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THE FOUR DEMONS

~ Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

“The first demon is called “the Demon that Blocks the Senses.” When we think of a demon, we generally think of an external spirit which attacks us, but Machig realized that the true nature of demons is the internal functioning of the ego. This particular demon manifests when we see or experience something with the sense, and the senses get blocked and we get fixated on the object. For example, when we see a beautiful woman or man, as soon as we see this person the perception is blocked by the desire to possess that person. The process of perception stops, and we try to meet that person, and so on. So this is one process that must be overcome by meditation. If we are in a state of true meditation, perception occurs without this fixation with, or attachment to, the objects perceived.

The second demon is “the Demon which Cannot be Controlled.” This is the thought-process which just runs on and on. The thought-process takes over, the mind wanders from one thing to another, and our awareness is completely lost in distraction.

The third demon is “the Demon of Pleasure.” When we experience something pleasurable, like eating something delicious, we become attached to this delicacy and we want to get more and avoid anything which stands between us and the object of pleasure. This does not mean that pleasure is in itself demonic, but rather that our attachment to it becomes a hindrance to remaining in a state of clarity. For example, a meditator might have an auspicious dream, which is a sign of progress, but then “the Demon of Pleasure” comes into play and he gets very attached to the dream. Or someone else might experience a period when everything goes well, he feels good physically, and so he tries to continue this good period endlessly, but it must always end in change and is therefore disappointing to us.

The fourth demon is “the Demon of the Ego.” The ego is that with which we condition our world. It rests on the principle of “self” and “other” which causes a blockage in awareness and a lot of suffering for oneself and others.

Fundamentally, all four demons are thought-processes which block a state of clear, unattached awareness, and they all grow out of the process of ego-fixation and the lack of prajna, with the consequent misunderstanding of emptiness. The Chöd practice seeks to do away with these demons.”

If an avalanche of misfortune comes upon you when you are trying to do spiritual practice, the truth is that your bad karma and obscurations are being purified.

Guru Padmasambhava

*In another dream I saw my body rise up high in the air. When it descended, the land was flat and shining like a crystal mirror.

Looking deep into the mirror, I could see myself inside a spacious chamber which contained all manner of worldly things: men, animals, children, houses, farm yards, marketplaces, everything.

These creatures were not posed prettily, as in some vapid picture. They were all performing the natural, everyday acts of life.

On and on flowed these visions of ordinary people doing ordinary things, and then suddenly in the center of the chamber, there appeared a platform upon which sat a great chair of blazing red and gold. I recognized it and was overwhelmed with joy.

This was the Great Diamond Throne!

Thrilled by the chance to see it, I tried to move closer to it. But then I looked around at all the people who, oblivious to this magnificent throne, continued to perform their everyday, mundane acts.

They disgusted me. They seemed so common, so filthy and coarse. Then as I protested that such vulgarity should be allowed to exist inside this glorious and immaculate place, the image of the throne retreated.

Chagrined, I immediately saw my error. What right had I to judge the worthy and unworthy, the clean and the unclean. “The Buddhist Dharma is for all mankind,” I said humbly, “not for just one pompous fool.”

And instantly, the throne came nearer.

In a moment I saw that tall, dignified monks were standing in line before the throne. Suddenly, a bhikshu, holding a sutra in his hands, came down from behind the throne and handed the sutra to me, saying, “The Master is going to talk about this sutra. He asked me to give it to you.” I received it with joy but when I opened it I saw that it was written in gold Sanskrit letters which I could not read. I put it inside my robe and asked, “Who is the Master?” The bhikshu replied, “Maitreya.”

Delighted, I followed him to the stairs. At the foot of the stairs I stood with my eyes closed, concentrating on my mind. Suddenly I heard the sound of a Ching and when I opened my eyes I saw Maitreya seated on the throne. His face was incomparably beautiful—dazzling red and gold! I saluted him and prostrated myself before him.

Then, thinking I was specially selected to listen to the sutra, I removed it from my robe and opened it.

Maitreya said: “Discrimination is consciousness. Nondiscrimination is wisdom. Clinging to consciousness will bring disgrace but clinging to wisdom will bring purity. Disgrace leads to birth and death but purity leads to Nirvana.”

I listened to him as if I were in a dream within the dream. His voice, like the sound of tinkling crystal, floated on the air. I could hear him so clearly that even when I awoke his words kept on repeating in my mind.

Now I realized the difference between consciousness and wisdom. Now I realized also that the place where I had been in my dream was Maitreya Buddha’s Chamber in the Tushita Heaven.*

- Dream account of Maitreya's inner court in Tushita, by Hanshan Deqing (1546-1623) one of the Four Eminent Monks of the Wanli Era (Ming Dynasty) in the Thirty-third Year of his life (1578-1579)

འཁོར་ལོ་བདེ་མཆོག་
Great King of Yoginī Tantras called the Śrī Cakrasaṃvara

"Chakrasamvara Body Mandala depicted according to the Newar Tradition of Kathmandu, Nepal. Each of the mandala deities is accompanied by a Sanskrit name inscription written in Devnagari script. The figures are sixty-two in number and follow precisely the list of deities that make up the sixty-two deity Chakrasamvara Mandala.

A seated human figure is depicted at the center of the composition which represents an individual Buddhist Tantric practitioner. Over-laying the body and to the sides are numerous circles of deities. These figures represent the internal Body Mandala for the Tantric Buddhist system of the Chakrasamvara Tantra which typically has sixty-two deities in the external mandala. These same sixty-two deities are again located at various places within the physical human body of the practitioner - hence the body mandala, or internal body mandala.

Internal Body Mandala concepts and theories are common to many religious and spiritual traditions of Asia such as the Shaiva, Shakta, Yoga, Tantric Buddhist, Bon and Taoist Traditions.

In the Kagyu Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism these same sixty-two deities are also super-imposed onto the Tibetan landscape and many pilgrimage sites have been created, named, or claimed as part of the greater geographical Chakrasamvara mandala. Over the centuries, many Bon pilgrimage sites were also taken over and claimed to be holy for the practices of Chakrasamvara. Mount Kailash in West Tibet is claimed to be the center of the Tibetan geographical mandala with the top of Mount Kailash as the abode of Chakrasamvara and the female consort Vajrayogini. (Also see Purelands & Sacred Geography).

Mount Kailash is still holy according to Bon belief and is sacred for the two wrathful deities Walchen Gekho and Zhangzhung Meri.”

https://www.himalayanart.org/items/59648

www.himalayanart.org

Chakrasamvara (Buddhist Deity) (Himalayan Art)

Chakrasamvara (Buddhist Deity) - Private - Nepal

Happy Valentine’s Day from Maitreya

“All appearances are vast openness,
Blissful and utterly free.

With a free, happy mind
I sing this song of joy.

When one looks toward one's own mind -
The root of all phenomena -
There is nothing but vivid emptiness,
Nothing concrete there to be taken as real.

It is present and transparent, utter openness,
Without outside, without inside -
An all pervasiveness
Without boundary and without direction.

The wide-open expanse of the view,
The true condition of the mind,
Is like the sky, like space:
Without center, without edge, without goal.

By leaving whatever I experience
Relaxed in ease, just as it is,
I have arrived at the vast plain
That is the absolute expanse.

Dissolving into the expanse of emptiness
That has no limits and no boundary,
Everything i see, everything i hear,
My own mind, and the sky all merge.

Not once has the notion arisen
Of these being separate and distinct.

In the absolute expanse of awareness
All things are blended into that single taste -
But, relatively, each and every phenomenom is distinctly,
clearly seen.

Wondrous!”

- Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol

“The Life of Shabkar: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin”

Interesting paper about tantric communities of itinerant yogis and yoginis in Tibet, and their ritual, contemplativa and textual traditions, using the community of Longchenpa's followers as an example. It presents a translation of The Luminous Web of Precious Visions where Longchenpa empowers a community his tantric disciples into the practice of The Seminal Essence of the Dakinis