Brief Guide To The Ngöndro Visualization
Brief Guide To The Ngöndro Visualization
Ngndro Practice
by Patrul Rinpoche
Namo Samantabhadraye!
Having begun with this verse of homage, I shall now set down, in one place, the
steps of visualization for the ordinary outer and inner instructions of Longchen
Nyingtik.
Taking Refuge
When taking refuge, consider that the place where you are seated is made from
various precious substances: a buddha realm, beautiful and pleasing to the mind,
without any undulations, and smooth like the surface of a mirror.5 At its centre, in
front of you, is a wish-fulfilling tree with five main branches, its leaves, flowers and
fruit filling the whole of space in every direction.
Slightly above the central branch, seated upon a jewelled throne supported by eight
great lions, and upon seats of lotus, sun and moon, is the incomparable treasury of
compassion who embodies all the buddhas of past, present and future: ones own
glorious root lama. He appears in the form of Orgyen Dorje Chang (the Great
Vajradhara of Oiyna), his complexion white with a tinge of red.6 He has one face
and two hands, and is seated in the posture of royal ease. With his right hand, he
holds a golden five-pronged vajra in the threatening gesture. In his left hand, which
rests in the gesture of equanimity, is a skull-cup brimming with nectar and
containing the vase of immortality that is also full of deathless wisdom nectar, and
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ornamented on top by a wish-fulfilling tree. He is united in an inseparable embrace
with the consort Yeshe Tsogyal, who is white and holding a knife and a skull-cup.
On his body, he wears a silk cloak, monastic robes and gown. On his head, he wears
a lotus hat.
On the branch before him is the Buddha kyamuni, surrounded by the thousand
buddhas of this Fortunate Aeon. Their bodies are white, yellow, red, green and blue
in colour, and they are all in the supreme nirmakya form, wearing monastic
robes. They are adorned with the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks, such as
the crown protuberance, wheels on their feet, and so on. All of them are seated in the
cross-legged vajra posture.
On the branch to the right7 are the bodhisattvas, the Eight Great Close
Sons8 surrounded by the sangha of noble bodhisattvas. As a sign of their tireless and
constant efforts to benefit beings, they are all standing in the posture of equanimity.
They are adorned with the thirteen ornaments of the perfect sambhogakya.
On the branch to the left are the two supreme rvakas9 , surrounded by the noble
community of rvakas and pratyekabuddhas wearing monastic robes.
On the rear branch, encased within a lattice of rainbow light, is the Jewel of the
Dharma in the form of piles of books, the vowels and consonants making their own
sound. At the top are the six million four hundred thousand tantras of
Dzogpachenpo.
Above Guru Rinpoches head are all the masters of the Dzogchen lineage, from the
dharmakya Samantabhadra down to your own kind root lama. They are seated one
above the other, the throne of an earlier master slightly above the head of the next.
Surrounding Guru Rinpoche are the root and lineage masters above, the assembly of
yidam deities in the central section, and the mamos and kins below. In between
are all the Dharma protectors of both wisdom and action. Consider that the males all
face outwards, acting to avert any obstacles or hindrances to the Dharma or the
attainment of enlightenment, and to prevent any obstacles entering from the outside.
Whereas the female Dharma protectors all face inwards, acting to ward off any
obstacles or hindrances to the Dharma or the attainment of enlightenment, and to
prevent any accomplishments from escaping.
Seated to your right and left are your father and mother from this present life. In
front are all the sentient beings of the six realms and three worlds, led by your
bitterest enemies and those obstructing forces that do you harm. Together they form
an enormous gathering that covers the entire surface of the earth.
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As a physical demonstration of your respect, you all perform prostrations. To show
your respect vocally, you recite the verse for taking refuge. And with a mind that is
respectful, you form the following resolve, cultivating a feeling of ardent longing and
complete and heartfelt trust:
Recite the refuge verse, KN CHOK SUM NG (In the Three Jewels, and their
essence) and then, at the end of the session consider that, as a result of your
devotion to the refuge assembly, countless rays of lightwhite, yellow, red, green
and bluestream out from the various deities. As they touch you and all sentient
beings, your karma, disturbing emotions, habitual tendencies, negativity and
obscurations accumulated throughout beginningless time are purified completely,
just as when light from the rising sun shines into a cave it dispels the darkness
within. In an instant, you and all the other beings fly up with a whirring sound, like
a flock of birds scattered by a sling- stone, and dissolve into the assembly of refuge
deities.
Then the refuge gradually melts into light. In front, the buddhas all dissolve into
kyamuni. To the right, the bodhisattvas all dissolve into Avalokitevara. To the
left, the noble sangha of rvakas and pratyekabuddhas dissolves into riputra. They
all dissolve into the Dharma at the back, and then this entire Jewel of the Dharma
dissolves into Guru Rinpoche. All the surrounding masters, yidams, Dharma
protectors and guardians also dissolve into Guru Rinpoche. The lama too then
slowly dissolves, and vanishes into light. Rest for a short while in a state that is free
from conceptual reference. Then, as you rise from this meditation, recognize all that
appears and exists as the form of the refuge deities and dedicate the merit.
Generating Bodhicitta
When generating bodhicitta, the dissolution of the refuge deities follows the same
sequence as above, but here Guru Rinpoche dissolves into you, and you consider that
the absolute bodhicitta present within the minds of the objects of refuge arises
clearly in your own mind.
Vajrasattva Purification
All the special experiences and realizations of the profound path are prevented from
arising by your harmful actions, obscurations and habitual tendencies. There is no
method for purifying them more profound than the meditation and recitation of the
Lama Vajrasattva. The way to practise it is as follows.
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Consider that you remain in your ordinary form. At an arrows length above your
head, upon a lotus and a moon disc seat, is a brilliant white syllable HUNG which
becomes, in essence, your glorious root master, the incomparable treasury of
compassion who embodies all the buddhas of past, present and future. He is in the
form of the sambhogakya Buddha Vajrasattva, white in colour, and as bright as a
snowy peak lit up by a hundred thousand suns. He has one face and two arms. With
his right hand, he holds a five-pronged vajra of awareness and emptiness in front of
his heart. With his left, he rests the bell of appearance and emptiness upon his left
hip. His two legs are crossed in the vajra posture, and he embraces, in an inseparable
union, his consort white Vajratopa (Dorje Nyemma). Their bodies are not like those
of ordinary beings, but are pure and composed of light.
At Vajrasattvas heart is a full moon disc, and upon it is a white syllable HUNG, as
fine as if it were drawn with a single hair. The HUNG is encircled in a clockwise
direction by a string of letters forming the hundred syllable mantra. They are like the
horns of cattle (meaning that they are close together and yet they do not touch). As
you recite the hundred syllable mantra, ensuring that the four powers are complete,
imagine that the white bodhicitta nectar drips down from each syllable of the mantra
garland.
Flowing through the body of Vajrasattva, the nectar emerges from the point of union
with the consort, and then, passing through the aperture of Brahma at the crown of
your head, it cleans the entire interior of your body. Everything impure pours out of
your body from the two lower orifices, the soles of your feet and all the pores of
your skin. All your physical illnesses are flushed out in the form of rotten blood and
pus; all negative forces are expelled in the form of fish, snakes, frogs, tadpoles,
spiders, scorpions and ants; and all your negativity is expelled as smoke, black liquid,
clouds and vapours.
The golden earth beneath you opens up to reveal King Yma, the Lord of Death,
surrounded by all the male and female beings to whom you owe karmic debts, and
those who seek your life in vengeance. As you recite the hundred syllable mantra,
the impurities pour down into their open mouths and into the hands and arms they
raise expectantly towards you.
At the end, imagine that Death and all the others beneath the earth every kind of
karmic creditor and all those who seek your life in vengeance are completely
satisfied. Past scores have been settled; debts have been repaid; the desire for
vengeance has been pacified; and you are cleansed of all your past negative actions
and obscurations. Yama closes his mouth and fists, and lowers his arms. The earth
closes over once again.
Imagine that your body now becomes transparent inside and out, like an immaculate
crystal vase. At the crown of your head is the chakra of great bliss with its thirty-two
radial channels curving downwards. In your throat is the chakra of enjoyment with
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its sixteen radial channels curving upwards. At the level of your heart is the Dharma
chakra with its eight radial channels curving downwards. At the level of your navel
is the chakra of manifestation with its sixty-four radial channels curving upwards.
As the shining, white bodhicitta fills these four chakras, you receive the four
empowerments (vase, secret, wisdom and precious word); you are purified of the
four obscurations (karmic, emotional, cognitive and those of habitual tendencies);
and you accomplish the four kyas (nirmakya, sambhogakya, dharmakya and
svbhvikakya).
Granting his approval in this way he melts into light, just like butter that is placed
on a hot stone, and then dissolves into you.
Now you yourself appear in the form of Vajrasattva, exactly as you visualized him
before. In your heart is a moon disc, the size of a flattened mustard seed. At its centre
is a blue H. In front of the H is a white syllable O; to its right is the word
VAJRA in yellow; behind it is a red SA; and to its left is a green TVA.
Then consider that the rays of light touch all the sentient beings dwelling throughout
the six realms of the three worlds, purifying their karma, disturbing emotions,
habitual patterns, negativity and obscurations.
The entire outer world becomes the buddhafield of Abhirati ('Manifest Joy'), and all
the beings within it are transformed into white, yellow, red, green and blue
Vajrasattvas, all of whom recite the mantra O VAJRA SATTVA H, creating an
immense humming sound. This establishes the interdependent conditions for
benefiting others through attaining the rpakya. As it is said:
Actualizing the benefit of self and others through the emanation and re-
convergence [of light], cognitive obscurations are purified.
At the end of the session, visualize that the whole universethe pure realm of
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Manifest Joydissolves into the beings within it, the Vajrasattvas. Then, all of these
Vajrasattvas dissolve into you, the principal Vajrasattva. Gradually, you too melt into
light from the outside inwards, dissolving into the O at your heart. The O then
dissolves into the VAJRA, the VAJRA into the SA, the SA into the TVA, the TVA into
the shabkyu of the H, the shabkyu into the A-chung, and the A-chung into the
body of the HA. The body then dissolves into the head, the head into the crescent,
the crescent into the bindu, and the bindu into the nda. Finally, the nda too
dissolves, and you remain for a short while in a state that is without conceptual
reference.
When you arise from that state, recognize the whole outer universe and the beings
contained within it as the environment and inhabitants of the pure realm of Manifest
Joy, and dedicate the merit.
1. Maala Offering
Begin by arranging the five piles of the accomplishment maala. In the centre is a
pile representing Buddha Vairocana, surrounded by the deities of the buddha family.
In the East is a pile for the Buddha Vajrasattva10 and the deities of the vajra family. In
the South is a pile for Buddha Ratnasambhava and the deities of the ratna family. In
the West is a pile for Buddha Amitbha and the deities of the padma family. And in
the North is a pile for Buddha Amoghasiddhi and the deities of the karma family.
Alternatively, as in the Refuge practice, you may consider that the central pile
represents your own root master in the form of Guru Rinpoche, with all the masters
of the Dzogchen lineage above him. In this case, the pile in front is for Buddha
kyamuni and the thousand perfect buddhas of this Fortunate Aeon. The pile on the
right is for the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, surrounded by the noble bodhisattva
sangha. The pile on the left is for riputra and Maudgalyyana and the noble sangha
of rvakas and pratyekabuddhas. The pile at the back represents the Jewel of the
Dharma in the form of piles of books.
For the offering maala, recite O VAJRA BHUMI Hetc. (from the
Thirty-Seven Point maala Offering) and arrange the outer realm in stages. One
arrangement of piles symbolizing the four continents with Mount Meru in the centre
constitutes one world. A thousand of these make a first-order universe of one
thousand worlds. Multiplying this a thousand times produces a second-order
universe of one thousand times one thousand worlds. Then, multiplying this by a
further thousand, we arrive at what is called, a third- order great universal system
of one thousand million worlds, or a cosmos of a billion universes.
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Imagine throughout all these worlds the most exquisite enjoyments of gods and
human beings, and offer them all to your master and the deities of the nirmakya.
This is the offering of the ordinary maala of the nirmakya.
Next, imagine Akaniha Ghanavyha complete with all the inconceivable features of
a spontaneously manifest sambhogakya realm, as well as countless offering
goddesses, such as the goddess of beauty and so on, and offer them all to your master
and the deities of the sambhogakya. This is the extraordinary maala of the
sambhogakya.
Then, upon the base of the maala, which represents the unconditioned
dharmadhtu, place small piles representing your attachment to appearance and
whatever thoughts you may have. Offer this to your master and the deities of the
dharmakya. This is the special maala of the dharmakya.
Seated below are all the beings of the six realms and three worlds.
If you are familiar with the visualization stage (kyrim), you can recite PHA! and
simultaneously eject your consciousness along the central channel and out through
the aperture of Brahma at the crown of your head, where it is immediately
transformed into Trma, the Wrathful Mother.
If you are not yet accustomed to this kind of visualization practice, begin by
meditating on your consciousness as Trma, and, then, as you utter the syllable
PHA! consider that she shoots out through the crown of your head.
In either case, Trmathe essence of your consciousnessis black, and has one face
and two hands. With her right hand, she is waving through the air a curved knife for
cutting the three poisons at their root. It is this that she now uses to slice your skull,
along the level of the eyebrows, from your body, which has grown huge, fat and
greasy, and is as large as the entire billion- fold world-system. Trma uses the skull
to make a skull-cup equal in size to the entire cosmos of a billion worlds. With her
left hand, she picks up the skull-cup and places it, with the brow facing her, upon a
hearth made of three human skulls, each as large as Mount Meru. Then, with the
hooked knife in her right hand, she lifts the whole corpse and places it inside the
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skull-cup.
Now visualize in the space beneath the skull the vertical stroke of a letter A, red,
with the nature of fire, and hot to the touch. Above the skull, there appears a white
syllable HA with the nature of nectar. As fire blazes up from the A-stroke, it heats
the skull-cup until the corpse melts into bubbling nectar, and anything foul or
impure is expelled in the form of a frothing scum.
The HA begins to melt in the heat of the fire, and from it drops of nectar begin to
fall. Rays of light shine out from the HA to the buddhas and bodhisattvas, so that
their compassion and blessings dissolve into the nectar in the skull-cup in the form
of wisdom nectar and blue light-rays. Finally, the syllable HA also dissolves into
light, and melts into the nectar in the skull-cup.
Below them, all the beings of the six realms of existence receive whatever they wish
for, whatever it is they desire. Those who want food receive food. Those who wish
for clothing receive clothing. Those desiring a home receive a home. Consider that
all their wishes are fulfilled and that they are satisfied.
The assembly of yidam deities consume the nectar, absorbing it through hollow
tongues shaped like vajras, wheels, jewels, lotuses, or crossed vajras. As a result, you
complete the accumulations, purify your obscurations, and receive all the supreme
and ordinary siddhis.
In the space in front of the skull-cup, the wisdom and activity Dharma protectors
now take their share of the nectar through the hollow sunbeams of their tongues,
with the result that obstacles and circumstances unfavourable to your Dharma
practice and enlightenment are dispelled.
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Next, if you are experienced in visualization, consider that you emanate
inconceivable throngs of activity performing kins, as numerous as sentient
beings, each of them holding a wisdom skull-cup filled with wisdom nectar that they
offer to every single being.
Alternatively, you could imagine that you yourself, as Trma, use the skull- cup in
your hand to scatter nectar, satisfying all the beings of the six realms and purifying
their karmic vision, sufferings and habitual tendencies.
Think especially of those beings, male and female, to whom you owe karmic debts
incurred in your past lives throughout beginningless time.
There are debts that shorten our lives because we have killed; debts that plague us
with illness because we have attacked and beaten others; debts that make us poor
because we have stolen. There are debts for protection given by superiors, for
services rendered by inferiors, and for help and support from equals; and there are
debts to overlords and underlings.
When each of these male and female creditors has had their fill, you are freed from
your karmic obligations, your debts are repaid, you are delivered from their deadly
vengeance and purified of all your harmful deeds and obscurations.
All male beings attain the level of noble Avalokitevara, and all the females attain the
level of Jetsn Tr.
Recite PHA! and then rest in a state free from any concept of an offering, one
who offers, or a recipient to whom offerings are made.
Guru Yoga
Then there is the instruction on Guru Yoga, which is a practice for arousing the
wisdom of realization in the mind. The purification of buddha fields requires great
strength of concentration, so consider that your surroundingsfor as far as your
perception extendsare the realm of Lotus Light, perfect in all its features.
You are at its centre. To ensure that you are a suitable vessel for the empowerments,
to create the right interdependent conditions for following the master, and as a
support for arousing Guru Rinpoches wisdom of bliss and emptiness, consider that
you are, in essence, the kin Yeshe Tsogyal. In form, however, you appear as
Vajrayogin: red in colour, with one face, two hands and three eyes that gaze
longingly at the heart of the master.
With your right hand you play a skull-drum, held aloft, to awaken beings from the
sleep of ignorance and confusion. Your left hand holds a hooked knife for cutting the
three poisons at their root. You are naked except for your bone ornaments and
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garlands of flowers. And you are visible yet insubstantial, like a reflection in a
mirror.
In the sky, an arrows length above your head, visualize a lotus with a hundred
thousand petals, upon which there is a sun-disc, and then a moon disc. Seated upon
this sun and moon disc seat is your glorious root master, the incomparable treasury
of compassion who is the embodiment of all the buddhas of the past, present and
future. He appears in the form of the Great Vajradhara of Oiyna (Orgyen Dorje
Chang) with one face and two hands.
With his right hand he holds a five-pronged golden vajra at his heart. In his left hand
he holds a skull-cup brimming with nectar, containing the vase of longevity that is
also filled with the nectar of deathless wisdom and ornamented on top by a wish-
fulfilling tree. Cradled in his left arm he holds the three-pointed khavga (trident)
symbolizing the Princess consort (Mandrav). Its three points represent the essence,
nature and compassionate energy (ngowo, rangshyin and tukj). Below these three
prongs are three severed heads, dry, fresh and rotten, symbolizing the three kyas.
Nine iron rings adorning the prongs represent the nine ynas. The khavga is also
adorned with locks of hair from dead and living mamos and kins, as a sign that
the Master subjugated them all when he practised austerities in the Eight Great
Charnel Grounds.
On his head he wears a lotus hat and on his body he wears a silk cloak, Dharma
robes and gown. His two feet are in the royal posture.
All around him, within a lattice of five-coloured light, appear the eight vidydharas
of India, the twenty-five disciples of Tibet, the deities of the three roots, and an ocean
of oath-bound protectors. Your visualization should be so vivid that your ordinary
perception simply ceases automatically.
As you recite the Seven Line Prayer from, Hum! In the north-west of the land of
Oiyna to, GURU PADMA SIDDHI H, invoke the environment and
inhabitants of the Glorious Copper Coloured Mountain, and consider that they
dissolve into the assembly of deities you have visualized.
Then, multiply your body as many times as there are atoms in the universe, and
perform prostrations. Make inconceivably vast offerings of both actual possessions
and those created by the mind. Confess all your harmful deeds and obscurations,
accumulated throughout beginningless time. Consider that they are purified by rays
of light which emanate from the hearts of the deities in the field of merit, touching a
black pile on your tongue, within which are gathered all the harmful actions,
obscurations and habitual tendencies of your body, speech and mind. Rejoice at all
the positive actions that have ever been accumulated, absolute and relative. Implore
the buddhas to turn the Dharma- wheel of the three ynas. Request them to remain
until samsara is completely empty and not to pass into nirvana. Dedicate all the
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positive actions accumulated in the past, the present and the future as the cause for
all beings attaining enlightenment.
When the time comes to practise Invoking the Siddhi say the prayer, O Guru
Rinpoche, Precious One (JESTN GURU RINPOCHE) once after every hundred
recitations of the Vajra Guru mantra. Then, when it is time for Invoking the
Blessing say, after each hundred recitations, the prayer beginning: I have no one
else to turn to (DAK LA R SA) and ending: Purify our emotional and cognitive
obscurations, O powerful one! (DRIP NYI CHONG SHIK N TU CHEN).
From his heart, a ray of warm, red light shoots out and as it touches you,
Vajrayogin, you melt into a sphere of red light the size of a pea, which shoots up
towards the Guru like a crackling spark and dissolves into his heart. Then the Guru
also dissolves, and you rest in the unborn state of the dharmakya: utter simplicity
without concept or reference. Then dedicate the merit.
Virtue!
| Translated by Adam Pearcey and edited by Janine Schulz. There are many similarities between this
text and sections of Patrul Rinpoches most famous work, kun bzang bla mai zhal lung , and we have
been greatly influenced by the style and choice of terminology in The Words of My Perfect Teacher ,
masterfully translated into English by the Padmakara Translation Group.
4. The six lineages are the mind-direct lineage of the victorious ones, the sign
lineage of the vidydharas, the aural lineage of realized beings, the lineage
empowered by aspiration, the lineage of prophetically declared succession, and
the kins seal of entrustment lineage.
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everywhere be pure, | Not harsh and covered in rocks, | But flat like a level
palm, | And smooth as lapis lazuli.
10. Kunzang Lamai Shelung has Akobhya here in the place of Vajrasattva.
11. A mythological bird (half human, half eagle) who plays cymbals as he flies.
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