The Key to Mahamudra

“Mahamudra: Essence and Practice”(Book  II)

The Key to Mahamudra

◎Chen Yixin: What is the key to Mahamudra?

●Xue Mo: Faith in one’s guru. The guru surely wants to pass on that state of enlightenment to his disciples. But whether the disciples can accept it depends on their confidence. Of course, those who believe they have attained the state of Mahamudra are actually not necessarily the case, because an “achiever” in reality has nothing to be “achieved.” True attainment is a state of totality, swept clean of the concept of attainment, where the terminology of “Mahamudra” does not exist either.

Subsequent to the true attainment of Mahamudra, one needs to sweep away even the concept of attainment itself, so that it is completely free of attachment, and eventually the practice reaches the state of non-practice.

But prior to the eventual elimination of the traces of attainment, it is imperative to uphold diligent practice in order to maintain one’s realized state of emptiness and merge the phenomenal world into this inner state. Take my practice as an example. I blended all the rising phenomena and the luminous and blissful nature of emptiness into one. But if, despite that blending effort, one remains attached to the luminous and blissful state, then it is not ultimate achievement yet. It is like carrying the boat on one’s back after one has crossed the river – now, the boat becomes one’s burden.

As the practice goes well, one will experience meditative joy, which is still attached to the physical body. Then, after qi (spiritual energy) has penetrated the central chakra, the blissful state will come. In this case, may I ask where can you find that “blissful” thing after the physical body has perished? So at this point, only by letting go of the remaining avidya and attachment will one become truly carefree. In the end, there is no discerning between in and out of meditative state, no discerning between in and out of retreat, no discerning between in and out of mental engagement, and no discerning between subject and object of cultivation, and daily life is rested in clarity like the vast sky and the blue sea. So I say: even as I write I am no longer the writer who has drifted away from the spirit of my guru and Yidam; at that moment I am one with the Yidam, my guru, and the dharma realm. Once, I requested my guru at Tar Lamasery to verify the state of my spiritual engagement when I wrote, and he said that at the time I was actually no different than the five great vajra-rulers, from whom I have received the genuine dharma transmission. Nevertheless, I swept clean all these from my mind again, but what is left is not a state of nothingness; rather, it is an inward subsistence without reference point, accompanied by the kind of certainty free from external attributes. Afterwards, as it became necessary to record these experiences, I requested my guru for verification and he confirmed that I had attained Mahamudra. You know, what my guru affirmed was actually the same thing I had achieved more than 10 years ago.

Tripitaka Dharma Numbers contains definitions of “self-witnessing aspect” and “rewitnessing aspect.” “Self-witnessing is that one witnesses one’s own achievement of Buddhahood. With mūlajñāna, the innately possessed wisdom, one possesses the ability of recognizing the appearances and comprehending them. If one doesn’t make mistakes in the recognizing and comprehending process, one is capable of witnessing its own achievement.” Definition of “rewitnessing aspect”: “Witnessing is the subject that is capable of witnessing; self-witnessing is the attainment one has got. As self-witnessing, comprehension, and appearance originate from mūlajñāna, one can rewitness the object self-witnessing has done. That is rewitnessing.” Let me elaborate, if not altogether appropriate, on the above definitions. The self-witnessing aspect I have gained is what I am entirely confident about. And my rewitnessing aspect is my guru’s verification. Only after the acquisition of rewitnessing aspect can your attainments be said to have religious meanings.

But at that time, I did not even bother to be concerned about its religious meaning any more.

Furthermore, the disciple might have exceptional self-confidence, but without the guru’s affirmation, all the attainment does not carry any religious significance. As many think that they have achieved Mahamudra, they are actually caught up in a state of nothingness, indifference, or dullness; therefore, the guru’s affirmation is a must. Because at the critical moment, even the least falling short causes enormous mistakes. 

After realizing the ultimate truth, one no longer goes to the phase of accumulating merits through outward means. Because at this time, one has no more seeking, and all attachments of this life are being put down. One no longer thinks that one should correspond to the Yidam and deity that are not transformed out of one’s own nature. At this moment, there is no discrimination between others and me, there is no arising of discerning thoughts like “I offer to him, and he answers to my offering,” all contending dichotomy is completely broken down, the discerning mind has disappeared, and there is no more dualistic grasping of subject and object.  

In order to gather writing materials, I have travelled across the entire Liangzhou district. Once on the motorcycle, I felt as if I was on the meditation seat. I travelled for hundreds of miles, but I felt as if I was never off the meditation seat. I studied countless people and observed almost everything, but I felt as if I had encountered none of them. Sometimes, I would also practice visualization and mantras because as a routine the guru assigns tasks to every disciple, and I would practice with strict adherence to the guru’s demand. I did not use prayer beads for chanting, as I counted away in units of ten thousand, thousand, hundred, down to ten and its tenth. I can clearly remember the total number of the times I have chanted for the day, never losing count, and the same goes for practicing in my dreams. In the midst of such practices emerged many mystical experiences that are required by both the generation stage and the perfection stage of dharma, including those required by Kundalini meditation, subtle body cultivation, and the dharma of clearing obstruction through syllable “AH.” But at that time, my guru did not transmit to me the dual stages of dharma generation and perfection – the transmission and related practices took place at a later time. As the outcome of my absolute faith, all of these were bestowed upon me by both my guru and the Yidam deity.

As I have always said, the highest dharma should be Guru Yoga. So long as one is concomitant with the guru, one is able to engage the state of Mahamudra and achieve ultimate liberation. The key element to Guru Yoga is precisely faith in the guru. To a certain extent, faith is the indicator of one’s practice aptitude. Only the person of great practice aptitude has great faith.

Speaking of obstructing karma, it is the obstacle arisen during the initiation of faith in the guru. I once had a metaphor: as a person sees the liquid of five poisons that fills his heart as the most precious amrita, he is reluctant to pour it away even when the guru demands him to do so. In this case, it becomes difficult for the guru’s bestowal and compassion to reenter his heart. Even if a little bit gets in, it will still be polluted by the existing poisons anyway. Only when he pours away the liquid poison in his spiritual cup and cleans the cup thoroughly does the guru’s wisdom have a chance to fill in. Only at this moment will the genuine bond occur.

Thereafter, after my guru transmitted to me the dharma of both the generation and perfection stages, I continued to practice visualization strictly, but most of the times I found it difficult to adhere to practicing rituals, because as soon as I got onto the meditation seat, I became engaged in the state of Mahamudra. In situations like this, all the visualization and chanting became another kind of distracting thoughts. After that, I specifically asked my guru if it was still necessary to do visualization and mantra practices after engaging the state of Mahamudra, and my guru said it was not necessary. He told me that the purpose of visualization and mantra practices was to understand what was Mahamudra before focusing on Mahamudra practices and proceeding to realize Mahamudra to achieve ultimate liberation.

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《光明大手印：实修心髓》下

大手印的关键

◎陈亦新：大手印最关键的是什么？

●雪漠：对上师的信心。上师都想把那份证悟传递给弟子，但弟子能否接受，则取决于弟子的信心。当然，认为自己证得大手印的人，其实并不一定证得。因为“证得”者，实无所“得”。真正的证得是和光同尘、扫除悟迹，也就没有了大手印的名相。

真正证得大手印后，就把证得的那个东西也要扫掉，毫无执著，最后达到修无所修。

不过在扫除悟迹之前，要精进地修，也就是要保任你见到的那个空性，把世上一切都融入空性。比如，我在修时，就将那诸相都融入明空和乐空，打成一片。但打成一片之后，要是执著于明空和乐空，还是不究竟。这就等于你渡过河后仍背了小船一样，这时的船也成了你的负担。

修得很好的话，会有禅乐。但禅乐仍依附于肉体，气入中脉之后，就有大乐。请问肉体消失之后，那东西又在何处？这时还要破除那最后的无明和执著，才能达到真正的了无牵挂。到最后，没有入定和出定，没有闭关和出关，没有契入和离开，没有能修和所修，行住坐卧，皆明广如天，清蓝如海。所以我说，即使在我写作的时候，我也不是一个游离于上师本尊之外的作家。这时，本尊就是我，我就是本尊；上师就是我，我就是上师；法界就是我，我就是法界。在青海塔尔寺，我曾请上师印证我写作时的状态，他说那时，我和五大金刚是无二无别的，我得到的是真正的五大金刚本尊的加持。但是，我将这些也从心中扫去了，但又不是顽空。到这一步时，无处不在处处在，那种坚信是不假外物的。后来，因为要写书，我才请上师印证，上师印证那是光明大手印。要知道，上师为我印证的，其实是我十多年前就得到的那个东西。

《三藏法数》中有自证分和证自证分的说法：“自证者，自证所具之法也。谓此识能持见分相分。以能亲证自见分，故缘于相分不谬，是名自证分。”证自证分是：“证即能证之体，自证即所具之法。谓能持前自证分、见分、相分，即是此识之本体，以能亲证自证分，故缘见分不谬，是名证自证分。”我不恰当地套用发挥一下，就是说我得到的那个“自证分”，是我确信无疑的东西。上师的印证，叫“证自证分”，只有有了“证自证分”，你的所得才算真正有了宗教的意义。

但我那时，连那意义啥的，也懒得去执著了。

需要补充的是，弟子虽然有着超人的自信，但要是没有上师的印证，一切都没有宗教意义。所以，上师的印证是必需的。因为，有许多认为证得了光明大手印的人，其实是陷入顽空、无记或是沉没。在关键的时候，差之毫厘，就会错上千里。

证得实相光明后，就不会再去积累有相的福慧资粮了。因为他已无求，放下了对今生的所有执著。他不再认为他应该去供一位游离于自性之外的本尊和神灵。这时，不会再有我和他的分别，不会产生“我供他，他应供”的分别之念，一切的二元对立都打破了，分别心消失，没有了能所二执。

为了搜集写作素材，我也曾行遍凉州。当我上摩托车时，就如上了禅座，游行数百里，却不曾离禅座；阅尽千人熟睹万物，却似无所见。有时，我也会观修持咒，因为上师给弟子们都定了任务，我也会严格地按上师的要求去做。我不持念珠，却能清晰地记住一天的持诵数目，几万几千几百几十几，毫不散乱。要是我在梦中想修，那么在梦中也会清晰地记下数目，几万几千几百几十几。当时就出现了生起次第和圆满次第中要求的好多验相，包括拙火定的要求、修幻身的要求、“阿”字净障法的要求，等等。但那个时候，上师并没有传我生圆二次第——生圆二次第的传授和修持是后来的事。这一切，都源于我净信后上师本尊的加持。

所以，我老说，所有法中，最高的法应该是上师相应法。只要你跟上师相应了，你就能契入大手印，你就能得到究竟解脱。而修上师相应法最重要的，就是对上师的信心。从某种意义上来说，信心是根器的标志。大根器者，才有大信心。

真正的业障，就是对上师生起信心时的障碍。我曾有个比喻，要是一个人的心中充满了五毒之液，他以为那是无上的甘露，上师要他倒去，他也舍不得倒。上师的加持和慈悲已经很难再装进他的心了，即使加进去一点儿，也仍然会被五毒污染了。只有当他倒去自己心灵之杯中的毒液之后，把那心灵之杯清洗得非常干净时，上师的智慧才可能进入。这时，才会有真正的相应。

后来，上师传了生起次第和圆满次第之后，我仍然严格地进行了观修，但许多时候，我很难按仪轨修下去，因为我一上座，就契入光明大手印。这时，所有的观修和念诵，就变成了另一种杂念。后来，我专门问过上师，契入大手印后，还需不需要观想和诵咒，上师说不需要。他说，观修和诵咒的目的，就是为了明白什么是大手印，明白了之后，就专修大手印，直证大手印，就可以究竟解脱。

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