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4.4  Alcohol and semen being tantric practitioners’ nectars

When Buddhists take their three refuges, they generally take five precepts at the same time and, therefore, drinking alcohol is forbidden. Buddhists consider alcohol to be a substance that may cause their misconduct. The practice and realization of four-dhyanas-eight-samadhis are also hindered by it. For that reason, all wise Buddhists do not drink alcohol. However, for most practitioners of Tibetan Secret Schools, drinking alcohol is not forbidden due to their wrong views and evil ways of practice. They even regard alcohol as a nectar. One master said:

Someone may ask, “Since drinking alcohol is forbidden, why is alcohol offered in the kapala?” The answer is, “The yoga practitioners (who practice Highest-yoga, Couple-practice Tantra) think the alcohol in the kapala to be a nectar, no longer be treated as regular alcohol. This is the way they practice yoga. These yoga practitioners consider all sentient beings to be buddhas, all utensils to be the palaces of buddha, and all drinks to be nectars. They must doubtless believe all of them to be real. Only then can they achieve the yoga practice (Tibetan Secret Schools consider the obscene practice of Couple-practice Tantra to be true yoga practice and compare it to that of the exoteric Buddhism. Moreover, they believe that the union of bliss and emptiness of Couple-practice Tantra surpasses all practices of the exoteric Buddhism. For this reason they call it Highest-yoga Tantra.)” ^{[62: 71]}

It is also stated,

Alcohol is the urine of female demons; this has been mentioned before. However, the alcohol in the skull bowl is not because it has been blessed by the dharma master. It has become the unsurpassable nectar and should not be considered as alcohol any more. ^{[62: 290]}

No matter how a guru of Tibetan Secret Schools blesses alcohol, and no matter how powerful the guru’s power is, the alcohol, after being blessed, still has the intoxicating power. It still has a negative effect on the samadhi state and the level of practitioner’s realization. For this reason Buddha forbade his disciples to drink any alcohol. There are very few special situations under which the disciples were inspected and approved one by one by Buddha for drinking alcohol. Furthermore, alcohol also motivates sexual misconduct. In order to prevent sexual misconduct, Buddha forbade his disciples to drink it.

Because of practicing Couple-practice Tantra, the male practitioners of Tibetan Tantric School usually strengthen their sexual capabilities with the help of alcohol. Drinking alcohol has thus been rationalized and sanctified by arguing that the alcohol has become a nectar after being blessed. Those dharma-kings, gurus, etc. of Tibetan Secret Schools all accept the above evil view with faith and continue practicing. They will not take my advices. Why? If they adopt my advices, their theory and practicing methods of Couple-practice Tantra will collapse completely. It will have an enormous impact on Tibetan Secret Schools. Therefore, none of them dare to challenge this evil view.

In addition, after a guru and his female consort enter the altar of empowerment and perform the sexual union, according to the unsurpassable secret empowerment, the excretion obtained is also the best nectar. The guru grants this to his followers during secret empowerments. The practitioners of Tibetan Secret Schools believe that eating the nectar may enhance the level of their realization. During a secret empowerment, they take the excretion from the guru’s private part, or that after the orgasm, to be the nectar and regard it as the samaya substance.

There are four situations to ejaculate (the bright-drop, i.e., the semen) by a vajra acharya: first, for the samaya substance (which is granted to his followers as the substance to improve their realization of samaya) during secret empowerment; second, as an ingredient in making the nectar pills; third, giving birth of bodhisattva son (woman will get pregnant through the ejaculation); fourth, during the arising of an obstacle, for visualizing using a phurbu (stick) to kill it. (Show the self-dying appearance and then get rid of the obstacle; however, under this situation one does not need a vajra acharya.) ^{[34: 558]}

Other statements by Tsongkhapa will be quoted in Chapter 8 (Section 8.3.4) in detail.

If a male practitioner who practices Couple-practice Tantra takes too much medicine for suppressing ejaculation or can not eject semen normally due to incorrect practice (perhaps an illness of the nervous system of the sexual organ due to improper sexual behavior), he may get illness or pain. Under these conditions, he may take other convenient measures to ejaculate. He may then consider his semen to be a nectar and eat it himself. For instance,

If the bright-drop can not be obtained and gets stuck in the vajra pestle (penis), and even the urine gets stuck, resulting in fever and other illnesses, one should then massage the pestle (and then release the semen into the uterus of the female consort) while visualizing the deity performing the offering in the lotus palace (uterus) of the buddha-mother (the female consort). If the bright-drop clings to the body channels and flows out like water, one should practice Release Fist Dharma and massage his pestle with hands like milking or draining water from a choked pond. After that, the practitioner should eat his own bright-drop before it falls on the ground (considering it to be a nectar). Then, he should chant Ah-Mi-Da (the mantra of nectar), and visualize it as an offering to the deity. ^{[34: 559-560]}

Because of the evil views, tantric practitioners believe that semen, the bright-drop, is the cause of becoming a buddha in the future, and is accordingly an excellent nectar. When one has reached the unsurpassable secret stage, he is already a “great practitioner.” His semen has become a supremely wonderful substance and can have great effect on the practice and realization of the Buddha dharma. Therefore, it can not be wasted, and should be received and drunk directly in order to maintain his level of practice and realization. This is not only the case in Sakya, Kargyu and Sakya Schools. In Gelug School, Tsongkhapa has the same teaching as well. For more details, readers can refer to Tsongkhapa’s book, the Extended Treatise on the Progression of the Esoteric Path (or called the Great Exposition of Tantra).

　

4.5  Semen also used as a nectar to offer oneself

The tantric practitioners who practice the inner heat and Chi-practice sometimes take semen to be a kind of nectar offered to themselves.

If the bright-drop increases extensively (a buildup of semen without ejaculation) and the pestle is not down (the penis remains hard after practicing), Fist Dharma may be employed. If the problem persists, the practitioner may practice the Release Fist dharma based on the karma seal (mostly together with his physical female consort). If the problem still remains, and if the karma seal (the release of semen into the female consort) will not result in pregnancy, the practitioner is to visualize Tranquility-and-wrath Deity in the lotus palace (genitals) and release the drop (semen) as an offering (to the deities of “buddha-parents” who are performing sexual union in the uterus). After that, the practitioner may take the drop on the lotus of the karma seal (take the semen from the genitals). Sucking it directly with the tongue is the highest grade, while taking it with a spoon is the lowest grade. Meanwhile, (the practitioner should) chant Ah-Mi-Da mantra (the mantra of nectar) to offer himself. When this is done, there will be no sin generated. His body will not become weak, and the nectar can complete and satisfy his needs. ^{[34: 558-559]}

In such a way, the male practitioner of Tibetan Secret Schools offers his own semen to himself and considers the semen, mixed with the bright-drop (the obscene liquid) of the female consort, as a greatly helpful substance. It is considered to be able to significantly help his practice and realization of the Buddha dharma. This is called the “self offering.” This is not only recorded in the tantras of Sakya, Kargyu and Sakya schools. Tsongkhapa, of Gelug School, also provides the same description. For further details, please refer to his book, the Extended Treatise on the Progression of the Esoteric Path.

While practicing Couple-practice Tantra, the male practitioner extracts the obscene liquid from the female consort in order to improve the realization of the “Buddha dharma.” The liquid is named as either the turbid or the pure part of the red bright-drop.

There are three ways to extract: The highest method (of extraction) is ….; the middle method is (to visualize) the self-generation deity receiving the samaya substance. While the mother secretes the pure part (a lot of obscene liquid), the practitioner holds the Ah-Mi-Da nectar (alcohol) in his mouth and sucks the obscene liquid through a bamboo tube. He then mixes them in his mouth by his tongue. Next, he offers (by visualization) it to the self-generation deity and swallows it. Through the secret samaya substance (the mixture of the alcohol and the obscene liquid) he is able to complete and satisfy his needs. The special and surpassing game (the vajra game of Couple-practice Tantra) can make him live a long life. After taking the mixture, he shakes his body (to help spread the extracted pure part of the obscene liquid throughout the body). ^{[34: 566]}

As for the lowest method of extraction:

When the body-realm expands extensively (the female reaches the orgasm) and the mother (female consort) produces the bright-drop (secretes very much obscene liquid), one should use a pillow to cushion her waist and put a plate under her lotus (genitals) to catch the liquid, which can not be exposed to the sunlight. One should connect a bamboo tube to the right nostril and breathe in (the odor) while pressing the other nostril with the other hand to allow the odor to pass through the right nostril from the tube. The pure part can then be extracted absolutely. After that, shake the body. ^{[34: 566-567]}

Those practitioners are expected to achieve “Highest-yoga Tantra and the ultimate Buddhahood” very quickly by extracting the bright-drop in this manner. That is what they believe and practice. The practice is hence very sacred in Tibetan Secret Schools. The obscene liquid at that time is a very sacred nectar, considered to be of great benefit to the practitioners who practice the “Buddha dharma.” Therefore, they can not accept the criticism from Exoteric Buddhism on the five nectars.

Since they consider this kind of “nectar” to be a very sacred substance, vows have been composed for the five nectars. The practitioners must be faithful to and must keep these vows until death:

The surpassing vow of the great flesh (fresh human flesh) should be practiced by three vajras; the surpassing vow of the excrement and urine is the most important for holding mantra; the samaya of elephant meat enables one to gain five supernatural powers; the surpassing vow of the horse meat can let one become an invisible dominant master; the surpassing vow of the dog meat can make one achieve all siddhi (spiritual attainments); the samaya of beef surpasses the conjuration of the vajra. If there is no meat available, one may perform all virtuous visualizations and practice the vajra yoga to receive blessing from all buddhas. The vajra of the body, speech, and mind has generally the surpassing appearances. Holding the vajra on the top with magnificence is associated with the vow of the wisdom in mind. All buddhas will be pleased by the one who made the vows. The vows have been done well, and all siddhi will be achieved when all the vows are well performed.) ^{[65: 58]}

There is another visualization used to extract the pure part of the nectar (the obscene liquid) from a female consort:

To extract the pure part, the practitioner should imagine that his master and the female consort as “buddha-parents” are in the dual operations (the sexual union of bliss and emptiness) on the (imagined) lotus in front of him. The red and the white nectars (the obscene liquid from the guru “Buddha Amitabha” and the female consort) flow down and fill up the top of his head and his nostrils, and then flow into all the channel realms of the body. The related appearances of the extracted mother bright-drop have been previously described in detail. The corresponding samaya within it is that one can keep away from the attachment to both subjective and objective aspects of taking. ^{[34: 567]}

For the lowest method of extracting the nectar mentioned above, Yogi C. M. Chen has related oral pithy instructions:

For the lowest method, one should generate the great bliss expediently by all convenient ways: Gather crabs, black worms, and cockscomb for the female to eat, her channel (uterus) can then open; spread oil over her body below the waist. One starts to imagine and visualize that the great pestle entering her lotus, deep within it. Then, one should know to what extent he can bear the pleasure (without ejaculation). One should also know that when the female consort begins to appear happy, he should hold her waist tightly, but at the same time, he himself should sit straight. While the female’s left channel opens and the red bodhi descends (the obscene liquid flushes out). The pestle now becomes a tube which extracts the pure part and leave the turbid part behind (extracting only the gaseous part of the obscene liquid, rather than the liquid itself). The (extracted) pure part flows in from the central channel, and spreads among the sixteen bright-drops. The extraction is performed in silence. Both thumbs of the feet are to be hooked inwards, and the second and the middle fingers of both hands are to support his body from behind. Except for the thumbs of the feet, the body can not touch the ground. The method of extraction in the six preparatory practices is the same as above, except that none of the four continents (both hands and both feet) draw back. The female will be faint without thoughts and her body will shrink like a ball. She will be unable to keep herself from making a bad voice. The above is the appearance of extraction. Afterwards, one separates from the female, stays on the original purity, and shakes while practicing the lion’s game or the five-wheel fist dharma. The practice will make the female weak, she should take some nourishment for her body; otherwise, she will easily become old and feeble. ^{[34: 567]}

The practitioner wishes to improve his realization of Highest-yoga Tantra through this practice to extract the “nectar” from the female consort and wishes to become a buddha soon through this nectar. But, in fact, this is false thinking and an evil view. One can not become a buddha through diligent cultivation of this method even after incalculable eons. It will never be possible to realize the eighth consciousness this way, because the practice is always isolated from the seed-wisdom. Also, the practice is totally unrelated to the Buddha dharma. Actually, the practitioner is committing sins and will be damned in hell for breaking precepts.

The thinking to offer oneself this “nectar” for becoming a buddha is illusory because it is not a true nectar. Even though it is indeed the nectar of the desire heavens, it still has nothing to do with the way to Buddhahood. The nectar is the food of the desire heavens, it is entirely unrelated to the practice of the Buddha dharma.

The Surangama Sutra states:

One attains the clarity of emptiness during realization. Within it, he may suddenly reach the view of eternal extinction, deny cause-and-effect, and consider everything to be empty. The thought of emptiness can so predominate that he may even think of eternal nihilism and extinction. This realization itself does not result in any fault but it is not the realization of sages at all. If he thinks himself to already be a sage, the devil of emptiness will enter his mind and he will slander the Buddha dharma by saying: “Holding precepts is for Small-vehicle. Since bodhisattvas have attained the realization of emptiness, what precepts are there for bodhisattvas to hold or violate?” He will often drink alcohol, eat meat and engage in wanton lust (perform Couple-practice Tantra with women extensively) when getting together with his faithful almsgivers. The power of the devil will keep his followers (the women with whom he practices Couple-practice Tantra and his disciples) from doubting or denouncing him. After the devil possesses him for a long time, he will eat excrement and urine (as described in Section 4.1 The Five Nectars and Sections 9.5 and 9.6), drink alcohol, eat meat, and claim that all are empty. He will break Buddha’s precepts and mislead people into committing offenses. He will lose the right sensation and will then certainly fall. ^{[Vol. 9]}

Such statements in The Surangama Sutra are very concrete descriptions for the gurus and the long-practicing learners of Tibetan Secret Schools. The wise practitioners of Tibetan Secret School who have read the above text of the sutra should abandon both the practice of five nectars and the practice of Couple-practice Tantra. They may then possibly avoid long-econ, extremely burdensome and absolute suffering in their future lifetimes.

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