A Chat About Heruka

138 Pages·2000·5.83 MB·English

by  Lama Zopa Rinpoche

A CHAT ABOUT HERUKA
:::
}'
I! I'
'lfe
Previously published by the LAMA YESHE WISDOM ARCHIVE
Becoming Your Own Therapist, by Lama Yeshe
Advice for Monks and Nuns, by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Virtue and Reality, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Make Your Mind an Ocean, by Lama Yeshe
Teachings from the Vajrasattva Retreat, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
For initiates only:
A Chat about Yamantaka, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Forthcoming in 2000
Making Life Meaningful, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche
The Essence ofTibetan Buddhism: The Three Principal Aspects oft he Path
and An Introduction to Tantra, by Lama Ye she
(Contact us for information)
May whoever sees, touches, reads, remembers, or talks or thinks about these
publications never be reborn in unfortunate circumstances, receive only rebirths
in situatio.ns conducive to the peifect practice ofD harma, meet only peifectly
qualified spiritual guides, quickly develop bodhicitta and immediately attain
enlightenment for the sake ofa ll sentient beings.
LAMA ZOPA RlNPOCHE
A CHAT ABOUT HERUKA
The Skillful Means ofThking an Everlasting Holiday in Tagpa Kacho,
the Pure Land ofVajrayogini
Edited by Thubten Chodron
LAMA YESHE WISDOM ARCHIVE • BOSTON
www.LamaYeshe.com
A non-profit charitable organization for the benefit of all
sentient beings and a section of the Foundation for the
Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition
www.fpmt.org
First published 2000
For free distribution
LAMA YESHE WISDOM ARCHIVE
PO Box356
WESTON
MA02493 USA
© Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche 2000
To be read only by those with foil initiation into the Highest Yoga
Tantra practices ofChakrasamvara or Vajrayogini
Please do not reproduce any part of this booklet by any
means whatsoever without our permission
ISBN 1-891868-05-5
10 9 8 7 6 54 3 2 1
Designed by Mark Garter
Printed in Canada on recycled, acid-free paper
Please contact the LAMA YESHE WISDOM ARCHIVE for copies of
our free booklets
CONTENTS
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 7
1 MOTIVATION 9
2 INTRODUCTION 19
3 COMMENTARY ON THE THREE PURIFICATIONS 23
4 PRACTICING IN DAILY LIFE 41
5 PRACTICING PATIENCE 51
6 MEDITATION ON THE THREE PURIFICATIONS 61
7 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR DEITY PRACTICE 79
8 BENEFITS OF THE EIGHT-LINE PRAISES 85
9 MEDITATION ON THE EIGHT-LINE PRAISES 97
10 LEFT-SIDE CONDUCT 109
11 THE HAND OFFERING 115
12 DEDICATION 125
NOTES 127
RESOURCES 128
PUBLISHER'S ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are extremely grateful to our friends and supporters who have
made it possible for the LAMA YESHE WISDOM ARCHIVE to both exist
and function. To .Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, whose. kind
ness is impossible to repay. To Peter and Nicole KecJge and Venerable
Ailsa Cameron for helping bring the ARCHIVE to its present state of
development. To Venerable Roger Kunsang, Lama Zopas tireless
assistant, for his kindness and consideration. And to our sustaining
supporters: Drs. Penny Noyce & Leo Liu, Barry & Connie Hershey,
Roger & Claire Ash-Wheeler, Joan Terry, Claire Atkins, Ecie
Hursthouse, Lily Chang Wu, T. Y. Alexander, Therese Miller, Tom &
Suzanne Castles, Datuk Tai Tsu Kuang, Bob Cayton, Wisdom Books
(London), Tan Swee Eng, Lori Cayton, Karuna Cayton, Richard
Gere, Cecily Drucker, Lynnea Elkind, Janet Moore, Su Hung, Jack
Morison, Carol Davies and Nancy Pan.
We are also grateful to Venerable Thubten Chadron for editing the
teachings in this book, to the Dharma Friendship Foundation,
Moon Wong and other friends for defraying many of the costs
involved in its production, and to Linda Gatter and Wendy Cook
for copy editing the manuscript.
Through the merit of having contributed to the spread of the Buddha's
teachings for the sake ofa ll sentient beings, may our benefactors and their
families and friends have long and healthy lives, all happiness, and may
all their Dharma wishes be instantly fulfilled.
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
In the spring of 1997, I was doing retreat in one of Vajrapani
Institute's lovely retreat cabins when I heard that Zopa Rinpoche was
arriving to attend an FPMT board meeting. Several questions had
arisen during the retreat, and Zopa Rinpoche was kind enough to
meet with me to answer them. Specifically, I was puzzled by the
Eight-line Praises to Heruka and Vajrayogini, .verses that I had recited
daily for decades, but whose meaning was a mystery to me. Rinpoche
gave a brief answer, but said that since other people in the area also
did that practice he would like to explain it to the group. I was
delighted, for I hardly expected that he would offer to teach.
Thus followed what Rinpoche called "a chat about Heruka,"· in
which he explained emptiness in depth, and the Three Purifications.
Only on the last day or two did he t;llk about practicc::s specific to
Heruka and Vajrayogini: left side conduct and the Eight-line Praises.
Later, I transcribed and edited these teachings to form this book.
Although Rinpoche wanted to explaiJ?. the hand offering, time was
limited, so he referred me a teaching he had given on this practice at
Tushita Retreat Centre, Dharamsala, in 1990 a~d recommended that
it be included in the book. I clarified questions that arose while edit
ing this book with Rinpoche in the summer of 1999.
Please, this book is to be read only by those who have received ini
tiation into the Highest Yoga Tantra practices of Chakrasamvara or
Vajrayogini.
7
A CHAT ABOUT HERUKA
I recommend reading it slowly, stopping to think about each para
graph. Take the opportunity to apply Rinpoche's teachings to your
life right now. The text of the sadhana is written in italics, with the
commentary below.
Parts extracted from the Chakrasamvara sadhana have been
italicized.
I would like to thank the residents of Vajrapani Institute for making
these teachings possible, Venerable Lhundrup Ningje for proofreading
the manuscript, Nick Ribush for publishing this book, and Dharma
Friendship Foundation in Seattle for supporting me while I worked
on it. My deepest gratitude goes to Zopa Rinpoche for his kindness in
giving these teachings and for having the confidence in us that we are
capable of practicing them. All errors are my own.
Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron
Seattle, Washington, USA
30.May 1999
8