Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 45-minute teaching, Kyabje Rinpoche addresses a central puzzle of deity practice: how to rest in the identity of Yamāntaka while still purifying the negativities you carry as an ordinary person. He grounds the work in karma and cause-and-effect, establishing genuine regret and promise as foundations. He then teaches Vajrasattva purification in detail—three visualization methods (upward and downward-driving nectar, earth-splitting imagery, satisfied hungry spirits), the 100-syllable mantra explained term-by-term, and daily practice of 21 recitations grouped by body, speech, and mind. A teaching metaphor anchors the method: purification clears weeds and stones from a field, but good crops require seeds, water, manure—the positive factors of merit, offerings, and compassion. He concludes with visualization of the eight-petal lotus at the heart and absorption of lama-Vajrasattva into oneself. For practitioners who have received Yamāntaka initiation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1990-01-04 – 4B – Tassie Yamāntaka Commentary – KR.mp3
UUID: 617ffa01-009c-4734-9397-d6c81b97564e
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Jigje – Yamāntaka
Date: 1990-01-04
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,847
In order to have the two or among the four powers, the power of thorough eradication and power of not turning back to the misdeeds and future. In order to have those two powers very well, to speak strictly, the practitioner should think very precisely possible detail about the law of karma, law of cause and effect, in which case the practitioner will really believe or come to a strong belief that if I don’t leave this, then because law of karma is like that, there is no fallibility, it will somehow, I will have to experience. Therefore, there will arise strong sense of promise not to do them again and a strong regret for the past or negative actions. So at this point in the commentary, there is special section which is not in the sādhana and that has relation about a special point. Anyway, so far oneself is still in the aspect of Yamāntaka Vajrabhairava and it might be a possibility of arising idea thinking, oh, because I’m in Vajrabhairava aspect, I don’t have any negativities.
And that’s very true because in the path it happened with one disciple while listening to commentary on this deity. He told to the lama, oh, there’s no need for me to do this practice because I haven’t got negativities. And then the lama replied back, oh, that’s true. Yamāntaka hasn’t got any negativities, but you do. So how one should have to do a purification practice at this at this point?
Because there is this complexity of one’s within the aspect of Vajrabhairava and one’s too there’s need to purify one as ordinary person’s negativity. Therefore, in the commentary, there’s one part which seems very good to import in this explanation and that One’s self as Vajrabhairava, Yamāntaka, at one’s heart one can visualize the moon, on which one can visualize oneself as ordinary person surrounded by all other sentient beings suffering full of negativities. One make request as in the sādhana to Vajrasattva to kindly what I call to kindly help me or assist me to have my negativities and aspiration purified. And having made that request, think at that point from from the heart of Vajrasattva, they stream forth a stream of nectars which enters into one’s body and completely purifies negativities of oneself and the surrounding sentient beings at one’s heart. So that seems quite good.
That is one way as explained in this commentary but in other scriptures it is explained that the way to do purification practice at this point can be done this way where the practitioner can lose or can release the deity’s pride but still can hold on to clear visualization which is called the appearance part. Normally there is appearance and pride. One releases the pride of oneself being Vajrabhairava so one still visualizes oneself in the deity and then one does the purification and that’s good too. So so far, the three opponent power has been complete. Now it’s the fourth opponent power which is called the opponent power of ever applying the antidotes, always applying the countermeasures, the antidote.
How that is in this practice? That is in this practice when one makes the request and when one visualizes from the heart of Vajrasattva, nectars flow down and enters into one’s body and purifies. That practice is called the fourth opponent power applying the countermeasures. And now to explain the meaning of the 100 syllable mantra, which starts with the syllable om. And om, as explained yesterday, is the mantra which leads to all the mantras.
It’s also called the mantra holding the gem. It also the mantra of auspiciousness. And then benza means indestructible vajra, and means mind power or heroic mind, and means pledge. And manu means after. Palaya means protect or care for.
So in short, that means please please care of care for me. So in other words, look after me. And then after that is sattva which is as before same, need not be explained. And then teno patiththa, that means please stay firmly. So this is requesting Vajrasattva please stay firmly close by.
And then means firm firm. And means myself or or in we call objective me. Me. So means me and means thing, and which means please show me the object of affirmedness. And then sutto itayu means increasing or or it has a double meaning increasing or or delightfulness, and me as before means means what I call me, and bow is thing.
Please, to me, bestow the object of delightfulness, king of delightfulness. And then anuragto means what I call attachment. Me is me, bow is team. So please, to me, bestow the thing of attachment. And then means very delightful and made us before me.
Is of a theme, and that is please to me bestow the theme of extreme delightfulness. And then is all. Sadhis or accomplishment or power, sometimes accomplishment. And is me. Bestow.
And this meaning, please bestow to me all the accomplishments. And is all. Is actions. Is to all. And me is to me all the meaning all the actions to me, entirely.
And sitam means mind. Shriya is glorious or splendor. Please bestow. So no. So is mind, and is.
So mind. And of the previous one, please bestow the splendor of mind. And then which are five in number, each representing the five pure wisdoms like the pure wisdom of the equalness, pure wisdom of accomplishing deeds, pure wisdom of mirror like, and pure wisdom of individual comprehension, and pure wisdom of And Bhagavana is the transcendent endowed one. Normally, it would remain as Bhagavan. So Bhagawan, as explained before, means transcendent and one means endowed.
One who is transcendent and one who endows all the good qualities. Is all. And is those gone those gone like dust. Those gone like dust. Those gone dust.
Normally, those is as before indestructible. Mommy is to me, and is liberate. Please let me be liberated indestructible. And bhana is again same, indestructible, and and as before means things or your things. And is great.
Samaya is place. And is the enlightened speech. Is enlightened what? Enlightened indestructibility. Vajra.
So it meaning says great pledge, heroic mind, enlightened speech, and This mantra is extremely precious in the sense very effective. Therefore, the practitioner has to recite every day twenty-one, seven by three. And why they are seven by three is because the first seven is to purify negativities accumulated through body and second accumulated through speech, and third, those through mind. The group for each of them, seven for each. And at this point, the visualization of the drawing of nectar from the heart of the Vajrasattva coming down through the father and mother union point and thereby entering to one’s body and purifying one’s negativity.
At this point, the visualization can vary or can be done through many ways. One is called driven upward from bottom where one visualizes nectars filling all one’s body and negativity is being driven up and over and drawing upward. Whereas the second one where one visualizes nectars filling from top of body driving the negativities now flushing downward and exiting out of one’s bottom part is called downward driving. And third one, alternative, where one visualizes at the heart and disappearing all of a sudden when the nectar enters. One can visualize nectars coming and entering to one’s through one’s one’s crown and driving the negativities in the aspect of the scorpions or black fumes and all unwanted things and exiting out of one’s bottom part of body and the earth surface cracking, splitting whereby make room for the out discharged things to go downward and goes downward below seven layers of the earth.
And what I call down there, one can visualize all the interfering beings such as the yama, the master of that, and other 80,000 interferers, normally called 80,000 kinds of interferers. You can visualize them by ever opening their mouth in want of wanting your life. So you feel you visualize that these things entering into their mouth and they’re completely being satisfied, but then their mouth are being shut by golden rings. And this practice has been recommended as especially effective for practitioner to prolong their life. So with these visualizations, when the 21 recitation of the mantra is finished, at that point, after that, one can do the one verse request which starts with I because of not knowing and ignorance have done whatever contrary to the pledges and so forth.
You, the lama, the protector, please what call, please rescue me. So this one can make request to the Vajrasattva, who in essence is one’s lama, saying that I have great regret for the past negative actions and I promise not to repeat them in future. Therefore, assist me to have my negativities purified. After that one can visualize the lama Vajrasattva being delighted and responding to you saying, Oh, Rikpa, the child of family, that your negativities are purified. And so as in the lines it says.
And then when when that is finished, one visualized lama Vajrasattva absorbing into one’s self and one’s through body, speech, and mind becoming blended in inseparable nature with lama, vajra, sattva’s body, speech, and mind. And when the practice of purification in this way is finished, then it would be good to think that now all negativities are purified. And along with that thinking, if one think about emptiness and do meditation on emptiness and thereby if one stays in deep meditation on emptiness for a while, then it will be especially powerful for the practitioner to have the negativities actually to be purified. So with this practice of Vajrasattva or purifying one’s negativities, what happens at as a result is it becomes very good that one good in the sense that one is completely free of all the negative adverse factors, the negativities and obscurations. For example, if we are to plant a crop in the field, if the field is completely filled with all sorts of weeds, trashes, rocks, pebbles, then even though we may plant, it wouldn’t have nice grow nice crop growing.
And whereas if we harrow nicely, it means if we harrow the field very nicely and clear clear all the rocks and trash and so forth. After that, if we plant any kind of crop, it will grow very nicely. But still to speak strictly, just to be free of all the adverse factors in the case of the field, being free of all the trash, that itself is not enough. What on top of that to have good crop required to be complete with all the positive factors which include the planting of the seed itself, having nice fertilizers, Manure, you can say. Having manure and water and so forth.
So with the field where there is trash and rocks which are adverse factors, same in the context, the adverse factors are negativities and obscuration which at this point of our practice we have purified therefore it has become very good we have become very clean in the sense of being freed completely of all of the negativities and obscurations. And then in order to have all the positive factors complete, what in the practice we require is to generate good thoughts like love, compassion, bodhicitta and then make offerings to lamas, to all the deities, protectors and so forth. In this way, we accumulate merits, what’s normally called merit. In this way, we also have all the positive factors complete on top of being free of all the adverse factors, like in the field, the being free of the adverse factors is not enough. We need all the water, manure, and so forth.
And in order to work or in order to accumulate merit, at this point in the practice, we have to invite in the aspect of one’s lama together with all the entourage up in the space before oneself and make offerings and so forth. And then looking the sādhana where it comes to the point, I think in English says once you’re reading as Vajrabhairava. Alternative in normal translation is once you’re visualized as Vajrabhairava, perhaps if you’d like. So anyway, once you’re visualized as Vajrabhairava, at one’s heart is, say, what we call lotus, on which is the moon lotus and sun, and on which is a hum syllable. So with this visualization, how it happens is once we visualize as the deity, at one’s heart, one visualizes, say, what are called at one’s heart, one visualizes the lotus having eight petals.
And why the lotus will have to be eight petals is because at our heart, there is a channel with central channel with eight what are called petals. Eight or what called eight or eight branches. So those eight branches of central channels are visualized as the eight on petal lotus. And in the center of that eight petal channel is the indestructible drop, and that indestructible drop we can visualize as the sun as the sun. And inside that indestructible drop is our subtle most wind mind.
And that subtle most wind mind, we at this point visualize as the. And from the previous one, I remain to work or I could translate. Hum syllable is visualized radiant with five color representing the five pure wisdom. And now from Hum syllable, one visualized rays emitting completely or cleansing one’s interior part of body and thereafter the rays goes out, completely touches all the sentient beings purifying their negativities and after that one visualizes rays go upward touching all the enlightened beings, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and visualizes them being invited by the rays, being invited up in the space before oneself. Elf.
Primarily, among those is once deity, what called, Mhmm. And in front of the Vajrabhairava, up in the space before oneself, in front of Vajrabhairava, at about nose level at about nose level of the Vajrabhairava, one visualize one’s root root lama. And this work on invitation, at this point of all this entourage and making offering, this part of the practice has been based on the explanation from the Yamāntaka root text called the seven realization chapters, and also it is based on the explanation by the master Lalitavajra. And then after that, there is a line which says, who is because of whose kindness the great bliss is bestowed. So that is making prostration to one’s kind root lama.
So this verse of prostration is in meaning saying to lama, are you because of whose kindness the state of Vajradhāra in the text in the line which is called the great bliss state. So the kind lama, you who, because of your kindness, bestowed to me the state of Vajradhāra in a very short one lifetime of degenerate time. Therefore, you’re extremely you are matchlessly kind. And because of that, at your feet, I prostrate. So that’s the meaning of the verse.
And next one where it starts next verse which goes the supreme form of fiercely supreme and so forth. That is the prostration to the deity Vajrabhairava. And that verse, if to explain, can cover so many things. Meaning, if it is to be explained, it will have to be very elaborate one. Therefore, it wouldn’t or Rinpoche will not explain it.
So, therefore, these two come these two makes the prostration to one’s lama and to one’s personal deity. And then one has to make the offering which in the sādhana, as you can see, it starts from the line from the from the seat at one’s heart, raise, come, and Shatika, white satika, blue, Vachi, and red, Sarasvatī, green, Parvati, in whose hands there are various offering substances making the offering. So one can visualize them in the set of four or 16. And then you have to make offering of the offerings with hand gestures by saying and hand gestures as Rinpoche demonstrates. Oh, No.
Like. So with each offering, one transmits or emits the, what I call, offering goddesses and then offer the respective offering and then absorb back into one’s heart. Flower. Yep. Mhmm.
And then absorb. First, emit the. And then what I call incense. Mhmm. And then you offer the what called Music.
Music. Yeah. Yeah. And gestures. So that finishes the prostrations and offering making offerings.
And then is the what we call purification or confession of negativities which start with the line I confess or declare all the negativities and those born literally says those born I removed and those not to be expressed before your eyes. So this is saying those born refers to negativities created in the past. I confess them before the lama, and I make promise in future not to repeat. And next is the rejoicing, rejoicing on the virtuous actions. And in the line line it says, the virtues of the three times.
Likewise, I rejoice on the merit. So this is being rejoicing on