Ornament of Stainless Light

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Manifesting the mind of clear light by the power of meditative concentration

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ContentsAbout the BookSources

• General Editor's Prefacexiii
• Translator's Introduction1
• Technical Note19

ORNAMENT OF STAINLESS LIGHT An Exposition of the Outer, Inner, and Other Kālacakra

• Introduction
  • Compilation of the Root and Condensed Tantra25
  • The Primordial Mind and Body53
• Part 1. The External World
  • The Three Themes of Kālacakra Tantra75
  • The Formation of the External World and Its Dimensions79
  • The Inhabitants of This World91
  • The Stars and the Planets105
  • Resolving Contradictions between Kālacakra and Abhidharma Cosmology145
• Part 2. The Inner World of Sentient Beings
  • The Development of the Body161
  • Channels, Winds, and Drops177
  • Discrepancies between Kālacakra and Other Tantras195
• Part 3. Initiations
  • Qualifications of Master and Disciple211
  • Description of the Mandala225
  • The Initiations231
  • The Seven Childhood Initiations243
  • The Four Higher Initiations247
  • The Higher-than-High Initiations257
• Part 4. Sādhana: Methods of Accomplishment
  • The Two Stages271
  • The Generation Stage277
  • The Two Accumulations281
  • The Body Vajra285
  • Analysis of the Colors of the Lunar-Day Deities303
  • Resolving Doubts Concerning the Process of Generation317
  • The Speech Vajra341
  • The Mind Vajra369
  • The Gnosis Vajra375
• Part 5. Gnosis: The Completion Stage
  • The Six-Branched Yoga391
  • Withdrawal: Night Yoga411
  • Withdrawal: Day Yoga439
  • The Yoga of Meditative Absorption461
  • Prāṇāyāma: The Yoga of the Winds475
  • Vajra Recitation483
  • Vase Yoga495
  • The Yoga of Retention513
  • The Yoga of Recollection523
  • The Yoga of Meditative Concentration553
  • The Fruits of the Two Stages585

APPENDIXES

• • Table of Tibetan Transliteration595
  • Enumerations Mentioned in the Text598
  • Time Measurement602
  • Linear Measurement604
  • Kālacakra Word-Numerals605
  • Approximation and Accomplishment in the Six-Branched Yoga610
  • The Six Elements and the Inner World611
  • Diagram: The Kālacakra World Realm615
  • Diagram: The Sun's Path over the Earth and Water Mandalas616
• Notes617
• Glossary673
• Bibliography681
  • Works Cited by the Author681
  • Kangyur (Canonical Scriptures)681
  • Tengyur (Canonical Treatises)683
  • Tibetan Works688
  • Works Consulted by the Translator 691
• Index693
• About the Contributors709

One of the central projects of Kālacakra literature is a detailed correlation between the human body and the external universe. In working out this complex correspondence, the Kālacakra texts present an amazingly detailed theory of cosmology and astronomy, especially about the movements of the various celestial bodies. The Kālacakra tantra is also a highly complex system of Buddhist theory and practice that employs vital bodily energies, deep meditative mental states, and a penetrative focus on subtle points within the body’s key energy conduits known as channels. Ornament of Stainless Light addresses all these topics, elaborating on the external universe, the inner world of the individual, the Kālacakra initiation rites, and the tantric stages of generation and completion, all in a highly readable English translation. (Source: Wisdom Experience)

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prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

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Kālacakra - Can refer to either the Kālacakra Tantra and its derivative texts or to the systematic tantric tradition based on these texts, as well as the deity Kālacakra upon which the associated practices are centered. Skt. कालचक्र Tib. དུས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ། Ch. 時輪

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tantra - Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism. Skt. तन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད། Ch. 密宗

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tantra - Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism. Skt. तन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད། Ch. 密宗

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abhidharma - Abhidharma generally refers to the corpus of Buddhist texts which deals with the typological, phenomenological, metaphysical, and epistemological presentation of Buddhist concepts and teachings. The abhidharma teachings present a meta-knowledge of Buddhist sūtras through analytical and systemic schemas and are said to focus on developing wisdom among the three principles of training. The Abhidharma is presented alongside Sūtra and Vinaya as one of the three baskets of the teachings of the Buddha. Skt. अभिधर्म Tib. ཆོས་མངོན་པ། Ch. 阿毗达磨

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sādhana - Sādhana refers to a method of practice through which one can actualise a specific spiritual result, and by extension to the texts and manuals which present such methods. A sādhana in the Vajrayāna Buddhist context generally involves the worship and visualisation of a tantric deity, chanting of mantras, and associated practices. The practice often begins with verses of taking refuge and cultivating altruistic thought, then carrying out meditation on emptiness and the mandala of deity, seven-part worship, chanting of mantras, and finally the dissolution of the deity which was visualised. Skt. साधन Tib. སྒྲུབ་ཐབས། Ch. 修行

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tantra - Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism. Skt. तन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད། Ch. 密宗

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tantra - Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism. Skt. तन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད། Ch. 密宗

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Yogācāra - Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana). Skt. योगाचार Tib. རྣལ་འབྱོར་སྤྱོད་པ་ Ch. 瑜伽行派

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Madhyamaka - Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Skt. मध्यमक Tib. དབུ་མ་ Ch. 中觀見

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gzhan stong - The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature. Tib. གཞན་སྟོང་

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rang stong - The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena. Tib. རང་སྟོང་

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tathāgatagarbha - Buddha-nature, literally the "womb/essence of those who have gone (to suchness)." Skt. तथागतगर्भ Tib. དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་ Ch. 如来藏

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prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

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gotra - Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain. Skt. गोत्र Tib. རིགས་ Ch. 鍾姓,種性

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