Toh 373The Tantra of the Arising of Śaṃvara

Exposition of the Saṃvaradayatantra

Background

The Saṃvaradayatantra, the Scripture on the Arising of Saṃvara, is one of the most important tantric works of the Vajrayāna tradition. Recorded in the Tibetan Kangyur, the collection of Buddhadharma scriptures translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan from the eighth to thirteenth centuries, this scripture represents the lineage of practice of advanced yoga deities in Tantric Buddhism.

Saṃvara, or Cakrasaṃvara, is one of the principal deities (yidam) of the Vajrayāna, symbolizing the unity of suchness and luminosity, as well as the overcoming of human desires through transformation. "Saṃvara" in Sanskrit means "binding" or "protection," referring to the binding of both the coarse and subtle energies of consciousness in order to lead to liberation.

This scripture is not a set of ordinary teachings, but advanced instructions in meditative contemplation, requiring the practitioner to have received empowerment from a legitimate guiding teacher. It is therefore classified as an Anuttara Yoga Tantra, the highest of the four levels of Tantra.

Main Contents

The Saṃvaradayatantra focuses on the method of visualization (sādhana) for embodying the deity Saṃvara through three stages: the creation stage, the completion stage, and the stage of conduct.

In the creation stage, the practitioner is instructed to dissolve ordinary consciousness into empty space (śūnyatā), and from there immediately restore the image of Saṃvara while in a state of complete luminosity. This image is not a coarse fantasy, but a subtle expression of concentrated visualization on the basis of absolute emptiness.

The completion stage concerns the control of subtle energy (prāṇa) and, although expressed as the filtering of consciousness, the cakras. The practitioner works with energy nodes (chakra), the places where action and awareness converge, in order to dissolve the masses of negative emotion and attain the state of uninterrupted, signless naturalness (sahaja samādhi), a meditation that is natural and undistracted.