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3.3  The Overview of Vase-Chi Yoga

The following passage is the overview of Vase-Chi Yoga, as stated in The Six Yogas of Naropa:

 

One should keep one’s body in full lotus posture, straighten lower back, press knees hard by hands, close left nostril, and breathe in through right nostril only. During inhaling, one should imagine that all good things and winds in the universe enter one’s body through this nostril and transform into merits and virtues. After that, one should close right nostril, open left nostril and slowly breathe out through left nostril until all the air is out completely. During exhaling, one should imagine that all evil retributions are expelled out of the body together with the air. One should breathe in and out by turns through right and left nostrils respectively, and keep one’s mouth shut all the time. By this way, the Chi will enter the central-channel during inhaling and exit from the central-channel during exhaling. As a result, all internal five chakras will be connected from inside to outside of the body. Practicing like this way for some time, then one can practice breathing with two nostrils concurrently. At that time, one should breathe in through two nostrils and try to keep the air inside the body for a long time. While the air stays in the body, one should imagine that one’s body is full of Chi and each chakra is pushed by Chi and turns clockwise except the navel charka, which turns anti-clockwise. When the Chi descends down to the place under one’s navel, one should swallow a little saliva and the saliva will go to each branch channel; without swallowing saliva, the Chi will not enter each branch channel. After swallowing, one will fart slightly. Then, one should slowly exhale the air in abdomen out of the body through two nostrils. If exhaling it too fast, one will die soon. During exhaling, one should imagine that the inside of the body is totally empty and all dharma is empty too. One should practice this way gradually and frequently. If one can practice everyday, the Chi will be kept in the navel charka finally. This method will enable the practitioner to live longer and is the so-called fullness of the vase. ^{[62: 83-85]}

The beginner should breathe out after breathing in. It is not tolerable if the abdomen is full of air without breathing out. But after long-time practice, the frequency of breath will reduce gradually, and finally the breath will stop. Milarepa said: “If the Chi of left and right branch channels can enter the central-channel, one will feel slightly comfortable; if one can stop breathing and keep the air inside the body for a while, one will feel very comfortable; if one can stop breathing totally, one will feel the most comfortable.” It will be difficult for the Chi to enter the central-channel even for only a slight leak through nostrils. That is because the vase cannot gather the Chi anymore and Vase-Chi lasts only for a very short instant then disappears. When it comes, the abdomen will become warm and the Chi will enter the central-channel gradually. One will become sleepy if the Chi does not enter the central-channel but leaks out through nostrils instead. This drowsiness will cause one to lose self-control and fail to keep the Chi inside the abdomen. Then, one will fail in the practice of Vase-Chi Yoga. In order to achieve it successfully, one should practice frequently and keep away from all worldly affairs. Each time before starting to practice Vase-Chi Yoga in the morning, one should invite the buddha and review all the stages mentioned above. Then, one should sit in the lotus posture and put hands below the navel with both palms upward. After that, one should hold the breath and keep the air inside the body for a period of six snaps of fingers and visualize that the Chi enters the vase. Through frequently practicing, if one can hold the breath for a period of thirty-six snaps of fingers someday, Vase-Chi will come and enter the central-channel. Finally, if one can hold the breath for a period of one hundred and eight snaps of fingers, one thus will achieve Vase-Chi Yoga. If one can hold the breath for a period of one or two hundred snaps of fingers, one will live forever. During holding the breath, one should use right hand to snap fingers, use left hand to count beads and concentrate on “all dharma being empty and my death being impermanent.” That is the root of attaining Buddhahood. If one can often think that my death is impermanent, one will definitely become a buddha eventually. ^{[62: 175-176]}

The practice of Vase-Chi Yoga is to keep the abdomen-heat around the vase and fill the vase fully with Chi. ^{[62: 165]}

The way of practice is through the fake to the truth. What is visualized will become real finally: “It is so-called the ideal being the root of the real.” To practice following methods, one should visualize with the same sequence and practice it frequently. ^{[62: 177]}

As stated by Yogi C. M. Chen:

At first, one should understand an important principle: “An abstract theory can become a real firsthand experience through the daily practice of concentration.” I have personally experienced something mentioned in this song, like holding the breath, stopping the pulse or heartbeat. Those are real. ^{[34: 924]}

However, the truth is that what is visualized can never become real; the air can never enter the central-channel through holding the breath and visualizing the Chi. It is because the visualized central-channel is false and unreal, but the air is physically real. These two unreal and real things can never be merged and stay together. The practice of Vase-Chi Yoga is actually a fallacy. Anyone who has common sense on physics and medical science can easily understand it. But surprisingly, such a fallacy, which contradicts the nature of the physical world, has been widely propagated in the current twentieth century and many highly educated people believe it. Furthermore, the Chi of Chi-practice is actually not the air. Chi is something like the electrical energy (named temporarily since there is no other better and proper term available) that is generated in the channel of one’s body after one has achieved the Chi-practice. It is by no means the air mentioned by Tibetan Secret Schools.

In addition, the temporary stop of the pulse and heartbeat is not the real samadhi at all. To achieve the real samadhi, one should practice through four-dhyanas and eight-samadhis. It is a real samadhi after attaining the firsthand experience on the first-dhyana. Moreover, after entering the middle samadhi between the third-dhyana and the fourth-dhyana, the practitioner can truly stop both the pulse and heartbeat for several hours or even several days. That is a real samadhi too. As for the tantric samadhi through the practice of bright-drop and Chi, which enables the practitioner to hold the breath for five, ten, or fifteen minutes at most, that is something like a diver’s holding breath rather than samadhi. Most divers, with some professional training, can hold the breath for more than ten minutes. Some well-trained divers can hold it even longer. But all of those are only a matter of physical training rather than the practice of mental samadhi. Blo-bzan-grags-pa Zam Lam’s (one author of The Six Yogas of Naropa) statement about holding breath for one hour is a boast and not believable. The practice of Vase-Chi Yoga is another boast and has nothing to do with the true practice of mental samadhi. Practitioners can never attain four-dhyanas and eight-samadhis through those tantric practices. People should not be confused and misled by those patriarchs of Tibetan Secret Schools.

As stated in The Six Yogas of Naropa:

One should try to make the Chi merge into the central-channel. If the Chi can enter the central-channel, the eighty consciousnesses can enter it too. The consciousness (the bright-drop) is the life. Once the life enters the central-channel, it can ascend, and then exit the body through the crown aperture. The life is only a bright-drop in the central-channel, but after exiting one’s body, it will become one foot tall. The one who has fulfilled the practice can transform the exited life into countless embodiments to benefit sentient beings. ^{[62: 178]}

That the eighty consciousnesses merge into a consciousness after one’s death is a very strange illusion from Tibetan tantric patriarchs. Buddha Sakyamuni said clearly in many sutras that all sentient beings including humans have only eight consciousnesses rather than eighty consciousnesses invented by Tibetan Secret Schools. Since there is no such a thing as eighty consciousnesses, all the subsequent statements about the eighty consciousnesses merging into twenty-five consciousnesses, then into one, and finally exiting the body through the crown aperture are all illusive too. Furthermore, the real Alaya consciousness does not have any form, appearance or color, and hence the statement that the height of the life is one foot is completely illusive.

The practice of turning chakra in Vase-Chi Yoga is the second method of The Six Yogas of Naropa:

Yesterday I talked about the practice of the vase and Chi. One should gather the Chi in the navel chakra, and then one can move the Chi to any place following one’s will. Today, I will talk about the second method of the six yogas––the turning of chakras like the turning of a wheel. During the practice, one should sit with bare feet and in lotus posture, grasp two big toes hard, straighten the arms, breathe in, and then hold the breath for a very long time. Some practitioners can even hold the breath for one hour. The chakras can turn only during the holding of breath. One should breathe through the nose rather than the mouth. Only breathing through the nose, can the Chi enter or exit the central-channel, and also stay in it. A human body has five chakras, with a total of seventy-two thousand channels. Briefly speaking, there are one hundred and twenty branch channels: the heart chakra has eight; the reward chakra at the throat has sixteen (Original author’s note: the sixteen branch channels are the sixteen unmovable reward buddhas; once moved, they will become countless embodiments.); the great-happiness chakra on the head has thirty-two with a shape like a precious umbrella; the navel chakra has sixty-four. These four chakras have totally one hundred and twenty branch channels. The happiness-protecting chakra at the secret place is not included, which has another thirty-two branch channels. These one hundred and twenty branch channels are very important and the practitioners should be familiar with them since all Chi and blood flow through them. ^{[62: 87]}

Another practice of hooked fists in Vase-Chi Yoga is the third method in The Six Yogas of Naropa:

One should sit in lotus posture, hold the breath, make fists hooked, extend the hooked fists forward, raise them overhead quickly, stay overhead for a while, and then move the hooked fists down to the heart slowly. At that time two hands hold each other and two forearms are connected into a line. One then pulls two clasped hands toward two opposite sides as if one tries to separate the hands. The Chi will move to the hands during that time. Afterwards, one separates two hands with strength and extends two hands leftward, then rightward. After that, one grasps two big toes firmly, straightens the arms, and turns the body slightly leftward and then rightward. One then makes fists with little fingers straight, extends two arms leftward and rightward respectively, and then draws hands back on ribs. During the practice, one should do all of those with strength and hold the breath. One should do like this way once at the beginning and then increase the times of practice gradually. Those practices can keep one away from all kinds of illnesses. ^{[62: 91]}

Yogi C. M. Chen’s sayings are the same (refer to [34: 195]). As for the details of the fourth, fifth and sixth methods, please refer to The Six Yogas of Naropa. About the details of practicing visualization, please refer to Section 2.4 of this book.

In summary, the theory of Vase-Chi Yoga is totally wrong throughout every stage of the practice, from the beginning breath practice till the final embodiment one. There are many illusive and false statements such as: The air is taken for the Chi; the Chi is imagined to merge into the visualized central-channel; the visualized bright-drop is taken for the real consciousness or the life; the holding of breath is taken for samadhi; the visualized embodiments can help others, etc. All those statements are not logical by common sense. In addition, the practice of Vase-Chi Yoga is only a worldly method. It is completely irrelevant to the four-dhyanas and eight-samadhis of worldly samadhis, not to mention the supra-mundane Buddhist samadhis.

 

3.4  Tranquilness-insight in The Six Yogas of Naropa

The practices of bright-drop and Vase-Chi are the first method in The Six Yogas of Naropa. One of their purposes is to practice tranquilness-insight so that tantric practitioners can attain samadhi.

If one cannot attain samadhi after practice for some time, one can practice Chi to attain it quickly. During this practice, one should sit in the lotus posture and meditate by keeping one’s mind stable like the fire inside a lamp that does not flicker even in the wind. One will keep tranquilness-insight when the wisdom consciousness comes. In this state one can remain mentally steady even many people shout around. To achieve this state one definitely needs several-year practice. ^{[62: 105]}

One should eliminate afflictions and bring forth the great compassion before practicing this “samadhi”:

 

One should give up all the worldly pleasure and pursue the pleasure of nirvana instead. But if only staying in nirvana state, one will fall into two-vehicles. Therefore, one should think that all sentient beings were my parents in my previous lives, pity them because they always suffer bitterness without knowing how to save themselves, and bring forth the great compassion to rescue them. By thinking of that, one’s bodhi mind will arise. But the bodhi mind arisen at the first time is false. The true bodhi mind comes only after long and frequent practice. After that, one will always think of benefiting all sentient beings. … One can achieve it only with the conditions of keeping precepts, fulfilling six paramitas (perfections) and being diligent as well. This is the common method used by all practitioners of exoteric Buddhism. (Original author’s note: The tantric methods of samadhi in six paramitas are tranquilness-insight and trans-insight; the wisdom arises after mental tranquil cessation; and the insight can be enhanced by using the wisdom; thus, one should practice it well to manifest these two insights.) After completing the practice of orthodox Buddhism, one should learn Vajra-vehicle, listen to The Empowerment Sutra, and keep vajra precepts. … One should understand the rule of cause-and-effect, know all conditioned phenomena being unreal like a dream, realize the sufferings of transmigration, and pity sentient beings for their ignorance. Therefore, one vow to learn Buddhism in order to rescue them, and then the bodhi mind will arise. If one can attain the tranquilness-insight, one’s bodhi mind will arise naturally. Tranquilness means that the mind is totally calm and still; insight means the observation of all worldly phenomena being empty and false. To practice samadhi like this way is the true Buddhist samadhi. ^{[62: 19-21]}

One should stay in a cave and keep both mind and mouth quiet during practice. To keep the mouth quiet means that one will always be quiet even when someone talks. To keep the mind quiet means that, even beaten or shouted, one should ignore everything, keep calm and concentrate on the practice. One should shut the functions of seeing and hearing, and keep the mind in complete cessation. … Keeping the mind immovable is tranquilness-insight. (Original author’s note: Insight is translated from Tibetan; it can also be translated as trans-insight.) ^{[62: 48-49]}

Tantric practitioners wrongly think that they can attain the worldly four-dhyanas and eight-samadhis after the achievement of bright-drop and Chi-practices. Thus, they practice Chi for meditative concentration rather than the right methods of practicing the worldly four-dhyanas and eight-samadhis. They have the following illusory statement: “Absolutely, practitioners can attain samadhis if they practice Chi.” [62: 105]

Nevertheless, they claim that tranquilness-insight, being attained after long-time practice of bright-drop and Chi, is the bodhi mind. This insight is actually only the thoughtless pristine awareness. Such awareness can be easily attained through practicing our method of Buddha-remembrance Without Appearance for several months. How come tantric practitioners must practice bright-drop and Chi for so many years to attain it? Obviously, their methods are very inefficient.

In addition, Tibetan Secret Schools falsely believe that the practices of bright-drop and Chi can make them be reborn in the heaven of the desire-realm, or even the form-realm or formless-realm, and that the visualization of nine  “Ah” seed-syllables can make them attain vajra bodies and thus realize their Alaya consciousnesses:

 

The resolution of dhyana: If the practitioners, after receiving the nectar to increase the pure part, can achieve dhyana with the pain from Chi, I will teach them the reason of resolution. ^{[61: 371]}

According to different theories of the vajra body and differences among tantras, the mind is the Alaya consciousness, on which a sentient being’s habits rely. … Through the combination of both channel seed-syllable at the base and “descending from top”, the scene appears. From that, the mind and Chi are held in the white “Ah” seed-syllable of the heavenly path. The previous perceptive pleasure is the heavenly perception and one perceives oneself becoming a heavenly being. The “dancer” in the praise is the person whose body is transformed and with garland. The “chanter” is the person who can use the mantra and speak the heavenly language. … The praise states: “the samadhi at the ‘Om’ dhyana.” That means if the mind and Chi are held in the “Om” seed-syllable of dhyana, the following perceptive samadhis of four-dhyana-heavens in the form-realm will arise: (1) the samadhi with awareness and subtle perception, (2) the samadhi with joy and happiness, (3) the samadhi away from happiness but with joy, and (4) the samadhi with equal renouncing and purifying. … The praise states: “really melting into the buddha-mother’s empty ‘Ah’ seed-syllable and feeling the emptiness of three-realms.” That means if the mind and Chi are held in the “Ah” seed-syllable of wisdom, the following perceptive samadhis of four-boundless-places in the formless-realm will arise: (1) the samadhi on infinite space, (2) the samadhi on infinite consciousness, (3) the samadhi on nothingness, and (4) the samadhi of neither existence nor non-existence. ^{[61: 486, 487, 492 and 493]}

However, such realization of the “Alaya consciousness” is still the conscious mind because the perceptive mind able to visualize things is the mind-consciousness and the visualized “Ah” seed-syllable is the state received by the mind-consciousness. Both of them do not relate to the Alaya consciousness mentioned in Buddhist sutras at all.

To attain four-dhyanas and eight-samadhis through such practices of bright drop and Chi is a fallacy and can never be achieved. The true practice of four-dhyanas and eight-samadhis should keep the conscious mind in a single-pointed state of concentration and it can be achieved only through long-time practice; In order to achieve that state, one should apart from all internal appearances (including the internal image of seed-syllable), abort the operations of Chi, and eliminate five coverings of wisdom.

The tantric teaching about “equally-arriving the first-dhyana samadhi state or above without getting rid of image” is totally ignorant of the true samadhi; the teaching about equally-arriving the second-dhyana with the continuous operation of Chi is an illusion too. There is no such an equally-arriving state of the second-dhyana in this world, not to mention the third-dhyana or even the higher samadhi states. Nevertheless, Tibetan Secret Schools boast that they can attain four formless samadhis through the practices of bright-drop, Chi and mantra chanting. Those people who have attained the true dhyana or samadhi can easily tell the real fact. How come Tibetan Secret Schools do not know their sayings completely contradict the true samadhi practice? Such kinds of ignorance can prove that they have never attained four-dhyanas or eight-samadhis.

Among five coverings of wisdom, the first and most serious one which must be eliminated is the desire, mostly the sexual desire. Without eliminating the sexual desire, one can never attain the first-dhyana. By contrast, tantric practices are always together with the sexual desire; they allege that they can leave desire with desire but actually they cannot leave it at all. It is because they use visualization and the lustful tactile sense of Couple-Practice Tantra as the way of practice. With such heavy sexual desire, they can never attain the first-dhyana, not to mention the advanced four-dhyanas and eight-samadhis. Therefore, the practices of bright-drop and Chi are the obstacles rather than the right way to attain four-dhyanas and eight-samadhis. It is impossible to attain samadhi by that way. The practitioners of Tibetan Secret Schools should have the wisdom to distinguish the differences. In addition to tranquilness-insight of The Six Yogas of Naropa, other tantric practices for samadhi, such as the method of Sakya School, are illusory teachings too. One who practices those tantric methods definitely can never attain the true four-dhyanas and eight-samadhis.

 

 

3.5  The supra-mundane fruition not from the attainment of practicing bright-drop and Chi

The Way and Its Fruit (Lamdre) of Sakya School falsely states that one can get away from three evil paths, attain the supra-mundane fruition and become a “non-deluded bodhisattva” by the attainment of practicing bright-drop and Chi (Refer to [61:470-491]); it also states that, through practicing the “42 learning places” of three guiding ways (the Chi guiding way, realm-nectar guiding way, and channel-syllable guiding way), the practitioners can keep away from three evil paths in a lifetime.

However, all those kinds of perception, including some on three guiding ways like five-kind-of-Chi, five-element- power-growth, four-element-equal-part, etc., are still within the scope of the mind-consciousness, and never touch the eighth consciousness. Such practice methods of Tibetan Secret Schools are complicated, time-consuming and unable to make practitioners realize the true reality. Actually, the true reality is the eighth consciousness which consists of the natures of inherence, self-nature, purity and nirvana; the eighth consciousness with inherence, self-nature, purity and nirvana is exactly the true reality. Exoteric Buddhists should realize this eighth consciousness to verify the true reality of prajna. But Tibetan Secret Schools teach their followers to practice three guiding ways, rather than to realize the entity and functions of the eighth consciousness, to verify the true reality. By that way, how can they ever realize the bodhi way and become “non-deluded bodhisattvas”?

Most of tantric patriarchs wrongly think that bright-drop is the origin of life and the root of all dharma:

One should not misunderstand the emptiness-nature of bright-drop. The luminosity of bright-drop is exactly the emptiness-nature of no-birth; the entity of bright-drop contains the dependently arising of no-extinction. The entity includes functions; the entity is the dharma-body and its functions are the physical body. The entity is the ultimate truth and its functions are the worldly truth. This kind of bright-drop is what one should firmly reside in. ^{[34: 883]}

Thus, they regard bright-drop as the dharma of no-birth in Buddhist sutras. But in fact, the true dharma of no-birth in Buddha’s three-vehicle sutras is the permanent existence of the eighth consciousness since the beginningless time. The eighth consciousness is the “consciousness” on which the name and form depend, and is functioning all the time. This very consciousness is exactly the reality of nirvana, and is the only dependence of the remainderless nirvana. It still keeps functioning uninterruptedly even in the five ceasing states of the mind consciousness like in the sleep without dreams, in a coma, etc. Because it permanently exists, it is called no-birth; because it is absolutely indestructible, it is named no-extinction. This is the true meaning of no-birth in exoteric Buddhist sutras.

By contrast, the bright-drop results only from one’s visualization practice and will disappear at any other time. It will not appear at all when one is in the sleep without dreams, in a coma, during death, etc., and even stops permanently when one enters the state of the remainderless nirvana. Therefore, bright-drop is a dharma of dependently arising. Anything can be created will be extinguished sometime. Hence, bright-drop should not be called the dharma of no-birth. The previous examples can prove that those gurus falsely regard bright-drop as the entity of life and misunderstand the Buddha’s true meaning of no-birth. They pursue the Buddha dharma but ignore the true mind of the eighth consciousness, the thus-come-store, and thus can be entitled heretics.

As stated by Yogi C.M. Chen:

Dharma-character School of consciousness-only researches on ordinary people’s mental phenomena such as the opposition between sense-organ and sense-object, the arising of afflictions, the distinguishing between good and evil, and the formation of differently maturing. These kinds of research are very helpful to the beginners who want to study the Buddha dharma. As for the advanced fivefold-consciousness-only view, even Hsuan-tsang and Kwuei-ji could not practice and realize it, and thus did not set good examples. Finally when consciousness-only becomes empty, all eight consciousnesses will change into four wisdoms. Besides, in order to attain fruition, this school should rely on the practices of other schools to complete the stage of way and fruition. For tantric practitioners, the theory of so-called “three-realms being consciousness-only and all dharma being mind-only” is no more suitable for them because it contradicts the right view of tantras. One reason is that all tantric schools, regardless of the new, old, red (Nyingma), or yellow (Gelug) school, refute consciousness-only and emphasize the middle-way view; the other reason is that Tibetan Secret Schools specially emphasize physical five-elements between the mental and the physical things. They transform the karmic Chi of five-elements into the wisdom Chi of five-elements, cultivate Chi-practice, use female consorts, regulate eating and drinking, do vigorous exercise, etc. All of those show that they put emphasis on material, unlike the school of consciousness-only that always negates material. As far as the dharma-body view of great-seal and the inherent wisdom view concerned, they do not talk only about the mental dharma. The so-called bright-drop is not a mental thing either; it actually means all dharma-realms, including both the mental and the material worlds. ^{[34: 895-896]}

However, not only Yogi C.M. Chen misunderstood the right meaning of consciousness-only, but also the most famous Buddhist leader, dharma master Yin-shun, who had studied Buddhism for over sixty years, misunderstood it too. Thus, how could the gurus of Tibetan Secret Schools, who do not study much on the true Buddhism, not misunderstand it?

Regarding the fivefold-consciousness-only view, according to the historic records of Chinese Buddhism, dharma master Hsuan-tsang and his student Kwuei-ji of Tang Dynasty are the first two persons who realized it. It is not as Yogi C. M. Chen said. None (except the patriarchs of Tibetan Jonang School) of the ancient or modern Tibetan tantric gurus have really understood the true meaning of the fivefold-consciousness-only view because they have not realized the eighth consciousness. Since the theory of consciousness-only is based on the eighth consciousness, those gurus do not even realize the eighth consciousness to attain the entry level knowledge of consciousness-only; how can they realize and understand the right meaning of the more advanced fivefold-consciousness- only?

Based on the wrong views, those tantric gurus criticized dharma master Hsuan-tsang, who was a third-ground bodhisattva and had attained the seed-wisdom of consciousness-only. They do not know that the theory of consciousness-only is about the all-seed-wisdom, the most ultimate knowledge of the Buddha dharma; therefore they devalue the seed-wisdom of consciousness-only, which is the best dharma, as the non-ultimate one and have thus committed the gross evil karma of “slandering the bodhisattva-store”. According to the Buddha’s teaching in The Lankavatara Sutra, such a person is called icchantika, the one without any root of goodness, and will be reborn in hell after death. It is really a pity that those tantric gurus do not know that they had already committed such severe sins of the suffering in hell for future long eons by devaluing the true dharma and slandering dharma master Hsuan-tsang, who was a third-ground supreme bodhisattva.

Furthermore, the seed-wisdom dharma of consciousness- only is never the dharma “that always negates material” as Yogi C. M. Chen said. Rather, it explains that all material in three-realms is actually induced by the eighth consciousnesses of all related sentient beings; thus, the eighth consciousness is the origin of all material. It also explains that the eighth consciousness is possessed of “the nature of element-seeds”; through this nature of element-seeds, all human beings can absorb necessary material to grow up from fetuses to babies and further from babies to adults; it is also the same nature of element-seeds and karmic seeds in the eighth consciousness to make sentient beings grow old, dead and reborn again. Therefore, the seed-wisdom dharma of consciousness-only is the ultimate dharma which perfectly explains the origin of all material, rather than “the dharma of negating material”.

In addition, all the unconditioned dharma is based on all the eight consciousnesses and the form dharma; without those consciousnesses and the form dharma, none of the six, eight, nine, or twelve kinds of the unconditioned dharma can be manifested, not to mention making people practice the unconditioned dharma.

However, the dharma of bright-drop, great-seal of dual operations of luminosity and emptiness, Highest-yoga of dual operations of bliss and emptiness, etc., which Tibetan Secret Schools think is the most valuable practice and could let them become buddhas in a lifetime, are in fact heretical and are totally irrelevant to the authentic Buddha dharma. Tibetan Secret Schools completely misunderstand the true Buddha dharma and try to replace the eighth consciousness of inherent no-birth nature with the false conditioned bright-drop, visualization, and the dual operations of bliss and emptiness. They use those dependently arising methods, which are all heresy, to replace the inherent no-birth dharma, devalue the right meaning of consciousness-only as the non-ultimate one, and slander dharma masters Hsuan-tsang and Kwuei-ji. Those accusations prove that tantric gurus are totally ignorant of the most ultimate consciousness-only theory of the true Buddha dharma.

Nevertheless, such ignorant ordinary persons proclaim bright-drop is the most ultimate one and use it to replace the true dharma:

Although the original nature is emptiness, bright-drop exists and appears in the emptiness away from all subjective and objective aspects. This is the real origin. The state of taking refuge and the bodhi mind are all included in bright-drop; the buddha’s appearance, sentient beings’ appearances, seed-syllables Om-Ah-Hum and moving or staying of Chi cannot keep apart from it either. This bright-drop is the very origin of the dharma. One cannot touch any part of it, nor can one keep apart from it even for a moment. ^{[34: 1266]}

Thus, all those tantric gurus wrongly regard the visualized illusory bright-drop as the dharma of no-birth and have completely no idea of the true meaning of seeing-the-way in three-vehicles. They falsely proclaim that the practices of Chi and bright-drop can enable practitioners to leave three evil paths and be free from the life-and-death cycles of three-realms, and that those heretical practices can let them attain the supra-mundane fruition. Therefore, we can definitely conclude that they do not know nor realize the right theory of liberation.