The treasury of knowledge book five buddhist ethics buddhist ethics v 5 (49)

The Eight Secondary Downfalls [2"]Eight secondary downfalls are to rely on a consort without pledges, Quarrel at ritual feast, accept nectar from an unsuitable consort, Not teach when ap

The Eight Secondary Downfalls [2"]

Eight secondary downfalls are to rely on a consort without

pledges,

Quarrel at ritual feast, accept nectar from an unsuitable consort, Not teach when appropriate, answer questions perversely,

Stay in the home of a proclaimer, boast of being a tantric

practitioner although ignorant,

And proclaim secrets to the unsuited There are many other ways to enumerate secondary downfalls.

Eight secondary downfalls are related to the fourteen root downfalls: (1) To rely on an awareness-woman who has no pledges (either because she has not been initiated or has violated them), who cannot keep secret [the practice], lacks faith in oneself, and does not possess the necessary qualifications.191 This down-fall applies principally to the lay tantric practitioner (2) To quarrel at times of tantric activities; for example, to argue over seating order, food, or drink during a ritual feast This includes to argue in the course of mandala rituals, fire ritu-als, consecrations, etc

(3) To accept the outer and inner nectars of the pledges192 from a shameful consort or one who has not been specified in the tantras [i.e., an ordinary consort who is not fully qualified] (4) To fail to reveal tantric instructions to sincere disciples who request them, either because they are poor or due to one’s unwillingness to share one’s knowledge

(5) To fail to answer questions on the teachings directly but to respond with playful banter, or to explain the discourses, for instance, in response to a request for [teaching on] the Secret Mantra

(6) To stay more than one week in the home of a proclaimer193 who has contempt for the Universal Way

(7) To boast of being a tantric practitioner when one is igno-rant of the outer, inner, and alternative levels of the Secret Mantra194 and of the yoga of union [of wisdom and means], and knows only outer rites and procedures of the creation phase

(8) To disclose secrets in disregard of the stipulation to give per-sonal instructions195 only to jewel-like disciples, collective in-structions to the sandalwood-like and the other [three types

of disciples],196 and teaching on the common principles [of the Universal Way] to disciples unsuited [to tantra]

The Indestructible Nucleus’ Ornament Tantra enumerates six

second-ary downfalls: the first, second, fifth, sixth, and eighth as above, plus

to show secret [articles].197 Various other [secondary downfalls] are found here and there in the tantras, and therefore it is difficult to make

a definitive enumeration of all of them Indian masters have also pre-sented these downfalls in various ways The source for the above list

is [Rangjung Dorjé’s] Ocean of Pledges, itself based on

Manjushri-yashas’s works.198 The Great Lord of Jonang [Taranatha],199 in his work known as Elimination of Errors, explains eight [secondary downfalls]

in accordance with Garbhapada’s work200:

(1) To enjoy practice with a consort

Who has no pledges;

(2) To quarrel at a ritual feast;

(3) To expound other teachings

To disciples with faith [in the tantras];

(4) To stay more than seven days in the home

Of someone proud to be a proclaimer;

(5) To disclose secrets to unqualified disciples

Who are not sufficiently prepared;

(6) To teach the physical seal 201

To disciples who lack the necessary skill in the seals;

(7) To perform mandala rituals [such as an initiation]

Without first completing proper service, etc.;

(8) To transgress the precepts of the Individual and

Universal ways

Without having a special [altruistic] purpose.

Some scholars say that the secondary downfalls number nine, the ninth being to use symbolic behavior202 without a specific purpose

The Twenty-eight Subtle Infractions [3"]

The subtle infractions include fifteen concerning charismatic activity and seven branches.

The first fifteen of the twenty-eight subtle infractions are downfalls

in the performance of charismatic activity These are explained by the master Shura203 as follows:

(1) To reject the deity on which the flower [tossed into the

mandala] has fallen and to favor another 204 ;

(2) To let a day and a night pass [without engaging] in the

creation and completion [phases] of one’s deity 205 ;

(3) To be attracted to [and worship] non-Buddhist deities 206 ; (4)

to view the [mandala, the deity, and other forms of the]

creation phase as real;

(5) To confer [full] initiation on disciples when one has not been fully initiated oneself;

(6) To teach profound subjects for the sake of worldly gains;

(7) To deprecate [and fail to follow] the ethics of lower spiritual pursuits [and minor pledges]; (8) to give a contrived image of oneself [as spiritually accomplished] for the sake of gain;

(9) To engage in [appeasing] charismatic activities, [etc.,] without having gained the necessary power; (10) to pass the time

[meant for practice] in meaningless distractions;

(11) To fail to take care of others though able to; (12) to be

attracted to [and to follow] lesser forms of spiritual conduct [that of the proclaimers and so forth];

(13) To desire material goods 207 ; (14) to fail to discipline those

who violate their pledges; and

(15) To engage prematurely in tantric activity 208 : these are the

fifteen.

The seven branch subtle infractions are to fail to do the following: (1) Devote oneself to an authentic master 209 ;

(2) Examine whether a disciple has the qualifications [to enter the Mantra];

(3) Cause no harm to others while accomplishing one’s desires 210 ; (4) Refrain from making personal use of the property of the

Three Jewels 211 [or of the master or vajra siblings]; (5) engage

in what benefits others;

(6) Seal one’s [merit] by dedication 212 ; and (7) be skillful in the transference [of consciousness 213 ].

The six mistakes are these: (1) To have doubts about [the view and conduct of] the Secret Mantra;

(2) To teach the three ways 214 simultaneously, rather than

[according to the] levels [of the disciples];

(3) To act as a tantric master without [expertise] in the ten

fields 215 ;

(4) To lack skill in the ways to investigate demonic forces;

(5) To fail to examine [whether one has transgressed the root and secondary] pledges;

And (6) to fail to acknowledge minor infractions.

All these add up to twenty-eight subtle infractions The Red and Black Yamari tantras list four other secondary downfalls:

(1) Do not wander [into the village] begging [out of desire];

(2) Do not abandon the tantric meditation;

(3) Do not discontinue the recitation of secret mantras; and

(4) Do not fail to rely on the pledge’s [substances], etc 216

The Pledges of the Four Initiations and Other Pledges [4"]

The tantras give numerous classifications of the pledges, the pledges of the four initiations, etc.

Various ways of classifying the pledges are presented in the tantras, for example, the different pledges for each of the four initiations taught in most of the mandalas related to the fundamental and explanatory Chakrasamvara [tantras] In particular, the instructions on the Path and its Fruition217 present different pledges for each of the four initiations For the vase initiation,

(1) the pledge of equipoise is [to cultivate] the creation phase; (2) the pledge of post[-equipoise] conduct is to practice the three realities218;

(3) the pledge of sustenance is [to eat] the pills made with the five meats and five nectars;

(4) the pledges to be safeguarded are the twenty-two root and secondary mantric vows219;

(5) the pledge not to be separated from is to hold vajra and bell For the secret initiation,

(1) the pledge of equipoise is to engage in the control of the breath and channels220;

(2) the pledge of post[-equipoise] conduct is [to rest in] self-existing pristine awareness221;

(3) the pledge of sustenance is [to nourish oneself with] empti-ness and clarity;

(4) the pledge to be safeguarded is [to shun] all that hampers self-existing [wisdom] and [its] wind;

(5) the pledge not to be separated from is [to work with] either gentle or forceful breath [control]

For the pristine-awareness-through-wisdom initiation,

(1) the pledge of equipoise is to meditate on the mandala222; (2) the pledge of post[-equipoise] conduct is [to rest in] the in-nate [pristine awareness of bliss]223;

(3) the pledge of sustenance is [to nourish oneself with] bliss; (4) the pledge to be safeguarded is not to allow the six losses of seminal essence224;

(5) the pledge not to be separated from is [to rely on] an actual

or imaginary consort

For the fourth initiation,

(1) the pledge of equipoise concerns the “three [vajra] waves”225; (2) the pledge of post[-equipoise] conduct is [to rest in the] ut-terly pure reality;

(3) the pledge of sustenance is [to nourish oneself with] the bliss-emptiness of great bliss;

(4) the vow to be safeguarded is [to overcome] the two impedi-ments,226 in particular those that hamper the attainment of omniscience;

(5) the pledge never to be separated from is [to rely on] an ac-tual padmini [lotus-like consort] or an imaginary consort.227 These pledges are honored in four ways: first by assuming them cor-rectly; by recollecting them again and again; by having [at least] a single [meditative] experience; and by having a special respect for the vajra master It is said that failure to fulfill the first means losing the pledges that would draw one out of the suffering of cyclic exist-ence Failure to fulfill the latter three ways means loss of pledges re-sulting in a delay in one’s spiritual progress

“Etc.” [in the root verse] refers to pledges taught in other tantras, for example, the Samputa Tantra’s pledges of the enlightened body,

speech, and mind:

The pledge of vajra body

Is not to despise, even if unaware [of reality],

The body of a male or female