Resolution of doubts on the manifold conduct of the bodhisattva and the arising and awakening of dharma, by the method of the Sarvabuddhasamāyoga (Chapter Nine)

CMP 9.1

Sealing the cause by the fruit and sealing the fruit by the cause—[that] is to be contemplated; for one who [seeks] accomplishment otherwise, it does not arise in a billion eons. Thus [it is said].

CMP 9.2

Vajrasattva, the great King, is to be invoked again and again. Thus [it is said].

CMP 9.3

Having given up idle lounging (lit. "stretching out the feet") and abandoned the basket [-load] of saṃsāra, one should accomplish the foremost Vajrasattva, the mind ever exerted.

CMP 9.4

Having earnestly abandoned regret, sloth-and-torpor, and the rest—otherwise there would be no attainment, not even in a hundred billion eons. Thus [it is said].

CMP 9.5

Those who are fixed here in the [mere] state of a monk, and the people who delight in [dry] reasoning, and those fixed in the state of [proud] elders—to them one should not teach the reality. Thus [it is said].

CMP 9.6

Knowledge devoid of [tantric] means, and the [moral] training too, was taught for the disciples (śrāvakas), O great Hero; lay hold of [the deeper meaning] in their case [as well].

CMP 9.7

In the root tantra (mūlasūtra (the root tantra cited as authority)) too he says: "Those devoid of [this] knowledge desire [merely] the ten paths of wholesome action." Thus [it is said].

CMP 9.8

(In MIA-flavored verse:) "You have trained in the vehicle of the disciples, O monk; [yet] one should course there in the bodhisattva-conduct. Course in the conduct of awakening among the qualities of a Buddha—this is to become the [very] ground of the Self-Existent One." Thus [it is said].

CMP 9.9

By harsh, severe ascetic observances the body, afflicted, withers away; from suffering the mind is distracted, and from distraction the attainment [turns out] otherwise [than intended]. Thus [it is said].

CMP 9.10

In the root tantra too he says: "When practiced by harsh, severe ascetic observances, he is not accomplished; but when [reality] is served (and the consort enjoyed) through the enjoyment of all the sense-pleasures, he is swiftly accomplished." Thus [it is said].

CMP 9.11

Passion, aversion, and delusion—these three are [like] adhering poison; they become [deadly] poison [only] when served with [further] poison [i.e. unwisely].

CMP 9.12

But again they become the nectar of immortality when served with the nectar [of wisdom]. Thus [it is said].

CMP 9.13

That by which the dull-witted is bound—by that very thing the wise one is wholly released; through the contemplation of awakening, all this is reversed.

CMP 9.14

That by which the deluded are bound and are crushed in the [hell] Raurava—by those very [things] they are released, with ease, through the power of wisdom. Thus [it is said].

CMP 9.15

Now, therefore, I shall fully expound the supreme, all-encompassing [maṇḍala]: the Saṃvara of the Net of Ḍākinīs of the Union of All Buddhas (Sarvabuddhasamāyoga-ḍākinījāla-saṃvara).

CMP 9.16

In the supreme, delightful secret [abode], ever abiding as the all-self, the glorious one consisting of all Buddhas, the blissful arising of Vajrasattva [dwells].

CMP 9.17

Adorned with the great divine jewel-nets of the Tathāgatas and the rest; thereupon, in [a palace] ablaze with an outspread canopy hung with bells—

CMP 9.18

—performing vajra-song and worship with songs and instrumental music, by means of flowers, incense, and the rest, and likewise with lamps, perfumes, and so on—

CMP 9.19

—they accomplish, in a dwelling or again in [a place] with a garden and the like, the Saṃvara of the Net of Ḍākinīs of the Union of All Buddhas.

CMP 9.20

There, first installing a seat, comfortable and soft to the touch, covered with the cloth of the universal lotus—that is the all-pure seat.

CMP 9.21

[There is] the Union of All Buddhas, the magical display of the Lord of Yoga; for there indeed [the deities] in the forms of glorious Vajrasattva manifest [themselves].

CMP 9.22

Consisting of all the elements, and likewise consisting of the root of life—by [the consorts] facing one's own tutelary deities, [there is] the setting-in-motion of the seal of attainment.

CMP 9.23

One should imagine the emblem-seal—cast, or fashioned, or [otherwise] wrought, finely painted, and bearing varied reflected images.

CMP 9.24

On those seats one should deposit all the [vital] breaths, each in its proper place; [the maṇḍala is] four-cornered, four-gated, adorned with four archways (toraṇas); and one should join vajra, jewel, lotus, and the rest with their gate-guardian.

CMP 9.25

With [consorts] facing one's own tutelary deities, with the women well prepared, lovely with their own seal-emblems—one should imagine the assembly-maṇḍala.

CMP 9.26

Four-cornered, four-gated, adorned with four archways, fitted with four [demarcating] threads, beautified with eight pillars—

CMP 9.27

—wrought with [pendant] necklaces and half-necklaces, ornamented with fillets, garlands, and festoons, resplendent with bells and banners, decorated with fly-whisks and the rest—

CMP 9.28

—and with crescent-moons and vajra[-tipped] corners at the junctions of the gate-turrets, adorned with varied cloths [bearing] bird-rows, gradations, finials, and the like.

CMP 9.29

With the enjoyments of all the goddesses, partaken of at will, through union with one's own tutelary deity, one should worship one's own self.

CMP 9.30

He is worshipped through the subsequent yoga, with the bliss of all union; and savoring [it] fully, he is accomplished through the supreme yoga.

CMP 9.31

By this, the one whose self is all the Buddhas would be accomplished, by the bliss of the elixir—[attaining] glorious Vajrasattva-[hood], [with] long life, youth, health, and true bliss.

CMP 9.32

[He becomes] the great body of all Buddhas, the eloquence (Sarasvatī) of all Buddhas, the great mind of all Buddhas, the great festal radiance of all Buddhas;

CMP 9.33

the great King of all Buddhas, sovereign of all Vajra-holders, lord of all the Lords of the World, supreme master of all the Jewel-lords.

CMP 9.34

Taking his delight with those [goddesses], he attains arising [as a deity] for the one [thus] proceeding; as the great Adept of all the goddesses, he is accomplished as a Universal Monarch (cakravartin). Thus [it is said].

CMP 9.35

Daily, or monthly, or yearly likewise, or else according to [his] resolve, he should enact the Saṃvara of the Buddhas [as a dramatic play]. Thus [it is said].

CMP 9.36

Whether standing or seated or pacing about or however positioned, whether rejoicing or talking, here or there, in whatever manner—

CMP 9.37

—whatever takes on the character of a sense-path, that, by its very nature, even through an uncomposed [non-formal] yoga, he should bear as consisting of all the Buddhas.

CMP 9.38

Equal to space, space-like in form, comparable to the boundless ocean—[here] the method of the dharma of passion, [and even] aversion, [become] sport, an expanse of play.

CMP 9.39

Only the [bare] essential matter has been taken up, for the sake of instructing disciples; for how many further lifetimes could the teaching on passion be endured [if told in full]?

CMP 9.colophon

[Here ends] the ninth chapter, the resolution of doubts about the integration [of the stages], concerning the manifoldness of the bodhisattva's conduct and the arising and full awakening of dharma, by the method of the glorious Sarvabuddhasamāyoga-ḍākinījāla-saṃvara. // 9 //