Puja to Guru Chakrasamvara
(By Tsem Rinpoche and Pastor David Lai)
Sang De Jig Sum or ‘The Three Kingly Tantras’ are higher tantric practices that consist of the Vajrabhairava, Guhyasamaja and Heruka Chakrasamvara Tantras.
According to the Heruka Tantras, Buddha Shakyamuni himself laid down the practices they contain. To do this, the Buddha manifested on Mount Kailash as Buddha Heruka Chakrasamvara in sacred union with Vajra Yogini and the 62 deities in his entourage.
The Heruka meditative practice uses desire and its associated attachments, hatred and ignorance, to transform the practitioner into the enlightened state of a Buddha. It was recommended by the great Je Tsongkhapa, who himself used the practice to gain great insight and receive a pure vision of Buddha-deities.
The Heruka Tantra is practised within all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It receives particular importance within the Gelug school because it has helped many renowned Gelug masters to achieve great attainments. Today, it is still heavily practised in the Gaden, Drepung and Sera Monasteries, as well as the tantric colleges of Gyuto and Gyume.
Heruka and Vajra Yogini were the main practices of many great Mahasiddhas of India, Nepal and Tibet and of His Holiness Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche and His Holiness Kyabje Zong Rinpoche.
The sacred path of Heruka must be conferred by a qualified teacher. Diligent practice can help one gain high realisations and enlightenment within this lifetime but may take the slowest of practitioners up to 14 lifetimes to achieve.
The Characteristics of Heruka
The most striking feature of Heruka is his four faces. Each face represents one of the four ‘moods’: the green ‘peaceful’ face, yellow ‘increasing’ face, red ‘desirous’ face and dark blue ‘wrathful’ face. Each mood is an emotion and a method that an advanced Heruka practitioner can use to subdue and benefit negative beings.
Heruka is also well-known for his divine laugh that subjugates all negative beings and obstacles. His 12 arms represent aspects of the meditative practice that counter the 12 links of Interdependent Origination (which are the 12 causes of rebirth in samsara). In other words, Heruka’s practice counters the direct causes of rebirth and allows adherents to transcend samsara.
Scholars and yogis describe Heruka’s nature as innate great bliss and emptiness, which are special qualities of a fully enlightened Buddha. All of us have this innate Heruka within us and the Heruka Tantra simply allows us to rediscover it.
Desire is the Door
The Buddha taught that desire is the most prevalent delusion in samsara; it is the reason the Buddha named our existence the desire realm. Hence, desire is also the most potent of all delusions and may be channelled as a powerful tool.
In Heruka’s Tantra, desire is transformed into a tool to become fully enlightened. The practice is represented by the process of entering the room of enlightenment via the door of desire. In the end, desire itself is dissolved in the process of achieving complete enlightenment.
The complex meditations use sinews, joints, bones, winds and psychic channels to gain higher attainments. Through purification, meditation, recitation, visualisation and collection of merits, a practitioner is able to dissolve their projections, ignorance, desire and attachments.
Oneness
To be one with Heruka means to have gained high spiritual attainments or full enlightenment through Heruka’s practice.
Great masters like His Holiness Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, who are said to be ‘one with Heruka’ realised true Buddha-nature and gained the special qualities of Buddha Heruka. This does not mean that Buddha Heruka merged with them or that they dissolved into him, but rather that they realised their Buddha-nature through Heruka’s meditational path.
Choosing the Right Tradition
According to H. E. Kensur Jampa Yeshe Rinpoche, there are three main lineages of Heruka’s practice that are very beneficial for people of this degenerate time. They are the Luipa 62-Deity Tradition, Krishnacharya 62-Deity Tradition and Ghantapa 5-Deity Tradition. All three lineages are practised within the Gelug School. The Namgyal Monastery of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Gyuto Tantric College, Gyume Tantric College and Gaden Shartse Monastery emphasise on the practice of the Luipa Tradition.
May all who have the great fortune to hear his name, see his sacred form and especially those who practise Heruka Chakrasamvara be liberated.
Tsem Rinpoche
Note: The downloadable text bellow is a commentary/sadhana of Heruka Chakrasamvara. You may read or practise this text only if you have received the initiation into this tantra otherwise there would be a serious infraction on tantric commitments.
Disclaimer: This text is presented here for strictly educational, non-commercial purposes only and no profit is being derived from making it available here.
Puja to Guru Chakrasamvara
For more interesting information:
- 62-Deity Heruka Chakrasamvara Sadhana of the Luipa Tradition
- The Vajrayogini category on my blog
- Sacred Mountains Around the World
- Mount Kailash and more
- An Exquisite Pictorial Biography of Buddha Shakyamuni
- Heruka’s eye | 胜乐金刚之眼
- Cosmic Tantra
- Twenty-Four Holy Places & Eight Great Charnel Grounds
- The Accidental Meditator
- Snakes, Roosters and Pigs by Tsem Rinpoche
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Thank you Rinpoche for sharing the sacred and powerful practice of Heruka.
‘May all who have the great fortune to hear his name, see his sacred form and especially those who practise Heruka Chakrasamvara be liberated. ‘
May this be just so. ?