# Vajrayoginī Comm 9a 1991-11-21
**Collection:** Rinpoche Recordings — Vajrayoginī Commentary (1991)
**Duration:** 46.6 minutes
**Words:** 2,158
**Model:** Deepgram Nova-3
**Corrections applied:** 10
**Transcribed:** 2026-03-01 01:35
—
Adjusting our motivation, holding others more dear than ourselves, that I must lead all sentient beings to a state where they are completely free of all their suffering and establish them in complete happiness. In order to achieve that end, I must by means of the practice of Naropa achieve quickly the state of Vajradhāra. And the means by which I will achieve that is by practicing the profound path as set forth by Naropa, the path of the Naropa Kagyü, and I will gradually practice this path. And in that way I will be able to be of vast benefit to all sentient beings and one should develop this kind hearted attitude as one’s motivation. Clarify where we are in working through the practice, we have completed the various yogic practices: the Yoga of Sleep, the Yoga of Awakening, the Yoga of Experiencing the Nectar, and the Yoga of Immeasurableness.
And we’re going to begin today with the fifth of the Yogas, that of Guru Yoga, or the Union with the Spiritual Master. With respect to the lama, there is the interpretive lama and the definitive lama. The definitive Lama is the exalted wisdom of the non duality of bliss emptiness. In dependence upon this definitive lama that is the exalted nondual wisdom of bliss emptiness that one goes on to display the emanation body. So in dependence upon the path of wisdom, one appears in a coarse embodiment, which is the emanation body, and this emanation body is the interpretive lama.
So with respect to the interpretative lama, as it mentions in Guru Puja, the interpretive Lama is the individual who sets forth the moral discipline of Vinaya, the category of discourses or the sūtra, and secret mantra. So in dependence upon the interpretive Lama, the teachings of Dharma are given and one practices the path. Then when in dependence upon practicing, one generates within one’s own mind the exalted wisdom of bliss emptiness, then this becomes the yoking or the union of one’s own mind with that of the Lama. So this is what the union with the spiritual master So another illustration is in terms of the definitive Chenrezig is love and compassion, but the interpretative Chenrezig is displayed with the embodiment of four arms, one face. This is the interpretive Chenrezig.
Love and compassion is the definitive Chenrezig. The consummate wisdom directly realizing emptiness is the definitive Yoginī. The embodiment in the aspect which we normally see with red in color with two hands, with one face, that is the interpretive Vajrayoginī. So it’s necessary for us to generate the definitive Lama within our own minds, and this is done by relying on the interpretive Lama, and this by means of one’s faith, one’s respect, and offerings, etc. And this represents the union with the spiritual master or Guru Yoga.
Without having faith faith and respect with respect to the interpretive Lama, one cannot receive the blessings of the Lama, and one cannot gain the realizations of the paths and grounds. Previously in Tibet, an emanation of Chenrezig by the name of Dromtönpa asked a question to Atisha. So the question he asks is, In Tibet there are many who practice meditation, but there are none who are achieving excellent qualities. Why is that? And Atisha answered that whatever the degree of realization or the excellent quality of the universal vehicle, whether it’s great or small, all relies upon the spiritual master, the Lama.
Tibetans regard their Lamas as being ordinary, as ordinary individuals, and therefore there is no gaining of realization. But in fact, we should meditate on our Lama as being a Buddha and generate the faith and respect toward in that to that same degree. And in this way, one will be able to gain the blessings of the Lama. Atisha said that whatever the degree of realization, both great and small, that we gain is directly proportional to the degree of our faith, whether it’s great or small. If our faith is great, we will attain great realizations.
If our faith is small, we will attain small realizations. I’m not going to say much more about that because in the West people have little faith with respect to the excellent qualities of the lama. So, if I were to speak frankly, that’s the way I would put it, that in accordance with degree of one’s faith, one will achieve the blessings of the Lama and thereby the realization. So whatever practice it is within the secret mantra, it. As one of the preliminaries, the doorway into it is through the practice of Vajrasattva and the practice of Guru Yoga. And we practice Vajrasattva in order to acknowledge all our negativities as a means of removing them, purifying them, and as a means of removing adverse circumstances, conditions.
And we go on to practice the union with the spiritual master in order to gain the blessings of the spiritual master, to create conducive potential and thereby gain realization. So if you look in your self generation text, we’re at the point where it which I Do you have it where it says in the space before me? So, we should begin within the empty space before you at the level of your forehead that there appears as a reflected appearance of the exalted wisdom or as it says here pristine awareness, the celestial mansion with four sides and the four doors. It should be extremely vast. It should be extremely beautiful.
For example, the roof is golden and has a victory banner flying from it. So within the center of the celestial mansion is a throne, a jeweled throne, throne supported by eight lions, two at each of the corners. Then upon the precious throne is a lotus cushion, upon that is a sun cushion, upon that is a moon cushion. Then upon the highest most cushion sits the condensation of of all the Buddhas, who is the empowering lama, one’s root lama, in the aspect of Buddha Vajradharma, who is red in color. Buddha Vajradharma is one face, two arms holding Vajra and bell.
His his hair is tied in a top in a top knot. And he sits in the Vajra Asana, the Vajra position, cross legged. Legged. However old he might be, he appears appears as a youthful 16 year old. He is adorned with silks and, as it says here, bone and jeweled ornaments.
So we begin by meditating that in the center of the celestial mansion, upon this precious throne, is one’s root lama Buddha Vajradhāra Buddha Vajradharma. So this individual is Lama Vajradhāra. By meditating the individual as Lama, one quickly gains quick blessings. Meditating that this individual is Buddha, then one attains vast, extensive blessings. And by meditating on Vajradharma, then the Vajradharma is the Buddha’s speech in the aspect of a deity.
And through meditating on this individual’s Vajradharma, one will be able to quickly grant blessings to sentient beings through one’s teaching as to what is to be adopted and what is to be rejected. And the individual is meditated in the red color as a means symbolizes the holding on to sentient beings out of great compassion. So the connection between Lama and Buddha, that we in the practice of union with the spiritual master, Guru Yoga, the Lama is the Buddha, and that if we simply meditate the Lama as an ordinary individual, then it becomes meaningless. It’s not Guru Yoga. So the Lama and the Buddha are meditated together.
The aspect of Buddha Vajradharma is in the aspect of Vajradhāra except with no consort and the only difference is Vajra Dharma is red in color. And you should imagine that this is individual who directly teaches you the Dharma. So, Buddha Vajradharma is the Lama who directly teaches you the Dharma. But Buddha Vajradharma in turn has Lamas which have taught him. And that Lama in fact had a Lama which taught him or her and go back in a lineage of lamas.
That is to say, there are indirect lamas in this lineage, this progression of the lineage of the teachings down to the present Buddha Vajradharma. So, in meditating Guru Yoga, it’s necessary to also meditate on the lineage lamas. So in meditating on the lineage lamas, as it’s displayed here in this display of the field of Gurus. This is done in order to show that there is a lineage of progression of blessings and there is an uninterrupted progression of the continuity of the Dharma. The uninterrupted continuity of blessings, uninterrupted continuity of the Dharma.
And we also meditate that the Lama before us is the embodiment of the Buddha Dharma and spiritual community. The body is the Sangha or the spiritual community, the Lama’s speech is the Dharma, and the mind is the Buddha. And we meditate in this way in order to gain quick realization. And we also meditate in this union with the spiritual master in this way, with the lineage lamas. Meditating this way, is the central lama, the direct lama, and he has a retinue surrounding him of the various lineage Lamas.
We meditate on this full accompaniment of the central lama and the surrounding lamas in order that as a means for ourselves to become a central lama with our retinue and in order to have all of the various objects of enjoyment, material necessities. And as we have spoken that we meditate on the central lama with the retinue in order to generate our own retinue and the various material necessities. Likewise, in terms of the Vajrayoginī practice, that we will generate ourselves as the central lama as with our retinue and all the material necessities. So the central figure is Buddha Vajradharma, and then there’s going to be a retinue of lineage lamas surrounding him. And this is going to go in a counterclockwise fashion and directly in front.
In front of Buddha Vajradharma is Vira Vajradharma. Next to Vira Vajradharma going counterclockwise is Vajrayoginī. Then the first Lama next to Vajrayoginī is Naropa. So we’re going to proceed in a counterclockwise fashion, listing the lineage of the teachings, the lineage of the Lamas. And then in my case, the central figure is the empowering Lama, taken as one’s root Lama.
In my case it was Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche. His lama who gave him the empowerment was Kyabje Phabongkha Rinpoche, so he is directly behind So there is the lineage lamas, there are 37 lineage lamas. They’re all sitting up on lotus, sun, and moon seats. So they form a rectangle, a square around the central throne. It’s not a circle, it’s a square.
And the front row is facing towards you, and then the so that’s the east, east is facing towards you. The lamas in the east row are facing towards you. The north, west, and south are facing inward. So, with respect to these lineage lamas, aside from Vajrayoginī, they are all in the aspect of Vira Vajradharma, who is red in color, holding a ḍamaru in his right hand, a skull cup in his left, and resting upon his left shoulder is a khaṭvāṅga. So he is sitting cross legged in the Vajra.
They are all exactly in the same aspect, so they are sitting in the cross legged Vajra position adorned with the six bone ornaments and are very youthful in appearance. And they have very pleasant appearance, very likable. This is a very auspicious appearance. So all of the lamas are marked with a red ah at the forehead, which is the seed syllable of the Buddha’s body, a white Om at the throat, the seed syllable of the Buddha’s speech, and a blue Hum at the heart, the seed syllable of the Buddha’s mind. And then you should imagine that lights radiate out from the Hums of their hearts to all 10 directions of space, invoking all of the Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas, the hearers, solitary realizers, Dharma protectors, dharmapalas, and upon being invoked in this way they begin to rain down like rain, rain down like rain, and dissolve into all of the lamas.
So then the mantra, So, Om, we have explained the meaning of Om previously. A Vajra is Vajra, and Samaya means commitment, and one is inviting One is saying may I not act in contradiction to my commitments. May I guard my commitments. So, is the difference between Buddha Vajradharma and Vira Vajradharma? They are of the same nature, as I said, they have the same exact qualities, but they are different in their aspect.
Buddha Vajradharma is holding holding a Vajra and bell crossed before him, and whereas Vira Vajradharma is holding a ḍamaru in his right hand, a skull cup in his left. That is to say, the very