Toh 807The Section on Propitiation Rituals [in the Great Tantra, Susiddhikara]

Exposition of the Susiddhikara Scripture — The Section on Propitiatory Rites

Background

The Susiddhikara Scripture (Sanskrit: Susiddhikaramahātantra) is one of the core works of Vajrayāna and belongs to the class of Highest Tantra (Anuttarayogin-tantra). This section, entitled “Sādhanopāyikapaṭala” (the Chapter on Methods of Accomplishment), focuses on rites of veneration for deities and great beings (mahāsattvas) in order to attain accomplishment, or siddhi.

In the Tantric tradition, particularly in the Sakya and Gelug lineages, this scripture is esteemed because it provides detailed instructions for developing sādhana practice and propitiatory rites (pūjā). It was translated into the Tibetan canon (Kangyur) as a complete Tantric scripture, reflecting its inheritance from the traditional Indian Buddhist period (eighth to tenth centuries).

Main Content

The Sādhanopāyika section of the Susiddhikara Scripture principally instructs practitioners how to perform propitiatory rites (anumodanā) toward deities (devatā). The practice includes, first, preparing the mind through clear contemplation (bhāvanā) of the patience of the unborn Dharma (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti), namely, no longer maintaining the notion that divine forms possess inherent existence.

Second, the scripture teaches the steps of practice: generating the aspiration for bodhi for all beings, making offerings (argha) with a pure intention, voicing hymns of praise (stava) that extol the virtues of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, and finally realizing the conditions of relative and ultimate truth.

Third, the scripture emphasizes that “propitiation” is not merely flattery or passive prayer. It is a process of transforming the mind (citta-pariṇāma), through which practitioners recognize that propitiating another is also self-propitiation; for in the empty nature (śūnyatā) of all things, there are no separate subject and object.