What is in the Kalachakra Tantra?

© Down the Crooked Path

There are teachings about being a Bodhisattva, being kind, etc. Some of the teachings that I was getting in my lessons from my Tibetan teacher are in there. But this Commentary on the Kalachkra Tantra, after talking about morals, begins to talk about the practice:

The Commentary of the Kalachakra Tantra

"ONLY THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE KALACAKRA INITIATION ARE PERMITTED TO READ THIS MATERIAL" This book was written by a well known Tibetan teacher that lived in Tibet before coming to Seattle, Washington. In this book he states:

"If the secrets are not kept, one's head and heart will burst."

"If one keeps the secrets, this water will turn into nectar, which gives rise to the siddhis or realizations; but if one fails to do so, it shall turn into the molten iron of the hell realm. This indicates the great danger of disclosing tantric secrets to those who are not fit to receive them."

From the book: The first empowerment states:

“The First Empowerment—The empowerment of the vase.

The point of this empowerment is to ripen the mind of the trainee. First, one imagines offering a girl, between the ages of 12 and 20, to the vajra master...The vase empowerment is actually given when the imagined girl comes back to the trainee who then enjoys her presence though laughing and foundling her breasts. Together with this, one offers the mandala and prayers to the vajra master and request the empowerments.

The vase empowerment is actually given when the imagined girl goes back to the trainee who then enjoys her presence through laughing and fondling her breasts. As one touches the girl’s breasts there arises the ‘bliss’ which should be experienced as indivisible from emptiness. .."

“The Second Empowerment:

“One imagines that the secret vajra (the penis of the lama) of the vajra master is placed in the mouth of the trainee and ones tastes the white bodhicitta (semen) of the vajra master. This white bodhicitta goes down to the heart-chakra of the devotee and there arises ‘great bliss’.

“The Third Empowerment:

“a visualized consort, or dakini-consort, is given to the trainee and they enter sexual union. From this union the white bodhicitta descends from the crown of one’s head. When it arrives at the throat-cakra there arises ‘joy.’ When it descends to the heart-cakra there arises ‘supreme joy’. When it descends to the navel-cakra there arises ‘extraordinary joy’. And when it descends to the genital-cakra there arises the ‘spontaneous joy’, which is the highest of these four…

Without allowing the white bodhicitta to come out, but retaining it, one experiences the ‘supreme immutable bliss’…

To allow the white bodhicitta to come out is actually a root downfall in this tantra.”

Another root downfall:

“Another example of this root downfall would be thinking, ‘Oh, I don’t need the external mudras or objects like the vajra, the bell, and the and-drum because the meditation is all inside.’”

“Kunda is a flower and the white bodhicitta refers to the semen. In the Kalacakra practice, the emission of the semen or the white bodhicitta is the root downfall.”

“The fifth major energy, the pervasive is very difficult to draw into the heart. In order to do so, it is indispensable for the yogin to meditate in union with an actual consort or a dakini. In other words, the reason why it is necessary for the yogin to actually engage in such a practice is to bring that final, pervasive energy into the heart.”

“One actualizes Kalacakra with consort, who are composed of just energy and consciousness and attains the rainbow body.”

The idea is that sex brings one enlightenment, but that you need a real consort in order to reach this enlightenment.

"Lama Gedün Chöpel, explicitly warns that children can become injured during the sexual act: “Forcingly doing it with a young girl produces severe pains and wounds her genitalia. ... If it is not the time and if copulating would be dangerous for her, churn about between her thighs, and it [the female seed] will come out” (Chöpel, 1992, p. 135). In addition he recommends feeding a twelve-year-old honey and sweets before ritual sexual intercourse (Chöpel, 1992, p. 177)."

"The Kalachakra Tantra urges the yogi to render the mudra pliant with intoxicating liquor: “Wine is essential for the wisdom consort [prajna]. ... Any mudra at all, even those who are still not willing, can be procured with drink” (Grünwedel, Kalacakra III, p. 147). It is only a small step from this to the use of direct force. There are also texts, which advise “that if a woman refuses sexual union she must be forced to do so” (Bhattacharyya, 1982, p. 125)."

Bhattacharyya, N.N., History of the Tantric Religion, Manohar 1982.


"How does the yogi find a real, human mudra? Normally, she is delivered by his pupil. This is also true for the Kalachakra Tantra. “If one gives the enlightened teacher the prajna [mudra] as a gift,” proclaims Naropa, “the yoga is bliss” (Grünwedel, 1933, p. 117). If a 12- or 16-year-old girl cannot be found, a 20-year-old will suffice, advises another text, and continues, “One should offer his sister, daughter or wife to the ‘guru’”, then the more valuable the mudra is to the pupil, the more she serves as a gift for his master (Wayman, 1977, p. 320)."

http://www.iivs.de/~iivs01311/SDLE/Part-1-03.htm


This link will take you to the two paragraphs above, and if you scroll down to the bottom of the page there is a list of references that goes with this.

The Commentary book is 163 pages long, so I only took from it the section that I thought would be of interest, not going into full detail on the directions for meditation.

But there is also a warning in the book that practicing these techniques without a teacher can be dangerous, and so I didn't wish to give complete directions. I know this has to be true, because I had learned that Kriya yoga can be dangerous, and I had practiced it for a while, but I gave up when learning of the dangers. And this technique is like Kriya Yoga but with sex added, as well as the use of a mantra, which I believe is "Om ah hum."

The idea in all of this is to transform lust into spiritual bliss. I imagine that this is an ongoing practice of always trying to transform the lust. And in the Shadow of the Dalai Lama it says as much:

"Now one might think that for the enlightened yogi the book of sensual pleasures would be closed, since for him there are no more exterior women. But the contrary is the case. His lust is not transformed, but rather made eternal. Thus in his imagination, he is “united day and night [with the maha mudra]. The yogi often says, he would not live without her kiss and embrace” (Dasgupta, 1974, p. 102). He is even able to imaginatively stimulate the sexual organs of the inner woman in order to combine her erotic pleasure with his own (he simultaneously enjoys both), and thus immeasurably intensify it. (Farrow and Menon, 1992, pp. 271, 272, 291)."


And the idea of having a young consort. I imagine that they are always having to keep up the lust by having a new women in their life, because, well, women do get old, and I can decode this word "old" as in "twilight language" of the tantra: "old" as in "age" and "old" as in "tired of the same old thing." And there have been stories of this happening, not to mention rape if the woman doesn't comply or even threats, but that is for a later post.

And then just as the Trimondis had stated there is actually a law of inversion:

The Kalacakra tantra that I have puts monks down if they say that they are too pure to have sex and drink alcohol. and eventually a real woman is used in the sex practice.

Here is some more from it, page 160: "The five ambrosias are literally substances such as excrement, urine and so forth. A highly realized yogin is able to transform them and actually experience great bliss."

"In like manner, the Buddha states very frequently in the Vinaya Sutras that the monks should take absolutely no alcohol and should not have any sexual intercourse or relationships with women. In fact, they should not even be alone in the same room with a woman. This is very emphatically and repeatedly stated--it is very strict. This is meant for being who are still subject to taking lower rebirth as a result of such actions. However, monks who have gone quite far in their practice and have gained very high states of realization in terms of bodhichitta, realization of emptiness, as well as their practices of tantra, are allowed by the Buddha to have sexual intercourse with women and to take alcohol. he reason is that at a certain stage of practice, when one is sufficiently advanced, these same activities can \further one towards the attainment of full enlightenment." Page 158


Note:

There is a version of the Kalachakra that's for the general public, which is the version the Dalai Lama lectures on, when he offers the Kalachakra teaching in different parts of the world. But there is a secret version only for advanced practitioners, and that is the version in the Commentary book.

*
Commentary of the Kalacakra Tantra by Geshe Lharampa Ngawang Dhargyey (1985)

“I received the Kalacakra empowerment first from Lhatshun Dorje Chang. He was a very great lama in Tibet, a Root-guru of the Junior Tutor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and was considers a sage by the lamas of all spiritual traditions in Tibet. His Holiness has frequently said, “it is a very great pity that It was not possible for Lhatsun Dorje Chang to come to Iindia.”

I also received the Kalacakra empowerment three or four times from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His Holiness received the empowerment and the teaching frm his Senior Tutor, Kyabje Yongdzin Ling Dorje Chang. Kyabeje Yongdzin Ling Dorje Chang received the empowerment and teaching of the Kalacakra from Kyabje Kangsar Dorje Chang. It was said that he was a manifestation of Manjusri. The lineage goes back in an unbroken sucession from lama to lama to the Buddha Vajradhara (Dorje Chang). Within the context of tantra, it is necessary for there to occur this unbroken continuum of the lineage which always goes back to Vajradhara. ..

His Holiness asked me, not once but twice, saying that it would be most beneficial if I were to come to the West and especially to give these Kalacakra teachings, thinking of the great benefit of following the instructions of one’s guru, I decided that this would be good to do.” Pages 106-161.


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