Straying Into Occultism

Yeshe Tsogyal's own phurba, revealed by Sangye Lingpa.

In the past -- during innumerable lifetimes, actually -- our minds have naturally and spontaneously given rise to bodhicitta, so on the basis of this cause, many of us seem to have some affinity toward practicing Dharma. Naturally, this occurs in greater or lesser degrees, and in some ways appears highly individualized --- effortless for some, and a chore for others. Although this appearance -- like all appearances -- is entirely deceptive, the deception becomes an enduring feature of our everyday thoughts. We have this tendency to look at practice in terms of "ease" or "difficulty," and limit ourselves thereby. In reality, what we see as ease or difficulty is actually an expression of bodhicitta's endurance in our mind-stream. So, really, what we should try to recognize is true bodhicitta, and just let all that other clutter dissolve by itself.

We don't always do that, now do we?

Even though naturally present bodhicitta is the fundamental cause of Dharma practice, many of us approach practice with a welter of ideas and temporal motives that eventually harden into the nexus of bewilderment. Thus bewildered, if we are not careful, our thinking strays into magical thinking, and our practice strays into occultism. This happens, and this happens more often than you might suppose. When it happens, it becomes like a fireworks display -- a sort of self-important, loud and colorfully persuasive display taking myriad forms. The forms hang in the air just long enough for us to say, "Ooh!Ah!" and then they disappear back into darkness.

And this -- though it may at first blush seem surprising, if not incongruous -- brings us to the topic of our talk today, which is "straying into occultism by (1) premature engagement, or (2) malice." The elements of premature engagement and malice are, I think, symbiotic. "Premature engagement" simply means that you are engaging in a particular practice without appropriate maturation of your mind-stream; without appropriate maturation of bodhicitta. In the absence of appropriate maturation, it becomes possible for all sorts of perverted intentions to arise, and malice is of course one of them.

I have already touched upon the subject of malice elsewhere, in a somewhat different context, the salient points of which are now repeated:

"... instead of grabbing a pitchfork, there are some "Buddhists" who grab a mala and start counting out Vajrakilaya mantras. That is a particularly dangerous brand of closet Christianity. That triple-edged phurba is a double-edged sword....

The sharp edges of imprecations hurled by others by means of mantra
And the bad signs and omens that result from disharmony –
Drive back all of these, removing their power!

A very great lama --  the one who discovered that which I just quoted from -- once explained that wrathful deities cannot be deceived. He described the result of attempting to deceive wrathful deities by abusively using wrathful mantras to no good purpose. He stated there would be the sudden death of loved ones; that death and illness would arise among one's retinue. There would be accidents and suicides. Medical procedures would bring no lasting benefit, and even one's doctors or other helpful persons would experience accidents and misfortunes. The weather in one's immediate environment would become punishing, and creatures of the land and air would begin to act in strange ways.

He explained that this would be experienced much as someone standing in the eye of a hurricane. One's immediate environment might seem normal -- for a time -- whereas at the periphery of one's immediate environment, the wind would begin to pick up speed. This would take place over a very long time, until one was completely isolated. Then, and only then, would one begin to see the result of one's actions, and this would result in madness and a descent into the hellish realms."

In America, and elsewhere in the West, there are numbers of people attempting to practice Vajrakilaya, and they can be coarsely divided into two categories: those who received the empowerments and began the practices after completing ngondro, and those who received the empowerment and began the practices without completing ngondro. You never used to see this distinction in the old days, but you certainly see it in our present time. You even see people who attempt to engage in the practices without first obtaining the empowerments, or they obtain empowerments from someone who --regardless of exposure to this or that grand lineage -- is unable to demonstrate the signs of accomplishment of the practice.

Now, the literature and lineage commentaries of Vajrakilaya are vast in scope. Most people do not realize just how vast. For example: in 2002, Zenkar Rinpoche was able to compile a collection of 1,200 individual texts, in forty-one volumes, yet he regarded this as only a representative example. 

Although it seems difficult to find anyone who has read through the literature of Vajrakilaya in its entirety, there are people who have spent a lifetime to make what amounts to a comprehensive literature survey. Those who made this effort are unanimous in their agreement on certain aspects of this practice. Out of the enormous diversity of the texts, and the nine lineages, there are still these distilled essence elements, upon which everyone can agree. One very important point of agreement -- we can say it is the single most important element of the practice -- is to proceed from the root of uncontrived bodhicitta. Another important point of agreement is the necessity to proceed from the firm foundation of having completed one's ngondro.

Yet, in the West, it seems we do not agree. We seem to feel we can engage in Vajrakilaya  primarily to overcome obstacles, or subdue enemies, or generally engage in the lower activity (medlei) associated with this practice. We seem to feel we can go grab the nearest empowerment, sit there yawning and itching, and then jump right into the practice whenever it feels convenient. We seem to feel we can maintain the empowerment in desultory fashion, without keeping the commitments. 

I cannot speak to every circumstance, but in my own experience, when Dudjom Rinpoche gave the Dudjom Namchak Putri, for example, he would very gracefully say, "For those of ordinary ability, 10,000 repetitions of the mantra each day seem easy. For those of below-average ability, 1,000 repetitions each day are the best they can do." I have since heard lamas who have an authentic connection to him use much the same language. So, one could clearly understand what was expected, but now it seems we feel those expectations no longer apply to us. In these times, many lamas are extremely careful not to voice practice commitments, whether directly or indirectly -- nobody wants to brave the broken samaya that seems to inevitably follow Western practitioners.

When we look around these days, we are hard pressed to find accomplishment, yet it seems easy to find numerous examples of the result of attempting high tantric practice from low motive, lacking proper preparation. A lot of the craziness that we see in some of the ersatz "sanghas" seems as if it can be traced directly to biting off more than one is able to chew.

So, my modest suggestion -- it will have to be modest because I don't have much horsepower at my disposal -- is that rather than permit our practice to stray into occultism and drive us insane, we concentrate on something rather more fundamental -- tonglen seems a ready candidate, finishing ngondro seems essential-- and once that becomes indelible, we can proceed to other matters as our teachers see fit.

I was nosing around the net today, and I saw some rival "Buddhists" threatening each other, and these thoughts arose in my mind. I could paddle up and down this river all night and all day, but what is the use? You are smart enough to get the idea on the first splash.

[That splendid photo of Yeshe Tsogyal's phurba was sent around by the Jnanasukha people, who engage in extensive pilgrimage. Isn't it nice? That other photo comes from I know not where.]

.