Unless there’s a strong vote to the negative, I won’t use the bell and drum this evening; do it all in English, going through it as you might if you’re doing it yourself. Is that okay?
Student: [Unclear]
Ken: Pardon?
Student: [Unclear]
Ken: Yeah, and without any Tibetan. Actually, I may use the bell and drum a little bit when we’re doing some of the visualizations but that’s all. Or, no I think I’ll do those as guided visualizations, so we get the whole sense. Is that okay?
Student: [Unclear]
Ken: Pardon?
Student: [Unclear]
Ken: That’s chö. You see, we’re at Thursday today, aren’t we? All day. Because I’m not sure. We are coming to the end of the retreat and there’s another whole section of chö that I want to give you. I don’t want you to…I want you to get your money’s worth, you know. [Laughter] I don’t want any complaints, you know.
Student: [Joking] Why don’t you just give us our $100 back. [Much laughter]
Ken: I don’t think that’s ever been said at a retreat before [laughter]. Most retreats, you know, people never get enough teaching.
You see there’s the elaborate chö, the unelaboratechö—where did it go? Yeah, yeah, okay. Anyway, there’s the chö where you’re using the bell and damaru and all the visualizations where you’re offering. And then there’s a simpler chö which is basically cultivating loving-kindness, compassion—doing taking and sending. Then there’s the unelaborate chö, which is stomping [laughter]…it’s actually rounding up and [unclear], throwing the obsessions away. [Ken kisses them goodbye] Blasting them. That’s it, rounding up and blasting. You’ll see, tomorrow. And then there’s the very unelaborate.
So, we’ve been learning the elaborate one right now. And the main practice is the mind training. You’re getting quite familiar with that. So, tomorrow night, I want to do that last section so that you have the complete transmission. And then Saturday I will have a surprise for you—no, actually you’ll have a surprise for me.
Student: [Unclear]
Ken: Pardon?
Student: [Unclear]
Ken: Yes, yeah. If I’m not surprised, I will be so disappointed [laughter]. But I will explain that more on Saturday. And then Sunday, it comes to an end. So, we’ve only got two full days left, not a lot of time. Has it gone quickly?
Student: Yeah.
Ken: Yeah, today for me just went like [Ken snaps fingers], you know. I just come to the teaching session and went, “Didn’t I just do this, like this morning?” Here we are again. Okay, starting on page 17:
Great Vajradhara, Tilo, Naro,
Marpa, Mila, Lord Gampopa,
Dusum Chenpa, totally aware Karmapa,
Holders of the four great and eight lesser lineages,Masters of the profound path of mahamudra,
The Instruction Lineages of Dakpo, the peerless protector of beings,
Trikung, Taklung, Tsalpa and the glorious Drukpa,
I pray to you. Teachers of the Instruction Lineage,
I follow your lineage. Give me the energy for spiritual freedom.Disgust and disenchantment are the legs of meditation,
So the teachings say.
To this meditator who does not yearn for comfort and wealth
And has severed ties to this life
Give me the energy to stop longing for money or prestige.Respect and devotion form the head of meditation,
So the teachings say.
To this meditator who continuously prays
To the teacher who opens the doors to the treasury of pith instructions
Give me the energy to discover uncontrived respect and devotion.Non-distraction is the substance of meditation,
So the teachings say.
To this meditator who lets the essence of any movement
Rest fresh right there, in the moment, not doing anything with it,
Give me the energy for a mind free from working at meditation.The essence of thought is what is,
So the teachings say.
To this meditator who arises as an unceasing play,
Being nothing at all, yet arising as anything,
Give me the energy to know that samsara and nirvana are not separate.
All of us beginning with our enemies that provoke anger,
impediments that generate harm, conditions that cause interruptions,
obsessions with mortality, local disturbances,
physical disturbances, and our own parents.
In short, all sentient beings whose numbers are as infinite as space
will attain the direct understanding of the Supreme Mother.
Consequently, I take up the profound practice of the holy ground
where obsessions are cut down.All spirits weak and small, don’t be afraid, don’t be frightened.
Don’t be frightened at all.
All sentient beings from the higher planes of existence
down to the depths of the lowest hell, listen to me! [Ken blows kangling]Come here all of you. [Ken blows kangling]
Come here quickly, all of you. [Ken blows kangling]
All of us beginning with our enemies that provoke anger,
impediments that generate harm, situations that cause interruptions,
obsessions with mortality, local disturbances,
physical disturbances, and our own parents.
In short, all sentient beings whose number is as infinite as space.We go for refuge in the teacher
We go for refuge in the buddha
We go for refuge in the dharma
We go for refuge in the sanghaWe go for refuge in the teacher
We go for refuge in the buddha
We go for refuge in the dharma
We go for refuge in the sanghaWe go for refuge in the teacher
We go for refuge in the buddha
We go for refuge in the dharma
We go for refuge in the sanghaWe go for refuge in the glorious teachers of the chö lineage
who attained mastery.
We go for refuge in the dakinis of the three levels.
We go for refuge in the buddhas and bodhisattvas who abide in the ten directions.
We go for refuge in the sugatas of the five families,
We go for refuge in the lords of the three families.
We go for refuge in the teacher Vajra Dakini and her retinue.
We go for refuge in the Kagyu teachers and their retinue of dakinis.
We go for refuge in our kind root teachers and their retinue of dakinis.
We go for refuge in mind itself, empty unborn dharmakaya.
We pray for refuge. Please take us under your protection.I and all sentient beings rely on the buddha,
We rely on the dharma,
We rely on the sangha.
May what all beings do be virtuous.
May what they say be virtuous.
May what they feel be virtuous.
May they be cured of the 404 kinds of illness.
May they be free from the 91 kinds of unexpected disturbances.
May they not be disrupted by the 360 emotional states.
May the 80,000 kinds of interruptions naturally die down.
May they naturally let go, and may they naturally go away.I pay homage to the three jewels.
I take refuge in the three jewels.
I give offerings to the three jewels.
I confess all unwholesome actions.
I rejoice in the good works of others.
I rely on buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Until awakening, I take refuge in the buddha,
dharma, and supreme assembly.In order to realize the aims of all of us,
I give rise to awakening mind.
I regard all beings as my guests
and engage in the actions of awakening beings.
I will attain full awakening to help all beings.Just as the buddhas of the three times
gave rise to supreme awakening mind
that definitely brings about pure awakening,
I also give rise to the sacred aspiration,
and ask all those who have done so to think of me.
Not only to think of me but to look after me.
In the sky before me is my kind root teacher
who is one with Machik Labdron.
Her body is white like a conch shell.
She has one face and two arms,
the right beating a gold drum held high,
the left holding a silver bell to her hip.
Her three eyes staring into space.
Her hair is black, half of it tied up on her head,
the rest falling freely over her back.
Her naked body is adorned with bone and jewel ornaments.
Her right leg is drawn in, her left extended in dancing posture.
Around her are all the teachers of the Kagyu tradition.
To her right is Padampa Sangye and the teachers of the Father Lineage.
To her left is Vajrayogini and the five dakinis
surrounded by the Mother Lineage.
Above is Buddha Shakyamuni surrounded by the Non-Dual Lineage.
Above him is the Great Mother surrounded by the lineage
of attained masters ofchö.
Below Machik are all the gods and demons of existence,
including the eight classes of demons and all karmic debt collectors,
listening and obeying attentively.
Every deity has at his or her forehead a white om,
at the throat a red ah, and at the heart a blue hung.
Light shines from the hung and the hearts and invites from the realm of totality
all the sources of refuge associated with the chö tradition.
And you imagine this field with Machik, Padampa Sangye, and Vajrayogini, and Tara, and Buddha Shakyamuni, and Prajnaparamita, and all the protectors and dakinis, and all of the eight classes of demons, and so forth. Light streaming out and inviting all of these. They just come swarming like snowflakes in a snowstorm. The whole visualized field or imagined field becomes alive, blazing with light, really vivid in your imagination. And the merging of these two, the ones that you imagined in front of you, and the ones that you invite, is done with the mantra vajra samaya dza hung bam ho, and they merge and unite. Now we do this prayer of praise to all of them.
I pay homage to the Great Mother unutterable, inconceivable, and beyond description.
I pay homage to Muni the all-knowing one born to the Shakyas.
I pay homage to Padampa Sangye who has worked for beings for seven lifetimes.
I pay homage to Machik Labdron, the wisdom dakini who is not simply human.
I pay homage to my teachers who point out pristine awareness and natural awareness.
I pay homage to all the yidams through whom one definitely comes into power.
I pay homage to all buddhas who have completed what has to be stopped and what has to be understood.
I pay homage to all the dharma which calms and is free from disturbing desire.
I pay homage to all of the sangha any offering to whom is worthwhile.
I pay homage to Manjushri endowed with qualities and appearing as a youth.
I pay homage to Avalokiteshvara who is without doubt filled with compassion.
I pay homage to Vajrapani who with great power tames those to be tamed.
I pay homage to the guardians and protectors who conquer obstacles and distractions.
Until I come to awakening I go for refuge in all of you.
I pray to all of you.I offer the pleasures of the five senses.
I confess unwholesome actions.
I ask you to teach the dharma.
I pray that you’ll not pass into nirvana.
I dedicate the goodness of this prayer to all beings.
And then imagine light shining from Machik’s heart inviting all of the energy and power of all of the buddhas in the ten directions. This light comes into her, and her body is filled with radiance. A moon appears in her heart; above this the letter hung, white. Around this the mantra om gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha.
As you recite the mantra elixir drips from this, filling first her form and then overflowing through her toe. Coming and washing all the karmic obscurations, negativity, reactive patterns and emotions, confusion, bewilderment totally out of your being and out of the being of all sentient beings everywhere. And all of that negativity and disturbance, confusion sinks down to the very foundation of the world where it is absorbed never to bother anyone ever again. And as we do this, as you imagine this we recite the ten syllable mantra om gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha. om gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha.
[Ken recites mantra]
And then from your own form, innumerable thousands and thousands of goddesses, white goddesses, emanate carrying with them mirrors and offer all form in the universe to Machik and Padampa Sangye and Vajrayogini and the three jewels and the three roots. These are symbols of awakened form, and you pray for the power of unchanging form.
Then similarly, red goddesses emanate from your heart, carrying flutes, offering sound, all the sound in the universe. And then blue goddesses emanate from your heart, holding a vajra, offering all mental activity, all thoughts and memory as the symbol of awakened mind. And then many-colored goddesses emanate from your heart, offering all suffering and happiness in the world as symbols of good fortune. Then we read this prayer together.
Everything that arises as form in the whole universe and all its world systems,
I offer symbols of awakened form.
Grant me the power of unchanging form.Everything that arises as sound in the whole universe and all its world systems,
I offer symbols of awakened speech.
Grant me the power of awakened speech.Everything that arises as thought or memory in the whole universe and all its world systems,
I offer symbols of awakened mind.
Grant me the power of unconfused mind.Everything that arises as happiness or suffering in the whole universe and all its world systems,
I offer as symbols of good fortune.If I am happy I give my happiness to everyone.
May my happiness fill the sky.
If I am suffering I take on the burden of all suffering.
May I dry up the sea of suffering in existence.
Now sit in meditation. Imagine that you’re standing up. Under the soles of your feet are black syllables du under each one. At the genitals, there’s the yellow letter tre or syllable tre, at the navel the gray syllable da, at the heart the red syllable nri, at the throat the green syllable ah, and in the middle of the head the white syllable om. Two vital essences—one white, one red—appear under the soles of your feet. Think of these as your own mind.
And at the sound of phat they merge into the seed syllables of the hell realm, black du, and you experience all of the suffering of the hell realm, the hot and cold hells, and experiencing it in attention, it is transformed into attention. So the vital essences grow brighter and grow a little bit larger, take on more color.
phat
At the next phat, two syllables come shooting up your legs and join with the letter tre, the yellow letter tre at the genitals and become one single vital essence.
phat
And you experience all of the suffering of the hungry ghost realm, transforming it into attention. The vital essence grows a little bit larger, takes on more colors, and then into the animal realm where they do the same thing.
phat
And then to the human realm, the red letter nri.
phat
And then the asura realm, the green letter ah
phat
And the god realm, the white letter om.
phat
And on the next phat, the vital essence shoots into the sky and you become one with the sky.
phat
In the sky, the red letter hri forms and you become Vajrayogini. From your heart dakinis go out, and they cut up your own body which appears in front of you, peeling the skin off which becomes the gold foundation for the universe—the world system. Placing the torso in the center which becomes Mount Meru. The four limbs cut off become the four continents. Nails become the iron mountains. The intestines become the gold mountains surrounding Mount Meru. Your blood becomes the ocean, fills all the space between the continents. Two eyes become the sun and moon. Teeth become the stars.
Imagining yourself as Vajrayogini, you present this offering of your body as the world to Machik, Padampa Sangye, Vajrayogini, and all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, and all the teachers of the lineage. So you recite the verse on top of page 24.
My skin is the gold foundation
My fingers the iron mountains around
In the center my head and torso form the central mountain
My two eyes become the jewels of the sun and moon
My limbs form the four continents
The whole arrangement of my body is the universe
I offer to my teacher and the assembly of deities and dakinis
I ask you to accept these offerings and give me energy.phat
And everything dissolves.
And then again imagine yourself in your own form. In your heart is the vital essence, a brilliant ball of light about the size of a pea, it’s both red and white. Seeing this is your mind, at the sound of phat, it shoots out the top of your head and you become one with the sky.
phat [Forceful]
Your mind appears as the red syllable hri. In a burst of light you become Vajrayogini. Red dakini holding a vajra chopper, skull cup filled with blood. Blazing red hair and three eyes, dancing posture. Your body is lying in front of you. You see it very clearly—even see your face. And from your heart, dakinis of the four colors radiate out: red, yellow, white, green—five dakinis (sorry)—blue as well. They skin your body and spread your skin out like a blanket. Two arms and the right leg are chopped off. They become like hearth stones. The top of your head is chopped off; it becomes a skull cup placed on the hearth stone. Very big, and the rest of your body is thrown into the skull cup.
And then from your skull cup as Vajrayogini, light and elixir flows into the skull cup in front of you, turning the contents into the ocean of brilliantly clear and radiant elixir. Imagine waves of dakinis coming out of your heart, all of them holding skull cups themselves, scooping up this elixir, which is your body transformed, and feeding it to Machik and all the teachers of the lineage, and Padampa Sangye, and Vajrayogini, and all the yidams, all the buddhas, Prajnaparamita, Green Tara. And as they imbibe this liquid elixir, they become brilliantly blazing with light.
And then another wave of dakinis come, and they scoop up more elixir from this huge vast sea of elixir in the skull cup. And they feed all of this elixir to the dakinis and protectors, and they, too, are filled with energy and become radiant with light.
And then another wave of dakinis comes out of your heart, scooping up even more elixir. And these go to all sentient beings everywhere, the objects of your compassion. As they imbibe this elixir, all of their cares, worries, concerns, frustrations, and suffering disappear, and they are completely soothed.
And then a fourth wave of dakinis comes out of your heart, scoops up the elixir and goes to all the karma debt collectors, everybody that you’ve ever hurt or injured, or done anything inappropriate from time without beginning. All of those little anxieties, and the big ones, everything that nags and weighs on your mind, everything that distracts you in your practice or causes you disturbance in your life. Everything that creates unpleasantness, discomfort, illness, or disturbance for you. And as they imbibe the elixir given to them by the dakinis, they are completely satisfied. They are totally at peace. phat
And everything dissolves into light and you rest in the light.
And again, you imagine yourself in your own form with the vital essence at your heart. On the sound of phat, it goes shooting into the sky, and you become one with the sky.
phat
And your mind forms as a red tree. And again you become Vajrayogini, and again your corpse is lying in front of you, and dakinis again go out from your heart. They cut off the four limbs and set them up like stakes in the ground, and stretch your skin, which they peeled off your corpse. And then all the flesh and bones of your body are heaped onto the skin that carries it. And this is vast, it’s huge. There’s a mountain of flesh and bones and a sea of blood in front of you.
And then you call all of the demons and disturbances, the enemies that provoke anger, the impediments that generate harm, conditions that cause interruption, obsessions with mortality, local disturbances, physical disturbances, etc. And on the sound of the kangling, they come out of the sky, out of the ground, from everywhere, gathering around.
[Ken blows kangling]
And then as you sing the next song, you imagine that they gorge on your own body—ravenously, having the best time. And as they eat your body, they’re so full of energy and so happy that they’re never going to bother you again. They’re just completely enjoying themselves from the feast they’ve had on your body.
Namo
All gods and demons who dwell in this fearsome space
come and show me your frightening apparitions.
All gods and demons in existence gather here like clouds in the sky.
Pour down like rain in a storm, and whirl around like the wind at the base of the world.
To all of you I offer my body.I offer you the six pieces of flesh from my body, may you attain the six perfections.
I offer the nine orifices into my body, may you attain the nine vehicles.
I offer you the five sense faculties, may you attain the five pristine awareness bodies.
To all of you I offer my body.Those of you who have come a long way, eat it raw.
Those of you who are not in a hurry, eat it cooked.
Depending on what distances you’ve come, eat as you wish: fried, grilled, or raw.
Those of you with big stomachs, eat as much as you can.
Those of you who are thin, take it home with you.
Like a lion feasting on flesh, don’t leave anything behind.phat
And everything dissolves into light.
And now, thinking with deep reverence and appreciation of the lineage teachers, we do this prayer to the various chö lineages.
I pray to the father lineage of method.
I pray to the mother lineage of intelligence.
I pray to the non-dual lineage of meaning.
I pray to the experience lineage of fortunate ones.
I pray to the lineage of masters of chö.
I pray to the power lineage of protectors.Give me the energy to turn away from the activities of the world of confusion and bewilderment.
Give me the energy to separate from clinging to and cherishing this phantom form made from the four elements.
Give me the energy to experience as having one flavor all interruptions, disruptions, and impediments.
Give me the energy to recognize as my own face, the hallucinations of my mind that I experience as appearances.
Give me the energy to attain the power so that awareness arises as the three aspects of beings.May all of us, sentient beings and me, completely remove the taint of clinging to duality and attain supreme awakening.
phat
The three mixings are just things that you do just by feeling them, really. The first mixing is one’s own awareness and awareness of all other beings. Just imagine them mixing. Then this awareness mixing with the realm of totality, the dharmadhatu.
And then your body and everybody else’s body mixing to become what is going to be offered now. Your mind appears as a hri, and you appear as Vajrayogini. In front of you your corpse again which you chop, and the top of the skull comes off and becomes this huge skull cup. And the rest of your body is thrown into it. Imagine this is the body of all beings as well, and becomes a vajra like this standing up. And above, on the top of it is the flat disk of the moon, and below is the flat disk of the sun. And then it is marked by the letters om ah hung. It is a little elaborate visualization.
And then from your forehead, white light goes to Machik’s forehead. And light from her forehead goes out and invites the energy of all buddhas, comes back into her forehead. And immediately a white shaft of light goes to the om at the top of the vajra. And the top part of the vajra melts into an ocean of elixir. It’s brilliantly white. And then from your throat, a red shaft of light goes to Machik’s throat. And from there, shafts of light go in ten directions, inviting all of the speech energy of all buddhas which come back into Machik and from her throat strikes the ah in the center.
[Recording abruptly ends here]