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                                       Chapter 2

                   Visualization and Heaven-Yoga

 

2.1  Visualization as the preliminary stage of practice

Visualization is a necessary stage of practice for the practitioners in Tibetan Secret Schools. It plays a very important role in tantric practice since all the later stages of practice cannot progress if they fail at this stage. It is also the first point to be observed whether they can learn the tantric practices. Therefore, visualization is regarded as the preliminary stage of practice in Tibetan Secret Schools. As it is stated in The Six Yogas of Naropa:

The preliminary stage of practice is a preparation for the main stage. It is like that one must use a stairway for going upstairs. After fulfilling the preliminary stage, one can then practice the main stage. The way to practice the preliminary stage is not clearly explained in tantras. It must be taught by the guru orally. Now I briefly describe the method to you. At first, one must sit down quietly, calm down and visualize oneself as deity. One must practice such visualization everyday for a long time until it becomes a habit. After settling the mind, one can be deaf to any sound and keep one’s mind undisturbed at all even if somebody in the room is yelling. This state is called the tranquil concentration. ^{[62: 50]}

Accordingly, visualizing the deity is the basis of practice in Tibetan Secret Schools. Prior to practicing visualization, one must prostrate oneself and make offering. First, one makes prostration through the following visualization:

At the four doors of Altar Palace, the wonderful-desire celestial ladies prostrate themselves before the deities in the altar with a specific posture. ^{[158: 215]}

As stated by Jigme Lingpa:

If a counterpart deity exists, one must visualize four celestial ladies come out from the heart of one’s own deity and prostrate themselves before that deity. In the same way, other four celestial ladies come out from that counterpart deity’s heart and prostrate themselves before one’s own deity in return. Then, all of those ladies return to each deity’s hearts. ^{[158: 217]}

After completing the visualization of prostration, one must further visualize offering as follows:

The measureless celestial ladies are generated from one’s heart to make offering. They carry lots of offerings, sing songs, play music, and dance. Every tiny part of the offerings releases the fantastic clouds of subtle desires. It makes all buddhas, bodhisattvas and dharma-protectors in the altar happy and satisfied. Among those offerings, the yoga with eight merits is offered to the mouth; the clear and cool water is offered to clean hands and feet; the flowers and tendrils from heaven are put on the head; the natural or compound perfume is offered to the nose; the lamp mounted with jewelry is offered to the eyes; the medicinal perfume with the smell of sandalwood, safflower, etc. is spread on the body; the delicacies with hundreds of tastes are offered to the tongue; and many pleasant musical sounds are offered to the ears. After offering, all the celestial ladies merge into the heart. ^{[158: 217]}

The Collection of Esotericism also states:

There are five kinds of offering in total; all the offerings arranged subtly and solemnly means the offering of materials; the appearance like Bodhisattva Samantabhadra offering the cloud means the offering of dhyana; the melodious words praised means the offering of sound; the hand-seal (mudra) of lotus in a respectful posture to make offering means the offering of seal; the mantras of seed-syllables like the sounds of "A-Gan", etc. mean the offering of mantras. ^{[158: 219]}

In addition, there is an inner offering as follows:

The medicine is a remarkable holy object, which is composed of eight bases and one thousand other medical materials. It comes from experiencing the equality nature in all dharma and is the fluid for removing the evils of two discriminative attachments (the obscene fluid from the practitioner who practices Couple-Practice Tantra). It has four kinds of attainments. This medicine is pinched and sprinkled with the thumb and ring finger. The nectar (the fluid) drips down into the (visualized) deities’ mouths and makes the deities satisfied with the taste of great pleasure. The Outline of Maha Practices states: “Many celestial ladies are released from one’s heart. They hold the kapalas (the skull cups, the offering containers which are made of human beings’ skulls, referring to the cover page of this book) which are full of nectar, and offer the nectar to the gods. This offering makes the gods happy so that they drop the rain of the body-speech-mind achievements.” One should visualize that one’s right hand holds a kapala and the connected left thumb and ring finger take and sprinkle the nectar. And the celestial ladies from one’s heart also make offering in the same way. One must offer to the guru on the top of the altar at first, and then offers to all the deities in the altar one by one. ^{[158: 221]}

Another type of offering, “Food”, is stated as follows:

The vast jewelry-made container is filled with the foods of many extraordinary tastes. Lots of celestial ladies come from the container and make offering. The deities’ tongues become the light tubes with the appearance of vajra pestle. They suck the nectar essence of the pure wisdom from the foods, and enjoy the foods happily. Then, one further visualizes the celestial ladies merging into one’s own body. ^{[158: 223]}

There is another one, the so-called “Secret Offering” or “Copulation Offering”, as follows:

Both the buddha-father’s nature of expediency and buddha-mother’s nature of emptiness wisdom operate together without any difference (The buddha-father and buddha-mother copulate and both stay in the same awareness state of lustful pleasure and emptiness generated from the dual operations). This is the greatest and original copulation. The great lustful pleasure generated from such copulation can make all deities in the altar satisfied. Those deities can know many couples of the buddha-fathers and buddha-mothers copulate (many visualized couples copulate and stay in the state of lustful pleasure and emptiness.). In case of a single celestial lady, she must transform the celestial stick of hand-seal from the buddha-father or her clan master into the great lustful pleasure of copulation. By that way, one can complete the wisdom of great bliss, and observe that the wisdom of emptiness and bliss is generated continuously. Then, one can take the same buddha’s pride in following all deities’ behavior on the desires. ^{[158: 225]}

While succeeding in the visualization of Secret Offering, one must let the visualized buddhas, bodhisattvas, etc., who embrace female consorts, derive great pleasure from the obscene touch. One must make offering in that way to all buddhas, bodhisattvas, gods and dharma-protectors, etc. For example:

On the first page of The White Horse Head Vajra Practice of The Vajra Tantra, it states: “A ‘Sha’ seed-syllable at the secret place (lower part of one’s body) becomes the same green hayagriva vajra as mine. The buddha-mother’s secret place has a vajra pestle with blue and white colors at one end, together with a pig head at the other end. She holds a small drum and a human skull, and visualizes offering happiness.” Here, both the male and female deities’ secret places are specified obviously. In the completion stage of tantric practice, the pestle (penis) and lotus (pudendum) stand for the male and female sexual organs respectively. Both of them either operate with each other (to observe the bliss and emptiness in union during copulation) to do business (perform various sexual actions) or make offering (to visualize that the offering of lustful pleasure during copulation makes the buddha-father and buddha-mother happy). Everything comes from those two secret places (everything being created from the couple’s copulation). That offering is called the bliss of Secret Offering, which can also be concluded as offering the great bliss of the fourth-joy by drawing, thrusting, and moving the pestle and lotus (the male’s and female’s secret places). ^{[34: 213]}

Not only did Yogi C. M. Chen say so, but The Great Sun Sutra, the basic tantra of both Japanese Esoteric Buddhism and Tibetan Esotericism, also had stated so much earlier. For example, as mentioned in Vol. 3:

Secret Master! All Thus-come Ones in the worlds clearly understand the expedient paramita (perfection). They know the nature of discrimination is emptiness. Nevertheless, by the power of the expedient paramita, they act conditionally outside but stay in the unconditioned state inside. They show the dharma in the dharma-realm for sentient beings in order to let them stay in happiness and make a delightful resolve, or let them live long, enjoy the activities of the five desires (the lustful desires from the five sense-objects) and make offering to the buddha with such lustful activities (offering such activities on the five desires to the so-called “buddha” of Tibetan Secret Schools). The evidence is shown as above, but it is not believable to the ordinary people. ^{[Taisho Tripitaka, Vol. 18]}

It also states in All Buddhas Realize the Great Mahayana Samatha Teaching Sutra, Vol. 2, as follows:

It is great! My original nature is pure and all defilements are generated naturally. Because the original nature is clean and away from all defilements, the defilements can be used to subdue themselves. In Vol. 4, the visualization is: “Right after coming from the Thus-come One’s heart, the vajra holder generates numberless Thus-come Ones from one’s great vajra seal. Then, those Thus-come Ones merge into one and the pictures of the vajra seal holder playing with the great female consort (the pictures with various kinds of copulating postures) appear. The vajra seal holder, who wears various magnificent clothes and accessories like the vajrasattva (diamond-like person), has various kinds of subtle deportment and tightly hugs a female consort. The seal holder stays at the left moon disc in Buddha Akshobhya’s altar and recites the following verse: “It is great! I have the best subtle offering to all buddhas. Because I know the offering of this lustful pleasure, I can transfer this offering to all buddhas.” ^{[Taisho Tripitaka, Vol. 18]}

Even when the lustful pleasure is generated during the practice of Couple-Practice Tantra, one must visualize offering the obscene pleasure to the buddhas as well. In All Buddhas Realize the Great Mahayana Samatha Teaching Sutra, Vol. 8, it states:

Both bodies copulate tightly; the natural subtle happiness becomes the offering; by devoting this offering, one can become vajrasattva soon. The sexual contact corresponds with the real subtle love so that the lustful pleasure of touch is generated anywhere in response to the contact; by offering that to all buddhas, one can get the vajra jewel. The solid pleasure is held continuously (lasting long without leakage); every response to a touch generates the greatest pleasure; by offering that to all buddhas, one can attain the vajra dharma. The lotus (pudendum) and pestle (penis) copulate to generate the great subtle pleasure everywhere; by offering this to all buddhas, one can obtain the vajra karma. ^{[Taisho Tripitaka, Vol. 18]}

Sometimes, the gurus may entice people through this visualization to make them generate the delightful minds, so as to learn the tantric practices:

On the second page of The Chant Dharma of Deng-que-ga-bu of The Vajra Tantra, it states: “For the purpose of enticing people to learn the practice, it is necessary to make them visualize that, while both navels bond together tightly, two deities enter the samadhi (concentration), generate the sounds of lustful pleasure as if they were in the dream, and entice people to come into one’s own body.” In this paragraph, that both navels bond together tightly actually means the copulation of the two deities’ pestle and lotus to perform the practice of the third empowerment. And the sounds of lustful pleasure are due to drawing, thrusting, and moving both secret places during the couple practice. By that way, the enticing can take effect. ^{[34: 212]}

Tibetan Secret Schools create their tantras in that way, and falsely claim those tantras are Buddha Vairocana’s sutras. They set lustful methods to entice people for wide spreading the wrong teachings and generating a great power so that the Buddhist cannot deny their tantras. That power gradually permeates into and may eventually replace the genuine Sakyamuni’s Buddhism. Then, Tibetan Secret Schools may become the mainstream of Buddhism and their many heretical practices may replace the Buddha dharma. Unfortunately, till now, none in the Buddhist communities dare to denounce them. If the situation does not change, the genuine Buddhism will be destroyed again in the future.

Generally speaking, visualization is the step about to enter the formal stage of tantric practice. Prior to visualizing, one must offer the altar (treasure vase) as follows:

In the example of offering the altar, holding an altar offers not only to the three-body buddha (i.e., the dharma-body, reward-body and embodiment buddha) but also to one’s dakini (female sky-walker). One altar is visualized to become five; five altars are visualized to become many; and the number of altars expands in geometric-series order. Since you must offer the altar one hundred thousand times and a huge number of altars are generated each time, your virtues can increase rapidly. Once your virtues increase, the preparatory practice is easier to complete. ^{[32: 175]}

When offering the altar, one must also make offering to the three-body buddha:

According to the three-body altar of Nyingma School, the ordinary offering of altar corresponds to offering to the embodiment. The offering of both the dual operations to the reward-body and the luminosity to the dharma-body must rely on the understanding of emptiness-nature. The practice of the great-seal (mahamudra) is the unique and uppermost expediency to complete the offering to the three-bodies (the dharma-body, reward-body and embodiment). This is the rationale of offering the altar leading to the great-seal. ^{[34: 842]}

In summary, all the practice methods in Tibetan Secret Schools are closely related to visualization; one first visualizes the five desires resulting from the obscene pleasures and offers them to the buddha, and then visualizes the bright-drop (bindu). If one cannot make visualization, all of one’s practices are in vain and one cannot go further at all. So, the practices of Tibetan Secret Schools are based on visualization.

 

2.2  The achievements and purposes of visualization

There are four main purposes in practicing visualization: (1) to attain a celestial body (for becoming a buddha’s body in the future) through the visualized vast celestial body, (2) to attain Buddhahood in one’s lifetime through the completion of visualizing one’s deity with the buddha’s major marks, (3) to attain the bright-drop, and (4) together with the bright-drop and Chi practices, to form the basis of learning Couple-Practice Tantra after receiving the secret empowerment. Once fulfilling those four purposes, the tantric practitioners can further cultivate Couple-Practice Tantra which allows them to obtain “the fruition of Buddhahood” in a lifetime and attain “the three-bodies” together with “the five kinds of wisdom” (including The Wisdom of Essential Nature of Dharma-realm).

Regarding the first purpose, Tibetan Secret Schools believe that one can become any other person as long as one visualizes oneself as that person. If one succeeds in visualizing a vast magnificent celestial body coming out from one’s mind during sitting meditation, one has achieved the practice of vast celestial body and will appear like it after one’s death.

For example, Tsongkhapa said:

 

The Treatise on Expedient Methods for Self-Practices describes the expediency of vast Heaven-yoga. It sets up the expediency by referring to the “teachings of the rebirth in heaven” in A Collection of Present Insight into the Deep Truth of Buddhism – the Collected True Reality, and states that expediency is the difference between the paramita and secret-mantra vehicles (only the secret-mantra vehicle having that expedient method). It also states clearly that this yoga includes the deities’ rules in the vajra-realm, and its expediency is thus different from the expedient methods of both Highest-yoga and Yoga Tantra. Other discussants have given those teachings too. All the tantras regarding practicing the celestial body have the same teachings of practice as well. Further, Yoga Tantra gives the same teachings at many places. For example, as stated in the initial section of The Collected True Reality Sutra (Note: Most sutras referred to by the tantric gurus were created by a group of gurus in ancient time rather than by Buddha Sakyamuni; all the following tantric sutras or tantras are created by the same way too.): “If one visualizes one’s body, speech, mind and motes as the buddha’s body, one can attain the true enlightenment immediately.” The Interpreting Treatise on Solemn Kosala mentions: “The Yogis who practice the transformation of their bodies into the vajras’ must visualize the buddha’s body four times everyday. Why can they attain the true enlightenment through visualization? That is because it can achieve the buddha’s good and magnificent appearance. ^{[21: 29]}

 

Tsongkhapa further said:

 

If one does not have a thorough understanding of that expediency, gives up Heaven-yoga and only practices the secret mantra, one will definitely not get the essence of the way. ^{[21: 33]}

 

One should induce samadhi during the visualization of celestial body and comfortably stay in it for a long time. By that way, one can easily keep the mind concentrated. …How long does it take to practice that visualization? As stated in The Sutra on Empowerments of Vajrapani: “(One must practice it) until one can get all the dignified appearances and use the clear celestial body and arrogance to mask the ordinary arrogance.” Therefore, only the visualization of clear celestial body in the mind is not enough; it is necessary to keep the celestial arrogance solid in the mind too. ^{[21: 80]}

The Direct Observation of Susiddhikara (The Susiddhikara- abhisamayalankara) states: “Do not misunderstand that the tantras have not described the stages of practicing Heaven-yoga. Although The World-honored One did not proclaim them much, He emphasized them in The Sutras on Empowerments of Vajrapani and Ten Real States. In addition, all kinds of achievements rely on chanting the mantra toward celestial beings and practicing the real states. If those fail, all such things as eliminating disasters are not achievable. The practitioners can know them from their gurus’ teachings and by reading tantras.” The saying here, by referring to The Sutra on Empowerments of Vajrapani as evidence, proves that Action Tantra has the celestial practice. It is obviously the Heaven-yoga stated in Action and Performance Tantras. In order to successfully carry out numberless businesses, such as eliminating disasters, etc., the practitioners are requested to practice both “Heaven-yoga and Emptiness-yoga.” That is the very good reason why the practitioners of Action Tantra must practice Heaven-yoga. ^{[21: 55]}

In summary, the tantric practitioners must practice Heaven-yoga first; after completing it, they can then practice the deity method, bright-drop, Vase-Chi yoga of central-channel, and so on. Those are what Tsongkhapa advocated: “Heaven-yoga is the root of learning the tantric practices.”

The second purpose of practicing visualization is to attain Buddhahood. The stages include visualizing the deity coming out from one’s mind during sitting meditation and then gradually modifying the deity’s appearance by making it more and more magnificent; upon visualizing the deity as a vajrasattva (a diamond-like person), one becomes vajrasattva too; if one visualizes the deity, makes it more vast and magnificent gradually, and finally makes it become the buddha’s appearance with thirty-two excellent major marks and eighty minor characteristics, one becomes buddha definitively. For that reason, the Tibetan tantric practitioners must practice visualization.

For example, in All Buddhas Realize the Great Mahayana Samatha Teaching Sutra, the “buddha” of Tibetan Secret Schools teaches as follows:

The subtle vajra will correspond with you. Visualize that your body appears in the moon image and you have the purified bodhi mind. In the purified and subtle moon image, visualize your body has the same vajra appearance as the vajrasattva’s; the subtle vajra dharma will correspond with you. Visualize you have the same vajra mind as the vajrasattva’s. Visualize your body has the buddha’s all appearances and you have all buddhas’ bodhi. … The subtle vajra dharma will correspond with you. Visualize that you stay in the vajra mind and your body has the buddha’s all appearances. Through that visualization, you can then become buddha. ^{[Vol. 7]}

In fact, the practice of the buddha’s bodhi can only start after realizing the eighth consciousness, the thus-come-store, rather than by visualization. That is because the buddha’s bodhi wisdom is the wisdom arisen after one realizes the thus-come-store. However, all Tibetan tantras teach only the visualization of the buddha’s bodhi, rather than the realization of thus-come-store through meditative contemplation. How can the buddha’s bodhi wisdom be visualized? It is very ridiculous. To those tantric practitioners who have attained Buddhahood in such a way, if we ask them about the meaning of prajna (supra-mundane wisdom), they will simply reply that “all dharma is empty.” Such an answer is totally ignorant of the true prajna—the middle-way view of thus-come-store. If we ask them what the true-suchness is, they will wrongly regard the conscious mind that can visualize the deity as true-suchness. Their view does not differ from the heretical permanence view. In that way, they claim to have the same achievements as the Buddha’s and declare attaining Buddhahood. What a ridiculous thinking it is!

Tibetan Secret Schools also believe that one is equivalent to the buddha upon achieving the visualization of seed-syllables. Therefore, the practitioners must learn visualization. For example, The Great Sun Sutra, the basic tantra of Tibetan Secret Schools, states as follows:

The so-called seed-syllable “Ah” is the mind of all mantras, from which countless mantras flow out. It can cease all meaningless statements and generate the subtle wisdom. Secret Master, what is the mind of all mantras? The buddha says: “The syllable ‘Ah’ means the seed. It stays in each branch of the body and pervasively responds according to the dharma. The original seed-syllable duplicates and spreads out; the resulting seed-syllables constitute the sound, which generates all branches of the body. Finally the seed-syllables spread all-over the body and generate various virtues.” All the buddha’s disciples listen attentively! Now I explain: “Use my mind as yours, and then distribute it to all branches in your bodies. You do it like that way and then your bodies will be the same as mine. Sit comfortably on your yoga seats, and meditate on all Thus-Come Ones. After realizing the vast wisdom and getting the great merits and virtues of the true enlightenment from those teachings, you are qualified as gurus and entitled Thus-come Ones, or buddhas.” ^{[Vol. 5]}

Here they regard the visualized seed-syllable “Ah” as mantra mind or buddha’s true mind, which is totally different from the Buddha’s teaching that the eighth consciousness is the buddha’s true mind. They wrongly believe that one will equal a buddha when achieving the visualization of seed-syllable “Ah” and that there is no need to cultivate the prajna and seed-wisdom, which have mentioned in the Buddhist sutras of prajna and consciousness-only. Those totally violate all the teachings from Buddha Sakyamuni. The practitioner becoming buddha through that way is completely ignorant of and misunderstands the prajna and seed-wisdom. Without understanding even a little bit of the prajna or seed-wisdom, how can they proclaim their attainments of Buddhahood? How can we believe them?

The third purpose of practicing visualization is to validate the bodhi mind by achieving the visualization of bright-drop; that is because the Tibetan tantric practitioner regards the bright-drop as bodhi mind. However, bringing forth the bodhi mind merely means the ordinary people’s first intention to learn or practice Buddhahood. As for the definition of the supreme bodhi mind, it refers to the eighth consciousness, namely the Alaya consciousness or thus-come-store, that every sentient being originally has rather than the visualized bright-drop of the tantric practice. Therefore, the achievement of visualizing the bright-drop does not mean the realization of the true bodhi mind. Such a kind of visualization practice is never the Buddha dharma. All the tantric practitioners should ponder that carefully. Otherwise, they will waste money and time, commit the sins of the severe deception, and get painful retribution in their future lives. It is not worthwhile at all.

The fourth purpose of practicing visualization is to further practice Vase-Chi after the achievement of visualization. Through practicing Vase-Chi and the bright-drop, the practitioners can then achieve the yoga of consciousness transference so as to go to the buddha’s pure-land after death. Or by the efforts of practicing the bright-drop and Vase-Chi, they can really cultivate Couple-Practice Tantra after receiving the secret empowerment, and become “ultimate buddha” with “complete omniscience” finally.

Those are the four purposes of learning visualization. From the theory and practice of Tibetan Secret Schools, we can summarize that the visualization of the celestial body and the luminous-body is the root of entering the tantric practices and becoming buddha in a lifetime. Therefore, it is very important to Tibetan Secret Schools.

In addition to Tsongkhapa of Gelug School, Yogi C.M. Chen, the guru of Kagyu School, had the similar saying as follows:

After eliminating the two kinds of selflessness, the person and dharma, through the great-seal, the practitioners must renounce the attachment to the luminous-body too. By those practices, they will suddenly attain the five kinds of wisdom and the three-bodies. The more they renounce, the closer they reach the way. Finally, they can attain Buddhahood in a lifetime. If the tantric practitioners use the same kind of mind-renunciation as that of the exoteric Buddhists, how can they attain Buddhahood in a lifetime? ^{[34: 802]}

The tantric practitioners regard the luminous-body (the visualized bright-drop in the central-channel) as focus of practicing the “Buddha dharma”; after fulfilling various kinds of practices on the luminous-body, they bear another mind not clinging to the luminous-body, and name that Non-conceptual-yoga. The practitioners who have that kind of achievement are regarded as buddhas. However, for those “buddhas,” if we ask them about the prajna and seed-wisdom, they all give the wrong answers which violate the Buddha’s true teachings. They do not even know the content of the prajna and seed-wisdom; needlessly to say, they do not know that the essence of all the prajna and seed-wisdom is the eighth consciousness, the thus-come-store.

A Tibetan tantric practitioner said:

The special and supreme part of the tantric practice is attaining Buddhahood in a lifetime. During the practice, one’s body becomes deity and the deity is exactly the same as the buddha. ^{[119: 81]}

And another one said:

 

If practicing diligently, one can be free from the sufferings and retribution of the six paths of rebirth. During dying, one will not generate the bardo body (the body in the intermediate existence) and can visualize emptiness all the time; then suddenly, a seed-syllable (the deity’s seed- syllable practiced before one’s death.) will appear in the emptiness; the seed-syllable will then become the deity practiced before, and finally one’s body will become exactly that deity; the light will emit from one’s heart to invite the wisdom buddha, and that light will combine with the buddha’s; staying in that state, one will definitely become buddha within forty-nine days. During the first fourteen days, all buddhas will come time after time. If one cannot become buddha within that period, the diamond-like brave warrior will come everyday after the first fourteen days. It is very easy to become buddha at that time. That is the so-called becoming buddha by the replacement of the bardo body. ^{[62: 106]}

 

I have the most secret tantra. If listening to it seven times, even without any practice, one can then become buddha after death only by frequently thinking of the statements in the tantra. This secret method is not described in the doctrine of the Naropa’s main and preliminary practices, but in another tantra. Now I explain it as follows. There are three ways to become buddha: (1) attaining Buddhahood in a lifetime (Original note: becoming buddha from the dharma-body), (2) becoming buddha from the bardo body if the previous way fails (Original note: becoming buddha from the reward-body), (3) becoming buddha through rebirth if the previous two ways fail, i.e., finding a good couple for rebirth, then leaving home with the parents’ permission to practice the tantric dharma, and becoming buddha finally. ^{[62: 106-107]}

 

Originally the oral pithy instructions of practice are visualizing one’s body as the buddha’s. The visualized self-body must be sixteen feet in height and can be bigger or smaller without limitation. Practicing like that way, one will become deity after death. With a large and magnificent body, one will not be afraid of demons at all. This is the oral pithy instructions and the essence of practice. You can hear these teachings because of your many virtues accumulated from the passed lives. Otherwise, it is impossible for you to come and hear the most secret main and preliminary practices from me. Even in Tibet, only one or two persons out of ten thousand people heard this method before. Hence you can understand how rare you have gotten these teachings. ^{[62: 153]}

 

Regarding the methods of practices, visualization is the most important one. If one visualizes the seed-syllable of energy-center in the body and practice it steadily, the effect will be significant. But the effect will be very little if one only recites the mantras without visualization. Because reciting the mantras is just like calling someone’s name frequently, the called person will think the caller is crazy. Therefore, the practitioners, besides chanting the mantras, must visualize themselves as buddhas and keep those visualized images clear no matter how big those are. They must also visualize the seed-syllables of energy-centers in their bodies and make them apparent and clear. By that way they can fulfill the practice finally. ^{[62: 152]}

If one can visualize the deity clearly all the time (even during sleep), one will become buddha in this lifetime. If not in this lifetime, one will become buddha after death. But if one does not practice daily, one will illusively regard a small sound as a clap of thunder and a tiny object as a monster during dying. One will then get into a panic and try to escape. Those will make one fall immediately. The practitioner who practices daily will not be afraid and can visualize the self-body becoming deity. Staying in that state until midnight, the practitioner will become buddha immediately. ^{[62: 190]}

All the above passages are false thinking. Why? To become buddha must rely on the prajna rather than visualization. One who practices such kinds of visualization can never know the simplest General-phenomenon-wisdom of prajna, not to say the more advanced Specific-phenomenon-wisdom, Way-seed- wisdom or All-seed-wisdom. Those practitioners can become neither virtuous bodhisattvas nor buddhas. They are completely ignorant of all those kinds of prajna wisdom, but dare to claim that they can become buddhas in a lifetime. It is very ridiculous.

As stated by Yogi C.M. Chen: “So the bardo body (in the intermediate existence) is a wisdom body, and the object visualized is a wisdom body too. Both of them combined together will become reward-body buddha.” ^{[32: 138]} He wrongly regards the combination of the perceptive awareness inside the bardo body and the bardo body itself as reward-body buddha. That totally differs from the reward-body buddha of the exoteric Buddhism. Such a “reward-body buddha” is just the bardo body and its perceptive mind, exactly the same as those of the ordinary people and all other sentient beings after death. Since the visualization neither changes the essence nor generates the prajna wisdom, it has absolutely nothing to do with the magnificent reward-body buddha of the exoteric Buddhism. But surprisingly the gurus of Tibetan Secret Schools mistake this bardo body as reward-body buddha, use it to show off their achievements of Buddhahood to the exoteric Buddhists, and deceive them. How outrageously arrogant those gurus are!

Moreover, if anyone can become buddha by visualization, then all ghosts and deities can claim that they are the ultimate buddhas too. Because they all have the five supernatural powers and can transform their bodies into the buddha’s appearance with thirty-two excellent major marks, their transformations are much better than the tantric gurus’ visualizing images. Therefore, they should be more qualified as buddhas. By that comparison, the “buddhas” from the ghosts and deities are superior to those from the gurus of Tibetan Secret Schools. But all buddhas never bestow the registration of Buddhahood on those ghosts and deities. How can the tantric practitioners, who cultivate the visualization by their perceptive minds, become buddhas? In summary, the visualization of becoming buddha in Tibetan Secret Schools is just the irrational thinking.