Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 43-minute Gyalwa Gyatso sadhana, Lama Zopa Rinpoche emphasizes the path of death and subtle visions as a core practice element. After establishing motivation and refuge, he guides the death meditation in detail—the four subtle visions of mirage, smoke, sparks, and clear light—each recognized as empty and infused with progressively subtler bliss. He then walks through the protective celestial mansion visualization with striking architectural detail, the mandala of deities with Gyalwa Gyatso and consort at the center surrounded by dakas and dakinis at each direction, the empowerment ritual, offerings to the lineage, and the secret inner offering where bodhicitta melts through the central channel in union with emptiness. For practitioners initiated into this practice.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 05 GGR.mp3
UUID: 4137be34-0bce-4041-90b4-0c13f451767f
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: z Gyalwa Gyatso Retreat (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 2004 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 43.0 minutes
Words: ~4,709
This is Lama Tsongkhapa text open at page thirty nine. And your sadhana open at page sadhana one. Again, spending a few moments to develop a good motivation. Think if you were a mother or a father and you’d spend a lot of time taking care of your child, taking care of them, nurturing them, bringing them up. And then that child, when you were sick, when you were going through difficulties, that child didn’t want to help you, was interested in their own interests and weren’t there to support you.
Thinking about that reflection in relation to us and the fact that all sentient beings have been our kind mother in a past life. And beings will be our mothers in future lives as well. And so as the child of these mothers, how after all their kindness can we let them down? So think that I must return the kindness And the best way I can return the kindness to all these kind mothers who have taken care of me and so they won’t feel neglected or let down is to achieve complete enlightenment, to be able to liberate all sentient beings and put them in the best state of happiness, totally free of suffering. So try and bring your mind to that motivation.
I must at all costs achieve complete enlightenment to liberate all sentient beings. Mind of bodhicitta is not enough. We also need to understand emptiness. So just spend a few moments, this very strong sense of I that we have within our continuum. Explore.
Try and find it within your body and your mind. Just spend a few moments doing that. That not finding of the I within the mind and body is the emptiness of the I. And this emptiness also applies to all other phenomena. Taking refuge in bodhicitta, developing the field in front with Gyalwa Gyatso and the Lineage Lamas and the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, seeing them all as inseparable from your Guru.
And when you’re taking refuge and generating bodhicitta, think of the causes for taking refuge. The causes of lower scope, fear of the lower realms, the middle scope, fear of the whole of saṃsāra, and the great scope, the fear of whole saṃsāra for the sake of all sentient beings. And the other cause is recognizing that the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha can protect you. I go for refuge till I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma, and supreme assembly. By the merit in giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings.
I go for refuge till I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and Supreme Assembly. By the merit in giving other perfections, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge till I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma, Supreme Assembly. By the merit in giving other perfections, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. Let’s do the Three Principal Aspects of the Path. The foundation of all good qualities is the kind and perfect pure Guru.
Correct devotion to him is the root of the path. By clearly seeing this and applying great effort, please bless me to rely upon him with great respect. Understanding that the precious freedom and rebirth is found but once is greatly meaningful and difficult to find again. Please bless me to generate the mind that unceasingly day and night takes its essence. This life is impermanent as a water bubble.
Remember how quickly it decays and death comes. And death, just like a shadow, follows the body. The results of black and white karma follow. Finding firm and definite conviction in this, please bless me always to be careful, to abandon even the slightest negativities and accomplish all virtuous deeds. If we just spend a few moments to look at the karma in relation to the ten non virtuous actions.
We looked at one of the body, speech and mind. So now we are having just a brief look at the virtuous actions and their effects. So again here we need to look at the virtuous action and their effects so that we were inspired to develop virtue. Virtuous actions include the physical, verbal and mental actions of those who reflect when we reflect on the faults of killing. And we make a strong effort to abandon such as killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, etc.
So when we come across these situations where we would normally steal or lie or have divisive speech, And you make a conscious effort not to commit that action. That becomes a virtuous action. And the effects of virtuous actions is that the fruitional effect is that we are born in an upper realm, in the human, deity, desire realm, or the form and formless realm. The causally concordant effects, such as like abandon killing, you’ll have a long and healthy life. Abandoning stealing, you’ll have many good resources.
Abandoning sexual misconduct, you will have good relationships and supporters. You will also not continue to perform these negative actions. And the environmental effects is that abandoning killing, food and medicine and drink will have great strength. Abandoning stealing, you will have many good resources. Abandoning sexual misconduct, you will have a beautiful and clean environment.
Next verse. Seeking samsaric pleasures is a door to all suffering. They are uncertain and cannot be relied upon. Recognizing these shortcomings, please bless me to generate the strong wish for the bliss of liberation. Led by this pure thought, mindfulness, alertness and great caution arise.
The root of the teaching is keeping the Prātimokṣa vows. Please bless me to accomplish this essential practice. Just as I have fallen into the sea of Samsāra, so have all mother migrating beings. Please bless me to see this, train in supreme bodhicitta and bear the responsibility of freeing migrating beings. Even if I merely develop bodhicitta, but I don’t practice the three types of morality.
I will not achieve enlightenment. With my clear recognition of this, please bless me to practice the Bodhisattva vows of Great Energy. Once I have pacified distraction to wrong objects and correctly analyzed the meaning of reality, please bless me to generate quickly within my mind stream the unified path of calm abiding and special insight. Having become a pure vessel by training the general path, please bless me to enter the holy gateway of the fortunate ones, the supreme vajra vehicle. At that time, the base of accomplishing the two attainments is giving pure vows and samaya.
As I have become firmly convinced of this, please bless me to protect these vows and pledges like my life. Then having realized the importance of the two stages, the essence of vajrayana, by practicing in great energy, never giving up the four sessions, please bless me to realize the teachings of the holy Guru. Like that may the Gurus who show the noble path and the spiritual friends who practice it have long lives. Please bless me to pacify completely all outer and inner hindrances. In all my life, may I never be separated from perfect Gurus, may I enjoy the beneficent Dharma, by completing the qualities of the stage of the path, may I quickly attain the state of vajradhara.
So imagine the refuge field in front of you, the Lineage Lamas, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas dissolve into the central figure Gyalwa Gyatso, inseparable from your Guru. And he comes to the crown of your head and dissolves into your heart so that your mind and the Gyalwa Gyatso’s mind become inseparably one. With that you dissolve into emptiness. And from within that emptiness, in an instant, I rise in the form of the Ārya Great Compassionate One, whose color is white with reddish luster. One face, two hands.
My right hand holds a rosary of pearl and my left hand holds an Upala flower and embraces the consort. Sadhana six, blessing the offerings. Om vajra krodha hayagriva hulu hulu hum phat, Om sarva vidya Dharma sadhana sadhana sadhana sadhana sadhana, All becomes empty. While it is empty, hours arise, which become broad and vast skull cups. Inside each is a hum.
The hum’s melt, becoming drinking water, water for washing the feet, flowers, incense, butter lamps, perfume, food and music. By nature bliss and emptiness and appearing as offering substances, these objects of enjoyment of the six senses have the function of generating the extraordinary, undefiled great bliss. Sadhana thirteen. So first, generate a strong bodhicitta motivation. But after that I transform my death into dharmakaya, I will arise as a sambhogakaya to benefit all Ārya Bodhisattvas, and later on to arise as the Nirmānakāya to benefit all sentient beings.
Yourself visualize as Gyalwa Gyatso and consort. From the cranial height, light radiates to all the ten directions, purifying the environment which turns into celestial mansions. The sentient beings therein are purified and become Gyalwa Gyatso. The celestial mansions melt into light and absorb into the deities. These then melt into light and absorb into the central heart.
When they dissolve into your central heart, the mirage vision appears. With that vision, think that it is empty and the mind is blissful. Your Gyalwa Gyatso body in consort absorb from the bottom up, top down, and front to back, into the Hrīḥ at the heart. And with this, as you dissolve into the Hrīḥ, the smoke vision appears. Think also that this is empty and the mind is more blissful.
Also hold strong divine pride in relation to the Hrīḥ that this is my result time, Gyalwa Gyatso Sambhogakāya, as it dissolves into the Dharmakāya. Then the a dissolves upward into the body of the Hrīḥ and the sparks vision appears. Think that it is empty and the mind is more blissful. Then the letter ra dissolves upwards into the and with that the flickering lamp vision appears. Think that it is empty and the mind is more and more blissful and more subtle.
I think soon the clear light will arise and I must meditate on emptiness. The letter dissolves into the line that is at top of the head of the and the consciousness that supports eighty conceptual thoughts together with the wind it rides on dissolves into white appearance consciousness. And with that white appearance, think that it is empty and the mind more blissful and the mind is becoming more and more subtle. The top line of the ” dissolves into the anusvara And with that the red vision appears. With that red appearance again see that it is empty.
The mind is more blissful and more subtle. Then the anusvara then dissolves into the two dots. And with that the increase in consciousness dissolve into black near attainment. And with that appearance of darkness, think that it is empty and the mind is more blissful and more subtle. Then the two dots get smaller and smaller and then disappear like a rainbow light in the sky and with that the clear light dawns.
Clear light is like the light of the autumn dawn. Once you recognize that this is empty, The mind is the most blissful it can be. The mind is the most subtle that it can be. And one should hold strong divine pride thinking this is my result time, Gyalwa Gyatso, dharmakaya. So those three key things, understanding emptiness, the mind extremely blissful and holding strong divine pride thinking this is my result time, Gyalwa Gyatso dharmakaya.
We’ll just spend a few moments meditating on that. While still maintaining that mind that is comprehending emptiness, that blissful mind, the wind that supports that mind starts to manifest as generating the four elements, the vajra protection wheel and celestial mansion. So this is just like fully enlightened being, whilst manifesting objects and bodies, always still comprehends emptiness, never comes out of meditative equipoise on emptiness. So try and conjoin understanding of emptiness as all these things arise. From emptiness arises a yam from which appears a blue bow-shaped air mandala marked by victory banners.
Above that is a ram from which becomes a red triangular fire mandala marked by a garland of flames. Above that is a bam from which becomes a white circular water mandala marked by a vase. And above that is a lam from which becomes a yellow square Mount Meru made of four types of jewels. In the center of that is a ram, from that comes a sun disc on which is a hum, which becomes a variegated vajra marked by a hum at its center. From that, light rays radiate downwards and everything below becomes a vajra ground.
Light rays radiate outwards to the left and right making the vajra fence all around. And light rays radiate upwards transforming everything visualized above into the vajra roof. Under the roof and above the fence is the vajra ceiling. All are in the nature of flaming vajras forming a single structure with no gaps. Outside are mountains of flames in five different colors like the fire at the end of an eon blazing into the ten directions.
Spend a few moments clarifying that visualization, seeing that it’s all in the nature of light. And strong faith in the protection provided by the vajra fence and ceiling and ground and swirling five-colored flames surrounding the vajras. And at the center of the fence is a pam from which arises a variegated lotus at the center which is a hum. This becomes a variegated vajra of the following colors. In the east, eastern prongs, which is in front of you, are white.
Southern prongs, which is to your right, yellow. Western prongs, which behind you are red. And northern prongs to your left, green. And a blue hub. On top of this hub is a bhrum, which totally transforms into a square celestial mansion constructed of various precious substances and having four doors.
The walls are in five layers. From the outside in these layers are blue, yellow, red, green, and white. On the circumference of the jewel wall is a red jewel frieze, studded with jewel triangle squares and so forth. Upon that is an architrave of four golden girdles. The outer face of these rafters protrude with water monsters from whose mouths hang garlands and half garlands of pearls.
Outside beyond that, jewel ornaments hang from the ends of cantilevers. Upon that is a balustrade in the shape of half lotus petals. This is a dome with golden vials standing on it, containing eight banners and eight victory banners. The four corners of the roof are adorned with four parasols. At the foot of the outer wall is a red ledge.
On this stand many goddesses in various dancing postures and colors presenting offerings. Outside the doors and the vestibules as well as outside and inside the four corners of the mansion walls stand half moons upon which rest red jewels adorned by vajras. In front of each of the doors are four square plinths. Upon each plinth is a vase. From each vase emerges a pillar.
These pillars support the gateway arches of eleven layers. On top of this is a dharma wheel flanked by a stag and a doe. To the right and left of the gateway is a five vases from which grow wish fulfilling trees bearing the seven precious attributes of a monarch. In the empty space above the mansion are accomplished yogis and gods emerging from clouds. They are holding flower garlands and make everything beautiful.
Within the celestial mansion are eight pillars that support the vajra beams. The beams beautifully support the roof. The peak of the roof is decorated by a vajra and a precious jewel. The ceiling and the floor on the inside of the celestial mansion are blue in the east, which is in front of you, yellow in the south, which is to the right of you, red in the west, which is behind you, and green in the north, which is to the left of you, and white in the center. Taking the intermediate state as a part of the Sambhogakāya.
In the center of the floor is an eight petal lotus, at the center which is a moon and sun disc. On the four cardinal petals are sun discs. At the four doors are variegated lotuses with a sun disc on each. On the center seat is a hree, from which becomes an Utpala flower marked by a hree. On the seats of the four cardinal directions clockwise starting from the front are ri, ni, sa, from which become curved knives marked by their individual seed syllables.
At the eastern door, which is in front of you, is a hum from which arises a vajra marked by a hum. At the southern door, which is to your right, is a tram from which arises a jewel marked by a tram. And the western door, which is behind you, is a hri from which arises a lotus marked by a hri. And at the northern door is an ah, which is to your left, from which arises a double variegated vajra marked by an ah. So just spend a few moments clarifying that visualization.
Together with the mandala house and the elements. Thinking that they’re all in the nature of light, all empty. And particularly focusing on Utpala flower marked by a hri and holding strong divine pride that this is my result time. Gyalwa Gyatso Sambhogakāya. Taking the birth state as the path of Nirmānakāya.
Light radiating from these makes offer to the exalted beings and works for the benefit of all sentient beings. As it returns and dissolves, I rise in the center as the great compassionate one, Gyalwa Gyatso, white in color with a red luster, one face, two hands, three eyes and slightly bared fangs. Gyalwa Gyatso smiles peacefully with an expression of mild wrath. My hair is blue black and knotted on the top. The remainder hangs loose on my shoulders.
My right hand is in the gesture of counting a pearl rosary and my left hand holds an Utpal of flower and embraces the consort. I sit with my right leg slightly stretched and my left drawn inwards. In my lap is the consort of secret wisdom, Vidyadhari, Sangwa Yeshe, Khandroma, red in color with three eyes and slightly bared fangs. Her face is both wrathful and smiling with an expression of passion. She is naked and her hair hangs loose.
Her right hand is playing a golden damaru and her left hand holds a skull cup filled with blood that she offers to her lord. Her legs encircle the lord with her left leg stretched out and her right leg drawn inward. Both deities are adorned with various jewel and bone ornaments and are seated amidst strongly blazing light. In the east, which is in front of you, is a white vajra dakini. In the south, which to your right, is a yellow ratna dakini.
And in the west, which is behind you, is a red padma dakini. And in the north, to your left, is a green karma dakini. All four of them have three eyes, slightly bared fangs, are smiling with expression of passion and ra. Their right hands, whole curved knives, and their left hands, whole skull cups filled with blood. Their hair flowing loose, they are all naked and adorned by five mudras.
They stand in the dancing pose of right leg drawn in and left stretched out in half Asana. They are standing amidst a blaze of light. At the eastern doorway, which is in front of you, is a white fury of the vajra race, holding a vajra in the right hand and a skull cup in the left. At the southern doorway, which is to your right, is a yellow fury of the Ratna Race, holding a jewel in the right hand. At the western doorway, which is behind you, is a red fury of the Lotus race, holding a lotus in the right hand.
And at the northern doorway, which to your left, is a green fury of the karma race, holding a vishvavajra in the right hand. These latter three hold Utpalas in their left hands. All four furies have three eyes and a wrathful smiling expression. Their fangs are slightly bared and their hair is tied up in top knots. They are adorned with various bone and jewel ornaments.
Their left legs are drawn in and their right legs are stretched out. They are standing amidst blazing light. On the crown of the principal and all surrounding deities is a white omb. At the throat a red ah and at the heart a blue hum. The heart of the principle is marked by a white hri.
From this seed syllable, light radiates. As it strikes all the environments and inhabitants, the external environments become celestial mansions, and all the inhabitant sentient beings transform into deities. This radiating light invokes The supporting and supported mandalas of wisdom beings dissolve into the individual commitment beings and become non dual. Again, light rays Please bestow the empowerment upon me. Thus requested, the Tathagatas grant me empowerment, and the female Tathagatas bestow the empowerment with the vase water.
The male and female male and female Vajrasattvas utter benedictions, and the male and female deities eliminate interferences and the goddesses make offerings. Just as the gods offering bathing water to the lord at the time of birth, likewise offers pure divine water to bathe their divine body. All light rays are gathered. By saying this, empowerment is bestowed through the crown and the water of consecration fills the body and purifies the defilements of the three doors. The excess water overflows the crowns of the lord and his consort and the two deities in the west, which is behind you, transform into Amitābha.
The two deities of the eastern direction, which are in front of you, are crowned by Akṣobhya. The two of the south, which is to your right, are crowned by Ratnasambhava, and to the two of the north, which is to the left of you, crowned by Amoghasiddhi, presenting the offerings of the self-generation. Presenting the inner offering, remember offering to the Lineage Lamas and deities inseparable from your Guru and imagine it creates great bliss and bliss when you offer it. On to the mouth of my kind and precious root guru, the possessor of body, speech, mind, qualities, enlightened activity of all Tathagathas, the ten directions three times, Om Ah Hum. To the mouth of the all pervading victorious, mouth of great Vajradhāra, Om Ah Hum.
To the mouth of Saviour, Om Ah Hum. To the mouth of Lord Dorje Chang, and the spiritual son of the victors, Amahum to the mouth of Mahasiddhi Tilopa, Amahum to the mouth of Mahasiddhi, Naropa, Amahum to the mouth of most venerable Marpa the Translator, Amahum To the mouth of Jetsün Milarepa To the mouth of Gampopa To the mouth of the great Abbot Sonam Senge To the mouth of Rinchen Senge of Yangtse To the mouth of Butön Rinchen Drub to the mouth of Shönu Samdrub of Gungthang, Om Ah Hum to the mouth of great Tsongkhapa, the king of the dharma, Om Ah Hum to the mouth of Khedrup Gelek Pelzang, Om Alham to the mouth of Baso Chökyi Gyaltsen, Om Alham to the mouth of Mahasiddhi Chökyi Dorje, Om Alham To the mouth of Victorious Losang Dhondup To the mouth of Khedrup Sangyey Yeshe To the mouth of great Pandita Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen To the mouth of Mantra Holder Gendun Gyatso To the mouth of To the mouth To of To To the mouth of the mouth of Mahasiddha, Om Ah hum. To the mouth of Vajradhāra Trichang, Om Ah Hum. To the mouth of the kind root Guru, Lama Lobsang Gyatso, Om Ah Hum.
Furthermore, to the mouth of Holy Gurus who give me initiations, tantric teachings, pith instructions together with the Lineage Gurus, Om Ah Hum. Om Ah Hum, sarva dakini mandala, Om Ah Hum. Furthermore, to the mouth of hosts of dakas, dakinis, mandalas, associated with the four class of tantra, to the mouth of the protectors possessing profound skill who protect the holy dharma, to the mouth of hearers, the nagas, directional protectors, earth protectors, nagas, so forth. Abide the twenty four places, thirty-two sacred sites, eight charnel grounds, Om Ah Hum. The mouths are naturally abiding lords of the land and all sentient beings and deities, Om Ah Hum.
Offerings in ten directions revolve and then dissolve into one’s body. All guests are delighted and satisfied by the wisdom nectar. Secret innermost offering. Visualizing yourself as Gyalwa Gyatso and consort. And because of this union, the bodhicitta on the crown of your head starts to melt and to descend down the central channel.
And when from the crown of my head it reaches the throat, I experience bliss. Think that it is empty. And when from my throat it reaches my heart supreme bliss, which is more bliss, again conjoining with the mind understanding emptiness. And when from the heart it reaches my navel distinguished bliss, which is even more blissful. Again mixing that with the mind that understands emptiness.
And when from the navel it reaches the tip of my jewel, the pristine awareness of simultaneous voidness and bliss arises and I remain in single-minded concentration on inseparability of bliss and voidness. So imagine that very subtle, very blissful mind. And with that very subtle blissful mind, that is the basis for realizing emptiness within tantra. It’s that very subtle blissful mind that realizing emptiness is able to remove so many of the defilements and obscurations in one go, which takes many eons in the perfection vehicle. So that blissful, very blissful, subtle mind, meditating on the emptiness of the self, seeing that the I is not within the body or the mind.
The I does not exist outside of the mind and the body but is merely conceptually designated or labeled on that basis. So thinking that non inherent, that inherent existent I is totally non existent. Doesn’t exist in the slightest. Brief offering praise, Sadhana twenty one. Hrīḥ, praised exceedingly by all the Buddhas, one who has accumulated all sublime qualities, one who bears the name Chenrezig, to the ever compassionate one I bow down.
The compassion of all the victors, the noble marks accompanied by rainbow light, like a mountain of stacked moonstones. To you, extremely handsome brave, I bow down. Bhagavati who binds the three worlds with the joy of simultaneously born great bliss, who is the treasure of all attainments to the secret wisdom dakini I bow down. I offer praises to the dakini of the four races whose dance of a hundred various expression bestows all attainments and practitioners and generates simultaneously born joy. The wisdom of all the victorious ones is like an optical illusion.
By the show of their dance, the furious accomplish the various enlightened activities. I bow down to the doorkeepers and praise them. From now and all my life, may I be guided without separation by the arm of the great compassionate one, and may I swiftly attain the three kayas. So recitation visualization. Again, remember that this is an open ended session.
Now ring ring the bell at ten minutes before the before ten to eleven. At my heart is a sun disc on which is a white syllable hri, which is reddish with a reddish luster surrounded by the mantra rosary. Light radiates from the hri in the mantra rosary and completely fills the inside of my body, purifying the sins, obscurations, and the latencies accumulated throughout all time. The light rays radiate outward striking all the environments and inhabitants and cleansing their impurities. All environments are transformed into celestial mansions and all sentient beings inhabitants are established in the state of the all merciful one.
The light rays present pleasing offerings to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and all their blessings and qualities are gathered and dissolved back into me.