Tradition vs. Modernity

You know which side I am on

Normally, most people associate me with Dzogchen teachings, and while it is true that I devote most of my time to the translation and exegesis of Dzogchen teachings, I have also been involved in translating and practicing the so-called Sarma tradition of the Sakyapa. Thus I am grounded in two worlds. In India, however, there is no distinction between so-called Nyingma and Sarma. In this post I will share some observations about the state of affairs in Western Vajrayāna, observations some might find uncomfortable. By Vajrayāna here, I am strictly referring what is known in the new translation schools as anuttarayoga tantra or in the old translation school as the three inner tantras.

These days it is popular for people to write about their understanding of Vajrayāna on places like Substack and so on. A very few have done anything like a three year retreat, and even then a three year retreat is not enough, nor are two, nor are three. Most of them also have no skills in Sanskrit, or in Tibetan in particular. This means that there is a great deal of uninformed opinion posing as expertise.

At the root of the problem is seeing Vajrayāna Dharma as a set of techniques for personal growth and optimization. This then renders Vajrayāna Dharma ripe for hostile takeover by spiritual influencers of all varieties, who then sell off the parts of Vajrayāna they like, and leave the rest behind. Of course, the neoliberal exploitation of the Dharma is not confined to Vajrayāna; we see it in Zen, Vipassana, and so on, as well as non-Buddhist traditions.

Simply put, it seems to me that many people truly do not understand the two fundamental points of Vajrayāna: (1) sentient beings are under the power of affliction and karma, and without overcoming affliction and karma, they will continue to cycle endlessly in the three realms. (2) The reason for practicing Vajrayāna is because one aspires to benefit all sentient beings by attaining buddhahood through the most rapid means possible and one believes that the teachings of Vajrayāna are the best manner in which to fulfill that aspiration.

If someone does not accept this viewpoint of the cosmos, there is really no point for them to practice the profound practices of the two stages, which lead to the realization of Mahāmudra, let alone enter the practices of the pinnacle of all vehicles, Dzogchen. Without bodhicitta, the aspiration to achieve buddhahood to benefit all sentient beings, no matter how long it takes, there is no actual Vajrayāna. In other words, Vajrayāna is a branch of Mahāyāna. Without a Mahāyāna perspective, Vajrayāna is meaningless. Without the commitment to take rebirth for as long as it takes to attain full buddhahood to benefit sentient beings, Mahāyāna is meaningless.

Secondly, Vajrayāna is grounded in a very specific view of the human body, grounded in the Ayurvedic system of medicine. A stack I was reading this morning made the point that there are all kinds of maps we can apply to the same subject. But one of the interesting things about Tibetan Medicine—an offshoot of Ayurveda adapted by Tibetans to their own climate and available materia medica—is a detailed and empirical understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. The details are not important other than to note that since at least the 10th century CE, and likely long before, Tibetan physicians understood how arteries, blood vessels, the lymphatic system, and nerves functioned in the body, and that physical functions in the human body were controlled by the brain long before these structures were clearly identified in Western medicine.

Why do I mention this? In order to understand Vajrayāna, all tantras state that in order to understand the basis for practicing Vajrayāna in toto, we need to understand how the human body forms. Without this understanding, we have no real hope at all of understanding the reasons and purposes of prāṇayāma yogas like caṇḍalī, a.k.a gtum mo. We can’t even properly understand why we practice the creation stage, since the creation stage specifically targets the afflictions and their traces that cause us to experience the world as a human being who perceives a human realm in the first place.

While of course there is a detailed understanding of the process of gestation of human beings in modern physiology, it will not help us understand the logic and reason we practice the creation and completion stages. Why? Simply put, the map is completely different and has a different goal. The map in Vajrayāna is not actually mapped to arteries, blood vessels, and nerves, though there are correlates recognized by Tibetan physicians, there is a relationship. The discussion of the thirty-eight weeks of the development of the human embryo in the Buddhist tantras is grounded in empirical observation.

So what is the point of the creation and completion stage? Simply put, the point of the creation and completion stage is not to have experiences of bliss, clarity, and nonconceptuality. The fundamental point of the creation stage and completion stage is to reverse the entire process of human gestation from the moment of conception in this life to our birth at 38 weeks by reversing the afflictive processes that drive it. In other words, the purpose of all Vajrayāna practice is to reverse dependent origination and put an end to uncontrolled rebirth in the three realms, just like all other Buddhist traditions.

Just to give a simple example, the purpose of caṇḍalī yoga is not heat. The heat is simply a byproduct of our body flushing due to temporary oxygen deprivation. The genuine purpose of caṇḍalī and other prāṇayāmas is to cause the cessation of the eighty gross prakṛtis— afflictive states associated with a coarse mind—connected with desire, hatred, and ignorance, and likewise, connected with the three processes of dissolution at death—white illumination, red illumination, and black illumination.

This is just one small example. In reality, the creation stage also has profound meaning. For example, merely by meditating on the celestial mansion, one is engaging in the thirty-seven adjuncts of awakening, by focusing on each of its parts. But of course, one must know what those are.

There is no way to modernize these teachings. Vajrayāna may be a swift path, but it requires diligence and learning. So please, if you are interested in Vajrayāna teachings, do not choose a teacher who is not educated in the traditional system. There is no way to improve Vajrayāna. It was taught by sambhogakāyas to mahāsiddhas, realized by yogis, commented upon by paṇḍitas, and brought to Tibet by translators like Vairocana and Rinchen Zangpo.

Don’t sell yourself short. Find an authentic guru.