Becoming Vajrasattva: The Tantric Path of Purification

by Thubten Yeshe, Thubten Zopa Rinpoche (Foreword by), Nicholas Ribush (Editor)

Overview

"The practice of purification is one of the most important solutions to life's problems." - Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Common to all four traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, the practice of Vajrasattva is used to purify negative karma, illness, and obstacles to spiritual development. Lama Yeshe, the inspirational teacher who strongly influenced the development of Buddhism in the West, found that the practice of Vajrasattva brought dramatic results for his Western students. Becoming Vajrasattva is a complete guide to this purification practice, providing instruction on the method, commentary on the traditional texts, and insight into tantra. Also included is an entire section of complete retreat instructions - indispensable reading material for anyone undertaking a retreat in the Tibetan tradition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780861713899
Publisher:	Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date:	06/15/2004
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Lama Thubten Yeshe (1935-1984) was born in Tibet and educated at the great Sera Monastic University. He fled the Chinese oppression in 1959 and in the late 1960s, with his chief disciple, Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, began teaching Buddhism to Westerners at their Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal. In 1975 they founded the international Buddhist organization, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), which now has more than 160 centers, projects and services worldwide.

Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche is the Spiritual Director of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a worldwide network of Buddhist centers, monasteries, and affiliated projects, including Wisdom Publications. Rinpoche was born in 1946 in the village of Thami in the Solo Khumbu region of Nepal near Mount Everest. His books include Transforming Problems into Happiness, How to Be Happy, and Ultimate Healing. He lives in Aptos, California.

Nicholas Ribush is the founding director since 1996 of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, dedicated to preserving the teachings of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. He graduated from Melbourne University Medical School in 1964 and first encountered Buddhism at Kopan Monastery in 1972. He was an ordained monk from 1974 to 1986. He helped establish Wisdom Publications with Lama Yeshe in 1976, established Tushita Mahayana Meditation Centre in New Delhi in 1977, and Kurukulla Center in Boston in 1989. Ribush was a member of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) board of directors from 1983 until 2002. He lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	ix
	Preface	xiii
	Editor's Introduction	1
	Prologue	5
Part 1	The Main Commentary	7
1	Why and How We Purify	9
	The four opponent powers	11
	Karma	14
2	Taking Refuge	19
	Taking refuge and generating bodhichitta	21
	Visualizing the object of refuge	27
	The three ways to take refuge	29
3	Inner Refuge and Meditation on Emptiness	31
	Understanding shunyata	31
	Generating bodhicitta	37
	The vase meditation: the nine-round breathing exercise	40
4	The Actual Yoga Method	43
	The initial visualization	43
	Making offerings to Heruka Vajrasattva	47
	The initiation	51
	Offerings and praise to Heruka Vajrasattva	55
5	The Purification	57
	Mantra recitation	58
6	The Concluding Practices	63
	Dedication	65
Part 2	Retreat Instructions	67
7	Getting Ready for Retreat	69
	Qualifications for retreat	69
	Where to retreat	69
	When to start retreat	71
	Some general preparations	71
	What to eat	73
	Cleaning the retreat place	75
	The meditation seat	75
	The rosary	77
	Arranging the altar	78
8	The Retreat Session	81
	The daily schedule	81
	Just before the session	82
	Beginning the sessions	83
	Sessions in general	83
	The sadhana	84
	Mantra recitation	85
	Ending the session	86
9	More Retreat Advice	87
	Between sessions	87
	Retreat in general	89
	Group retreat	91
	Conclusion	91
Part 3	Discourses	95
10	No Negativity Cannot be Completely Purified	97
11	An Initiation into Heruka Vajrasattva	103
	The Heruka Vajrasattva initiation	106
12	A Brief Commentary on the Vajrasattva Sadhana	113
	The sadhana	115
	Questions and answers	119
	Retreat	121
	Fire puja	122
13	Vajrasattva Practice and Highest Yoga Tantra	125
14	The Qualities of Vajrasattva Are Already within Us	133
15	Action Is Everything	139
Part 4	Heruka Vajrasattva Tsok	147
16	What Is Tsok?	149
17	Heruka Vajrasattva Tsok: The First Commentary	151
18	Heruka Vajrasattva Tsok: The Second Commentary	163
	Appendices
1	The Yoga Method of the Glorious Supreme Heruka Vajrasattva	197
2	The Heruka Vajrasattva Tsok Offering	211
3	Tibetan Texts	233
4	Translation and Explanation of the Hundred-Syllable Mantra	259
5	Blessing the Shi-dak Torma	263
	Notes	269
	Glossary	277
	Chronology	289
	Suggested Further Reading	291

Editorial Reviews

"One of the great teachers of our time."

Sogyal Rinpoche

"Many years ago I heard a Dharma talk by Lama Yeshe. I was very impressed with his ability to communicate deep truths in very ordinary language, with a hilarious sense of humor that helped deliver such wisdom. But he died, so my attention eventually went elsewhere. Recently, I discovered his books—some very technical Tantra; some down-to-earth wisdom. Lama Yeshe's same gift was present in both modes. Although, my many years of Dharma training is in Theravadin Buddhism, especially the practice of vipassana meditation, I found his teaching once again to be of great value—so direct, so clear. Granted, some of his technical Tantra seemed to me, at first, of limited relevance to my interests. But upon closer reading, and in his hands, these teachings proved equally valuable. Lama Yeshe has given us a body of teaching of immense signifciance for practitioners of all schools of Buddhadharma."

Larry Rosenberg

"[FOUR STARS] Lama Thubten Yeshe (1935-84), one of the best loved and most highly accomplished lamas teaching Westerners, has gifted us with a number of very important books based on his talks to students. Among his superb publications, all released by Wisdom Publications, are Introduction to Tantra, The Bliss of Inner Fire, and Becoming Compassion Buddha: Tantric Mahamudra for Everyday Life. Becoming Vajrasattva has the same direct quality as Lama Yeshe's other works, allowing the reader to sense and enjoy some of the immediacy of receiving oral instructions from a highly realized teacher. As the founder of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), with over 100 centers around the world, he has created a lasting legacy. This book is the first full-length treatment of the Vajrasattva meditation/visualization practice, which is considered very important by all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism. We are very generously given a close-up view of how the meditation is to be done, including its associated rituals, and also of the minutiae of an actual Vajrasattva retreat. Lama Yeshe's accompanying instructional talks are, as always, precious and enormously clarifying and encouraging."

Georg Feuerstein

"Lama Yeshe was capable of translating Tibetan Buddhist thought not only through language, but by his presence, gestures, and way of life."

Gehlek Rimpoche