s the sound.
Is indestructible sound, and vina is vina, lute. So with rest of the mantra has the same meaning or need need not be explained further. So is offering of odor or smell, and the rasa is taste, and and sparsha is touch or tangible sensation, and when the Dharma is a phenomenon being offered in form of Dharma source, so normally called reality source. With that gesture. Right.
Mere mirrors merely seeing this gesture of reality source or Dharma source, represents emptiness, it has has a connection of one being able to realize the meaning of emptiness. Sir? So also at this point, one can make the offerings of the 16 knowledge consorts literally called 16 knowledge and knowledge being feminine or feminine world. So knowledge ladies. So 16 knowledge ladies, and also one can make the praises of the eight lines of both father and mother, and also one can sing the song of Queen Spring.
So having made the offering, one should think that within oneself, one’s mind stream as the father and mother, and within the mind stream of the old, of our, entire multitudes of deities of the mandala, there arises special pure wisdom, inseparable nature of bliss and emptiness. So perhaps because Rinpoche is planning or thinking to finish or conclude this commentary within two days and seems because lots of translators would be away, it wouldn’t be enough to complete in two days. That’s why how about going further tonight? Would you be what call tired? No.
We will go up till 11:00. So we will go up till the mantra recitation just touching briefly briefly. So what I call outer offering is finished, and now is the inner offering which has to be blessed. And regarding the blessing of inner offering, it has been explained at the beginning of the commentary I’ll take the inner offering and stir it three times by the this finger of the left hand. So please look at the what I call look at the sādhana.
It starts with the line I offer and in Tibetan, I offer the Tathagalas of the three times body, speech and mind enlightened activities being in the nature. So their body, speech and mind and enlightened activities of all the Tathagatas having in the nature as well. So the whole line going up till the point to the mouth of root, to the mouth of my kind root lama omahong. So with this one offer to one’s root lama who is kind in three ways for having bestowed empowerment, for having explained the tantra and for having given the instructions. So whoever are rude to kind lamas, kind in those three ways they are, one makes the offering.
So I think you don’t need to read that. I mean from my side. So I’ll kill that point. So regarding having bestowal empowerment refers to having bestowal empowerment of the highest yoga tantra and having explained tantra means having explained the tantra such as the tantra of the action tantra, performance tantra and so forth. Given And the instruction means one who taught the instructions regarding how to practice each and every details of the mantric practice.
So to such lama one has to make offering and such lama is called by the phrase the root lama or lama are kind in three ways. Having having the three kindnesses. So regarding the visualization of where one has to visualize such lama, one way to visualize is at one’s crown, one has one has the lineage master or family family master referring to the overflowing nature transforming into that lineage master or family master. So at the heart of the family master it can be sun cushion and moon cushion. So let’s say both sun and moon cushion and upon the sun and moon cushion are one’s root lama around whom are surrounded by all the lineage gurus and then one makes the offering first stir and then what we call nectar offering by saying those lines which ends in the what we call to my root kind root lamas in their mouth.
If one can visualize on one’s core at the one’s crown at the heart of the lineage master or family master, then one can visualize up in the space before oneself like in Guru Puja or Lama Chöpa and there one visualize on a cushion of lotus sun and moon, one’s root lama surrounded by all the lineage lamas and then recite this one to their mouth and make the offering. So this often gesture symbolizes the union of method and wisdom. So the term symbolizes the lotus of the mother and the this finger. Why would you call this finger? Ring finger.
No. So the ring finger finger symbolizes the father’s Vajra. So these two in union, one of our accord takes the inner offering which one thinks as the very of bodhicitta, very nature of bodhicitta in aspect nectar and being offered. So that doesn’t So in the sādhana, it doesn’t specify how many times one has to offer. There are there are what are called different ways.
In some cases it recommends to offer three times, some cases it recommends to offer seven times, anyway whichever one or three or seven. Now when one offers to the Lineage Gurus at that point one lowers the inner offering a little bit lower. When one makes to the root lamas at that point one holds it high up there. Now to the gurus, one makes offering by holding a bit lower. Then one makes often to 62 deities of the mandala and to do an extensive one, each of the deity has its respective mantra which Rinpoche recited.
So I can’t say that. So that’s an extensive one with each of the respective mantra of the 62 deity joined by Omahong at the end one makes the offering. Anyway, here in the sādhana, is done in the short one where it goes starts with and so forth up till at the end. So that’s the short one. And after that, one makes offering to the what called multitude or assemblies of deities of other classes like Yama, and so forth.
So the lines as in the sādhana it says in the line, so at the end one joins Omahong. So and this is also to the multitudes of the deities or to the assembly of deities of the deities related with the four great tantra classes. To them, when one makes the offering, one can hold the inner offering at one’s heart level. And then one offering to the special guardians and the place-bound or place-bearing beings who have been attended to by the previous lamas of the path. And the warnings in the sādhana who have seen Buddhas in the path have heard the sublime Dharma, have attended to the sublime or exalted Sangha, and have accepted to have been accepted have accepted to guard the doctrine and the places where they are the four four retinue.
So four retinue is referred to the four: fully ordained Bhikśu, fully ordained Bhikśunī, novice monk and novice female novice. So these are to them one is making offering. So as these protectors and guardians are within the protection wheel, therefore when one makes offering to them, one makes offering by holding the inner offering level. And after that one makes offering as in the sādhana says, one make offerings to the viras and yoginis in the eight great cemeteries, the landlords, the direction protectors, landlords, nagas, etc. And also the land owners remaining in natural places and also those who have become good to sentient beings to their mouth, to them.
So on the previous one, the protectors who have been attended by previous so to them one makes offering at the knee level. And then starting the viras and yoginis are residing in the eight great cemeteries, that one, and also after that the nagas and so forth. Because these beings are outside the protection wheel therefore when one makes the offering or inner offering one holds the inner offering below one’s knee level.