FIVE: THE MAṆḌALA OF THE HOLY MATRIX
From the center of the Heart of Suchness, Mahasiddha Acintapa’s spirit invoked the Holy Mantra that empowered him to transform into the Blessed Vajradhara himself:
– OM SARVA TATHAGATA KAYAVAKCITIA VAJRA SVABHAVA ATMAKO AHAM-
Light beheld Unborn Light as the three Vajra bodies, united in Spirit’s Suchness, celebrated the Divine and Undivided Aveum point:
Like a drop of Essence on the tip of the Lord’s finger, the enraptured voice of Mahasiddha Acintapa piped the solemnity of his epiphany,
“O’ Happy Vision—To realize the indelible Secret Place of the Vanquishers of all evil! Breath from Breath, the Clear Light of Divine Perception Won; the fleshy skandhas extinguished and bothersome no more—I See, O Supreme Lord, that there is nothing that I cannot perceive!”
“OṀ VAJRADHARA HŪṀ!” Chanted in unison the assembly who were watching these blessed events unfold from their diminutive position within Blessed Vajradhara’s Luminous Pore.
“To commemorate this blessed pageantry, pray reveal now, Blessed One, the Holy Matrix that perpetuates this Secret and Salvific Action in the heart of all Sentient Beings…” exclaimed Bodhisattva-Yaksha Vajarpanī, his circle of flames flickering in jubilation as he hovered nearby.
Suddenly the mantra OṀ-AḤ-HŪṀ resounded throughout the Sambhogakayic ambience as the Voice of the Mahasiddha, generated through the inner-Spirit of Blessed Vajradhara, addressed Vajarpanī and the entire assembly:
“These Five Chakras, the Spirits of the Noble Dhyanī Buddhas themselves, spin according to my Unborn Will and each engender the Principles of the all-embracing Universal Body; the Inner-Discriminating Wisdom; the Consciousness of all Buddhas; the Principle of Equanimity; and the Principle of the All-Accomplishing Wisdom. Yet, their combined mission remains incomplete without their collaboration of the All-Seeing-Wisdom Eye, and the Venerable Bodhi-Realm that nurtures the very Self-Realization of Noble Wisdom Itself. The former operates in conjunction with the latter and they are generated as such:
“The Holy Matrix, the Blessed Bodhi-Womb of all Buddhas, abides between Ratnasambhava’s Sugata-garbha and Amoghasiddhi’s Primordial Dragon Chakras.
Ratnasambhava conveys a nurturing-spirit; all beings are held in equanimity with the patience of a mother, in whose eyes—being formed in her noble-womb with a potential seed of Buddhahood—are equal. Amoghasiddhi is the most mysterious of the Dhyanī Buddhas. His color is Midnight-Green and conveys all the imageless characteristics of the Noble Shining Ones: the yellow light of an inner-sun (bodhi), invisible to mortal eyes, interwoven with the deep blue of the deepening night-sky (in which all the unfathomable imageless space of the cosmos opens to itself). The universal and spiritual activities of the Shining Ones coalesce into an inconceivable compassion (Karuna) which produces an All-Accomplishing Salvific Wisdom for the Liberation of all Sentient Beings. Between these two the principle movement and extension of Holy Wisdom (Prajña) is conceived; thus forming into the TATHĀGATAGARBHATĀRĀ—the Holy Matrix—Arya Tārā—of all Buddhas.”
Upon the revelation of this marvelous epiphany, all the Dhyanī Buddhas—VAIROCANA, AMITĀBHA, AKṢOBHYA, RATNASAMBHAVA, AMOGHASIDDHI, as well as the entire gathered assembly, bowed and paid deep reverence to ARYA TĀRĀ by invoking her Blessed Mantra:
–OM TĀRE TUTTARE TURE SVĀHĀ–
Thus the Dragon Eye of Tathata Chakra—the Divine and Noble Wisdom Eye of all Tathagatas—opened and commended the exalted Spiritual Revelation.
Commentary
Heart of Suchness: the Self (Heart)Chakra. The Secret Place of the Tathagatas, the very Sacred Heart of Suchness ITself; the hidden place from which all Tathatic Blessings flow; the very sanctuary of the Eternal Unborn Self.
Aveum point: the mode of existence bearing the markless mark of Tathata. The Immaculate Point that lies between the timelessness of the Unborn and temporal experience of sentient beings; in this particular instance, Mahasiddha Acintapa’s unifying experience with the Blessed Tathagata has afforded him that sense of timelessness—it’s like a moment when all time is drowned in eternity.
Like a drop of Essence on the tip of the Lord’s finger: in Sacred Tantra this is known as bindu, or the precise point when the drop of Spiritual Essence melds into a manifestation of some form.
I See, O Supreme Lord, that there is nothing that I cannot perceive!: the Mahasiddha is perceiving the Dharmadhatu as the Tathagatas themselves; the Diamond Sutra makes frequent reference to seeing Reality as the Tathagatas perceive IT.
Ratnasambhava’s Sugata-garbha and Amoghasiddhi’s Primordial Dragon Chakras: as was revealed to us in the Tantra, the origin of Arya Tārā’s Blessed Womb of all Buddhas has to do with an intersection of energies occurring in the two chakras. Traditionally, Tārā is always one of the emanations of Amoghasiddhi; in other traditions she is an emanation of Ratnasambhava. The Tathāgatagarbhatārā Tantra is a unique blend between the two.
Dragon Eye of Tathata Chakra: left to themselves, the Five Dhyanī Buddhas are synonymous with Five Chakras; with the generation of Arya Tārā’s “Bodhi-Chakra” and the subsequent opening of the “Dragon-Eye of Tathata Chakra” (Supreme Wisdom Eye of the Tathagatas), the cycle of the traditional Seven Chakras is complete.
OM TĀRE TUTTARE TURE SVĀHĀ: Arya Tārā’s Mantra can be broken down in the following description:
“TARE means liberating from samsara. This samsara means these aggregates: the aggregate of form, or the physical body; of feeling; of recognition; of karmic formations; and of consciousness.
TARE shows that Mother Tara liberates living beings from samsara, from true suffering, or problems. You can relate this to the particular sufferings of human beings: birth, old age, sickness and death; meeting undesirable objects and experiencing aversion; not finding desirable objects or finding them but gaining no satisfaction. No matter how much pleasure you enjoy, there is no satisfaction. No matter how much you follow desire, there is no satisfaction at all.
TUTTARE, liberates you from the eight fears. There are eight fears related to external dangers from fire, water, air, earth, and also from such things as thieves and dangerous animals. However, the main dangers come from ignorance, attachment, anger, pride, jealousy, miserliness, doubt and wrong views. These eight disturbing thoughts that you have in your mind are the main dangers. By taking refuge in Tara and doing Tara practice, you are liberated from these eight internal dangers, these eight disturbing thoughts. In this way, you are also liberated from external dangers, as these external dangers come from the inner disturbing thoughts.
TURE, liberates you from disease. Now, of the Four Noble Truths, TURE shows the cessation of suffering, which is the ultimate Dharma. In terms of liberating from disease, the actual disease we have is ignorance not knowing the absolute nature of the I, and all the disturbing thoughts that arise from this ignorance. These are the actual, serious diseases that we have. With cessation of all these diseases of disturbing thoughts, all the true sufferings, all the resultant problems, are also ceased. By liberating us from disease, TURE actually liberates us from the true cause, disturbing thoughts, and also the true sufferings.
The rough meaning of these three words TARE TUTTARE TURE is: “To you, embodiment of all the Buddhas’ actions, I prostrate always—whether I am in happy or unhappy circumstances—with my body, speech and mind.”
The final word SOHA means establishing the root of the path within your heart. In other words, by taking refuge in Tara and doing Tara practice, you receive the blessings of Tara in your own heart. This gives you space to establish the root of the path, signified by TARE TUTTARE TURE, in your heart. By establishing the path of the three capable beings within your heart, you purify all impurities of your body, speech and mind, and achieve Tara’s pure vajra holy body, holy speech and holy mind, which are signified by OM. Your body, speech and mind are transformed into Tara’s holy body, holy speech and holy mind. This is the rough meaning of OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA” . http://www.lamayeshe.com/index.php?sect=article&id=357