Question asked by Lobsang
When I do the generation stage of chakrasamvara in particular the melting of the drops to engage in the generation of the 4 joys (joy. Supreme joy，special joy, and innate joy) I get a very painful migraine when I do it… this is an essential practice and it is said that we should engage in the practice when we do the self generation…. what am I doing wrong…. I’m using the commentary and my lama has said I should rely on the commentary… he is currently quite busy and I have requested instructions but he has many things to do …. should I continue
Dear Lobsang,
Thank you for your question. I am very happy to read that you practicing Heruka Chakrasamvara. It is an amazing practice which will have a tremendous impact in your life and spiritual journey if you practice sincerely, with effort, keeping your vows and commitments. I have consulted His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche on this matter, and below is the advice that was given.
In the generation stage of Heruka Chakrasamvara, once must accomplish the generation stage fully in order to accomplish the completion stage. This means that without finishing the generation stage properly, if we engage in the completion stage there will be no results except the collection of merit. During the generation stage, there are certain parts that can create some form of physical ailment in us. If this happens, we engage in the practice, we do not need to focus on this section in our meditations. Instead we can focus on other sections of the generation stage in order to generate more merit. This will lead to us being able to engage in the dissolution and the generation of the four joys in the future properly.
When some people engage in their Heruka sadhanas, they do both the generation stage and the completion stage. The reason they do the completion stage is to become familiar with it, to become good at it, to become learned in it, and to keep up the practice so that they do not forget it. But even though they engage in the completion stage, they will not get many results except the generation of merit and planting imprints in their mindstreams because the generation stage is not completed.
Though the generation of the four joys are extremely important, we do not need to focus on them at the moment if cause physical ailments. We can focus on other parts of the generation stage and in the meantime engage in ngondro, or preliminary practices such as Vajrasattva, Guru Yoga, prostrations, and mandala offerings in order to purify negative karma and generate merit. This is so that when we do the dissolution and also the generation of the four joys, we will not experience that type of obstacles again.
Therefore, the generation of the four joys are definitely important, but if they are creating a physical ailment, we can put it aside for now and just read through the practice text. If we read through it, without meditating, we do not break our commitments. Let me reiterate, if we read through the section, without actually meditating on it, we do not break any of our commitments. I hope this helps you very much. Good luck with your practice. Thank you.