In addition to Madhyamaka, the foundational theories employed in Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism also include the Tathāgatagarbha teachings of the Third Turning of the Dharma Wheel, as well as Yogācāra (Consciousness-Only). Yogācāra may further be divided into Rational Consciousness-Only and Scriptural Consciousness-Only, of which Tibetan Vajrayāna mainly adopts the latter.
The practical methods for realizing these teachings are the Two Stages: the Generation Stage and the Completion Stage. Within the Generation Stage are practices of visualizing deity (iṣṭadevatā). Many people arrive in Tibet and immediately ask their Guru, “Who is my yidam?” If they are told that their yidam is White Tārā or Green Tārā, they become delighted, imagining the yidam to be something like a personal guardian spirit. In truth, this is a misunderstanding.
After cultivating the Generation Stage, practitioners proceed to the Completion Stage, which includes methods involving subtle winds (prāṇa), channels (nāḍī), and essence-drops (bindu). We often hear marvelous stories about great Tibetan masters—for example, Milarepa flying through the sky, or a master severing and interchanging the bodies of a black and white dog, yet restoring them to life.
Why are such things said to occur? Because when the practices of winds, channels, and essence-drops are developed to a very high level, mastery over the vital energies arises. At that point, such practitioners relate to the external five elements—earth, water, fire, wind, and space—and to their own bodies in ways entirely different from ordinary people. Of course, great masters do not practice for the sake of acquiring supernatural powers. Their true aim is to realize the nature of mind and attain Prajñā wisdom. Such abilities are merely secondary byproducts along the way.
Once the practices of winds, channels, and essence-drops are well established, one proceeds further into the Mahāmudrā of the Kagyu teaching, or the Dzogchen (Great Perfection) of the Nyingma teaching. Dzogchen is known as the summit of the Nine Vehicles, meaning that all paths of practice are classified into nine levels, with Dzogchen occupying the highest. This signifies that the Dzogchen view is regarded as the most profound, direct, and complete presentation of the nature of all phenomena. Through it, understanding and directly experiencing one’s true nature is said to be the swiftest and most complete path, enabling realization in this very lifetime.
In leading practitioners to recognize their true nature, Dzogchen is in some ways similar to Chan Buddhism. Chan speaks of “directly pointing to the human mind, seeing one’s nature and becoming Buddha,” which is likewise considered one of the swiftest paths of realization. Yet the Chan method mainly emphasizes recognition of one’s nature itself. Dzogchen, by contrast, continues after that recognition, guiding the practitioner to bring that realization to its fullest possible expression.
In other words, within Dzogchen, recognizing one’s true nature does not in itself mean that Buddhahood has already been attained. After recognition, the practitioner must use that realization to completely purify the ignorance accumulated since beginningless eons. Only then is Buddhahood accomplished. At that stage, all innate merits that were always present become fully manifest. One such advanced method is called Tögal (thod rgal), which has no direct counterpart in Chinese Buddhism. For this reason, Dzogchen is often regarded as reaching the highest level of method. Yet all such methods are means; what is ultimately to be realized remains Prajñā wisdom and the Tathāgatagarbha wisdom taught in the Third Turning of the Dharma Wheel.
—Excerpted and compiled from The Relationship Between Buddhist Theory and Practice
This article is a preliminary translation draft and has not yet been reviewed or proofread by the speaker.
