Samaya

What is Tantric Samaya all about?

At the end of the empowerment, it is said that the life force of the empowerment is to keep the samaya. The root samaya of even hundreds of empowerments is always the same. There is only one root samaya, which is two-fold. On the relative level, the samaya is to cultivate bodhicitta, especially cultivate immeasurable love for all sentient beings. On the ultimate level is to know that self and other is inseparable non –dual. If you have that root samaya that is actually the same as accomplishing the deity.  It is that samaya that brings the heart of the deity, of all the deities, into one single essence. Therefore, keep the samaya in that way. When you practice a deity it is very important to understand that no matter which deity you practice, that all the deities are complete within this one deity. For example, if you practice Tara, you think all deities are complete within her. All the Buddhas are complete within this one deity. One has to completely decide about that and be certain about that.

In the specific commitment you take, you say ‘I am going to engage in this practice continuously’, however as we have received many different empowerments it’s difficult to practice all of them. So what you really commit to, is to practice continuously your one main deity, knowing that all the deities are contained within that one.  Also, it is said that the highest supreme samaya is always to sustain a state of non-distraction, to cultivate immeasurable love.

The root samaya of love and compassion for all

There is sometimes confusion about what it means to keep samaya. Normally, we think it means I have to practice this deity and do this mantra. We think the formal practice is the samaya and think if you do that practice, is keeping samaya. However, all of that is just branch samaya, the root samaya is love and compassion. It is what actually happens between people, between disciples, between friends, between the guru and disciples, between a mother and her child and so forth. The actual samaya is love and compassion, and altruism is the only antidote to self-grasping. The root samaya must be kept between your companions and fellow disciples. So maintaining genuine love for those around you, surrounding you, that is what it means to keep samaya. In order to protect and sustain your love you need to have patience. If you lose patience, you lose your love. Actually if you just have that samaya you are keeping all your vows. You keep the Vajrayana, Bodhisattva and all three types of vows. That is most important. It is your connection to others with great love. You should see that as important.

Normally, people disregard that and do not think that is so important. They don’t see being kind and loving as the same as keeping samaya, as long as they do their recitations. Then, they start fighting with each other and don’t get along but they feel OK about it because they practice the deity. What is actually happening is they are throwing away their root samaya and protecting their branch samaya. However, that in the long run will not be very helpful. It’s like when you want a tree to grow, but you don’t pour any water into the root, eventually it will dry out. Even if you take care of the branches really well. On the other hand, if you just keep pouring water into the roots, even if some of the branches break it will be fine, it will keep growing. So in any context, with your Dharma friends, or any people, treat them with love and kindness and compassion. That is the actual root samaya.”

Now you have received the complete empowerment and at the end, that which holds sustains the life-force of the empowerment is the holding of samaya. There many different samayas but basically there are root samayas and branch samayas. In the various classes of tantra, the four main classes of tantra, there are many branche samayas, many  subtle samayas.  It is excellent if one can keep them. How it was practiced in ancient times in India, was that for example those mahasiddha Indian masters would practice one single deity for their entire life. This is how they practicde and that is why they had to keep all these samaya.

However, nowadays we are in different times, and secret mantra vajrayana has spread all over the world. It spread in Tibet and then all over the world. We are in the degenerate age, and this is the time where the secret mantra must be spread. It is only the secret mantra that is able to tame sentient beings in the degenerate age. How does it do that? First we receive empowerments and there are many different empowerments we can receive. When we receive many empowerments along with those empowerments there are many root samayas. However, the various root and branch samayas are actually included within the three root samayas: the samayas of body, speech and mind. and those really are most important three.

The three samayas of body, speech and mind

Even in relation to those actually, so much can be said if one wanted to elaborate on those root samayas of body, speech and mind. So how can we really understand their essence? The essence of those three samayas is as follows.

When we practice the samaya of body, for example, if you take a single negative action of the ten non-virtuous actions and abandon it; or you practice a single virtue of those ten virtuous actions, one of those in particular referring to the body, you are keeping the samaya of form, of the body.

Likewise with the speech, if you practice a single virtue with speech that is the samaya of speech. For example, the recitation of scriptures or of mantras and so forth. Then every time bodhichitta arises within your mind, every time a wish to benefit others arises that is when you are holding the mind samaya. These are the roots samayas of body, speech and mind.

To summarize them even further, the samaya of body is to abandon even just a single act that causes harm to others. Ideally, that refers to the vows that we take. In terms of timing, ideally you refrain from harming others for as long as you live, or if not that then for some years, or months or even just for twenty-four hours.

Like when we keep the Nyungne fasting vows, we are refraining from harming others and that is the essence of the body samaya. On top of that, when we accomplish the benefit of others, just a single benefit, that is to keep the essence of the speech samaya. Then when you apply the seal of bodhichitta every time even just a single negative thought arises in your mind, that is when you are holding the mind samaya.

These three samaya of body, speech and mind ultimately, all are included within just one: that is the samaya after mind. The samaya of mind is explained in verse number 36 in the Thirty-Seven Bodhisattva Practices, where it says in brief, ‘whatever you do look at the state of your mind, what is the state of my mind?’

All samayas come together in one

There is a collection of hundreds of thousands vajrayana, but it is said that all these samaya are like a hundred rivers flowing beneath a single bridge. The rivers all have to go under the bridge so they all meet under that bridge. So it just like those rivers, there are different samaya but it all is really under one bridge which is the purchase the mind. so since it’s just the mind actually from that perspective, it is something that anyone can do. The mind samaya is really the most important and precious. That samaya of mind really comes down to one thing, which is do not be distracted, sustain mindfulness and with mindfulness you recognize even the smallest afflictive emotion that arises and when you see what it really is, it becomes primordial wisdom.

That is the samaya of mind: to sustain mindfulness in this way throughout the six periods of day and night always recollecting the enlightened body, speech mind activities and qualities of the deity.

In brief, samaya all comes down to the view, the natural state, awareness of the natural state that recognizes all the coarse and subtle afflictions arising

In brief, read verse number 36 in the thirty-seven practices. There is another way we can divide samaya such as that anything that we do that is beneficial and altruistic with body, speech and mind is the outer samaya. The inner samaya is to not be distracted and that is the samaya that’s really important to keep. 

All mantras are contained in OM AH HUM

There are many practitioners among you who have established a connection to a Yidam for quite some time now. As you might know, there are many material traditions there are many different sadhanas, means of accomplishment. Whatever one you are familiar with, think that they are all one, they are all complete within one together. They are all practiced together. Their essence is that we need to recognize appearances to be the deity and sounds to be mantra. All the sounds we hear in the outer world are the Yidam's mantra. In brief, if you do not grasp at any sound, then all sound will become mantra. If you do not grasp at whatever thought arises in your mind, if you are able to let it be and dissolve, you are holding the mind samaya. That is what is meant with all mental arisings, all thoughts are the display of primordial wisdom. When all clinging to thoughts has disappeared, that is the ultimate samaya of mind.

When there is no grasping at form, that is the samaya of form. When there is no grasping at sound, that is the samaya of sound, and the samaya of mind is to liberate all thoughts that arise. Thoughts are liberated when you first recognize them and see them for what they are. So liberating them with complete awareness, that is the samaya of mind. All samayas are complete within this samaya.

Actually, all mantra recitation is complete within the OM AH HUM mantra. Actually it is not even necessary to recite a separate mantra for each deity, because they all are included within the syllables of OM AH HUM. So Dharma friends please practice in this way this is very important especially now where we receive teachings over the live stream.

~Garchen Rinpoche

The ten unwholesome actions or ten negative actions (Skt. daśākuśala; mi dge ba bcu) are:

1. taking life

2. taking what is not given

3. sexual misconduct

4. lying

5. sowing discord

6. harsh speech

7. idle gossip (or worthless chatter)

8. covetousness

9. ill will (or wishing harm on others)

10. wrong views.

Ten positive actions or ten virtues (dge ba bcu) are the positive counterparts of the ten unwholesome actions. They are:

1. to renounce killing, and instead protect life

2. to renounce taking what is not given, and instead practise generosity

3. to renounce sexual misconduct, and instead follow the rules of discipline

4. to renounce lying, and instead tell the truth

5. to give up sowing discord, and instead reconcile disputes

6. to abandon harsh speech, and instead speak pleasantly

7. to renounce worthless chatter, and instead recite prayers

8. to renounce covetousness, and instead learn to be generous

9. to give up wishing harm on others, and instead cultivate the desire to help them

10. to put an end to wrong views, and instead establish in yourself the true and authentic view

The Fourteen Common Tantric Root Downfalls

1. Scorning or deriding our vajra masters

2. Transgressing the words of an enlightened one

3. Because of anger, faulting our vajra brothers or sisters

4. Giving up love for sentient beings

5. Giving up bodhichitta

6. Deriding our own or others' tenets

7. Disclosing confidential teachings to those who are unripe

8. Reviling or abusing our aggregates

9. Rejecting voidness

10. Being loving toward malevolent people

11. Not meditating on voidness continually

12. Deterring those with faith

13. Not relying properly on the substances that bond us closely to tantric practice (dam-rdzas)

14. Deriding women