Toh 454The Tantra of Vajrapāṇi's Triple Dreadful Training

THE TANTRA OF VAJRAPĀṆI’S TRIPLE TRAINING

Background

The Nīlāmbaradharavajrapāṇirudratrivinayatantra, or The Tantra of Vajrapāṇi’s Triple Training, is contained in the Kangyur (Bāla Kanjur), the collection of Buddhist sutras and tantras translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan between the eighth and eleventh centuries. This work belongs to the Vajrayāna Buddhist tradition, particularly the Tibetan tradition, in which the bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta is widely venerated in the form of Vajrapāṇi, the Vajra-Wielding Protector.

Vajrapāṇi is the bodhisattva who commonly holds a vajra, symbolizing the mind and indestructibility, as well as the power to destroy all mental obstacles. In the tantric tradition, he is elevated as the supreme Buddha or supreme leader of the Buddha hosts of Tibet, particularly in his “wrathful” aspects, manifesting an enraged form to eradicate ignorance.

This tantra is regarded as a guide to advanced tantric practice, concerning the three trainings (tri-vinaya)—three distinct levels of cultivation—of the Vajrapāṇi path within the tantric tradition.

Main Content

The tantra’s premise is this: Vajrapāṇi is not a deity separate from our buddha-nature but is the dynamic manifestation of Buddha Mind—the mind of Suchness (Tathatā), or the Dharmakāya. In practice, practitioners do not supplicate an external Vajrapāṇi; rather, this is a process of empowerment (abhiṣeka) that activates the buddha-nature already present within human beings.

The three trainings (Tri-Vinaya) in this tantra are understood as three stages of tantric practice:

The first is the Generation Training (Generation Stage, Utpatti-krama), in which practitioners visualize themselves as wrathful Vajrapāṇi. By directly regarding themselves as a Buddha, the distinction between self and Buddha is dissolved, and attachment to self naturally disintegrates.

The second is the Completion Training (Completion Stage, Sampanna-krama), called “cessation of practice”