Introduction

When we have received the blessing empowerment of Buddha Vajrapani we have received the instructions on training in common paths and training in uncommon paths, and we have received special blessings.To make these instructions effective we need to engage in the practice of the yoga of Buddha Vajrapani self-generation sadhana.

First we should know who Vajrapani is. Vajrapani is an emanation of Buddha Vajradhara whose function is to destroy the delusions of living beings by bestowing special power upon their body and mind. Delusions are our real enemies, and are called ‘inner obstructing demons’.

Vajrapani means ‘Vajra Holder’. ‘Vajra’ usually refers to a Tantric ritual object, but this is not the real vajra; it is only symbolic of the real vajra. The real vajra is the union of great bliss and emptiness – a mind of spontaneous great bliss realizing emptiness directly. This realization is the very essence of Secret Mantra or Vajrayana. ‘Vajrapani’ therefore means that he is the holder of Secret Mantra, the lineage holder of Buddha’s Tantric teachings.

Following a request made by Bodhisattva Vajrapani, Buddha taught the Tantra called Manjushri Name Tantra to a large assembly of his Bodhisattva disciples. At the beginning of this teaching Buddha said to Bodhisattva Vajrapani, ‘Vajrapani, this is the time to show your power.’ On hearing these words Bodhisattva Vajrapani stood up and showed the assembly of Bodhisattvas a vajra, which he held in his right hand and then
placed on the ground.

Buddha then asked the other Bodhisattvas if any one of them had enough power to pick this vajra up. Bodhisattva Manjushri – the most powerful of the Bodhisattvas – tried, but found it impossible to lift the vajra, even though he applied great effort. Turning to Buddha in surprise Bodhisattva Manjushri said, ‘I cannot move this vajra. Why is this?’ Buddha replied, ‘This shows the power of Bodhisattva Vajrapani. He has the power to destroy delusions, the enemies of living beings, by bestowing the realization of the actual vajra, the union of great bliss and emptiness.’

Normally we point to other people and say, ‘They are my enemies’, but this is a mistake. Living beings cannot be our enemies; they are our mothers. We must understand this. Since it is impossible to find a beginning to our mental continuum, it follows that we have taken countless rebirths in the past and, as we have had countless rebirths, we must have had countless mothers. Where are all of these mothers now? They are all the living beings alive today.

It is incorrect to say that our mothers of former lives are no longer our mothers just because a long time has passed since they actually cared for us. If our present mother were to die today, would she cease to be our mother? No, we would still regard her as our mother and pray for her future lives. The same is true of all our previous mothers – they died, yet they remain our mothers. It is only because of the changes in our external appearance that we do not recognize each other.

As Shantideva says, delusions such as the ignorance of selfgrasping have no arms or legs because they do not possess form. They have no intelligence or skill, and they do not understand anything because they are types of ignorance. Nevertheless they have made all living beings their slaves. These inner obstructing demons have remained within our mind since beginningless time; they have never been separate from us. Day and night they harm us at their pleasure and we patiently endure their harm without anger. How shameful! This is completely wrong. If we are patient towards our enemies, the delusions, our suffering and problems become worse. So instead of being patient we should develop anger towards these enemies, which means we should develop the strong wish to harm and destroy them.

Anger towards our enemies, the delusions, is not real anger but is a type of wisdom. This wisdom makes us determined to harm and destroy our delusions. The ancient Kadampa practitioners used to say, ‘I have only two activities: to benefit living beings as much as I can, and to harm my own delusions as much as I can.’ We should follow their example.

In Training the Mind in Seven Points Geshe Chekhawa says, ‘Gather all blame into one.’ This means that whenever we experience problems, suffering or difficulties we should blame our self-grasping ignorance, a mind that mistakenly believes the self or I that we normally see actually exists. We should recognize that all our problems are the result of our nonvirtuous actions, which were created by our self-grasping ignorance. Thus, the creator of all our problems and sufferings is self-grasping ignorance. Without self-grasping ignorance there would be no basis for us to experience problems and suffering. Understanding this we should make the strong determination to recognize, reduce and finally abandon completely our selfgrasping
ignorance.

To be able to recognize clearly, reduce and completely abandon our self-grasping ignorance we need to receive powerful blessings from enlightened beings. Without receiving the powerful blessings of enlightened beings we are powerless to accomplish this by ourself. Having received the blessing empowerment of Buddha Vajrapani, we then need to put the instructions that we received during the empowerment into practice by engaging in the practice of the yoga of Buddha Vajrapani self-generation sadhana. By doing this we can accomplish our final goal, the supreme happiness of
enlightenment.