The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast Script 259
Sunday 12 January 2003


Today's script is entitled: "A system of Liberation and Enlightenment"

In the ancient Indian dialect language, Pali, the word Kalachakra means "wheel of time", this refers to the unique presentation of cycles of time within the Kalachakra Tantra.

This understanding of time is used in Kalachakra as a basis for a system of liberation and enlightenment.

Buddhist Teacher Master Francisco So will guide the Kalachakra Puja in two parts at the Chan Academy Australia, 33 Brooking Street Upwey 3158 Victoria. The first part on 27 January 2003 (Australia Day holiday) and the second part on 10 March 2003 (Labour Day holiday).

On each day the Kalachakra Puja commences at 9.30am to 11.30am and then from 1.30pm to 4.00pm.

The Kalachakra deity symbolises the union of the male principle method and the female principle of wisdom.

Persons practice Kalachakra to attain enlightenment in order to benefit others.

The Kalachakra Puja is considered a special blessing for all those who participate and for the environment in which it is given.

Requirements for the Kalachakra Puja being conducted at the Chan Academy taught by Master Francicso So are the Sukhavati Ritual and Kala Chakra Puja texts. Different Tibetan or specific Kalachakra texts may outline different requirements under their Masters to complete before participating in their Kalachakra Puja being conducted.

With such conviction, the decision reached is that the I cannot be found under such analysis; this shows, not that the I does not exist, but that it does not inherently exist as it was identified as seeming to in the first essential. This unfindability is emptiness itself, and realisation of emptiness, selflessness.

Persons participating in the Kalachakra Puja are advised to bring suitable Puja offerings of; round fruits, flowers, round biscuits and dark grape juice.

For further details please contact our Puja Co-ordinator, Julie O'Donnell at the Chan Academy Australia on 03 9754 3334.

By participating in the Kalachakra Puja persons may benefit from the blessings and merit gained by being involved in any aspect of the planning, implementing, offering the Puja to other Teachable beings and/or delivering of the Puja.

The actual practice of Kalachakrayana is considered a part of the composite system of Vajrayana Buddha Dhamma.

Vajrayana (Vajra means "Jewel" in Sanskrit) may also be called Tantrism because of its secret Tantric writings called Tantras.

A qualified Buddhist guru is paramount when deciding to practice Vajrayana Buddha Dhamma, otherwise the insights gained are futile and may cause harm to yourself or others.

It is best practice to carefully check your Teacher out, to make sure he or she is not corrupt and is well versed in the Buddha Dhamma.

In the Tantric traditions, a person may not practice a particular Tantra until he or she has received initiation into that Tantra.

Thus the person desiring to practice Kalachakra must first receive the Kalachakra initiation.

Tantra Practices could be divided into four stages or levels of understanding:

Kriya Tantra - Action
Carya Tantra - Thought, Action, Balance
Yoga Tantra - Application
Maha Yoga Tantra - Absolute

Kalachakra Tantra belongs to the Maha Yoga Tantra. It provides the means to attain full enlightenment with one body in one lifetime.

As Nagarjuna's Fundamental Text Called "Wisdom" says, "Through extinguishing (contaminated) actions and afflictions, there is liberation."

Through meditating on the reality that has been directly perceived, the adventitious defilements are extinguished forever- is itself liberation-Nirvana. This can be achieved only by one who has perceived the meaning of the reality of the emptiness of inherent existence. Even within the Buddhist schools, those of the Great Exposition School, the Sutra School, the Mind Only School, or the Autonomy School cannot actualize this. In this light, it is said that a Foe Destroyer as explained in the systems of manifest knowledge is not a Foe Destroyer.

Highest Yoga Tantra is divided into father and mother tantras, and certain scholars also speak of non-dual tantras, citing the Kalachakra Tantra as an illustration. However, according to others who do not assert non-dual tantras that are not included among father and mother tantras, the Kalachakra Tantra is a mother tantra, the reason for this being as follows.

The Kalachakra Tantras as its main object of discussion the six branched yoga (individual, withdrawal, concentration, stopping, vitality, retention, subsequent mindfulness and meditative stabilization), among that the immutable bliss of the sixth branch, meditative stablization, is the final object of achievement.

Because the Kalachakra Tantra emphasizes just this immutable bliss, it is called a mother tantra.

Again, the reason why the first group called the Kalachakra Tantra a non- dual tantra is that they identify as its main object of discourse the state of union - a combination of empty form and immutable great bliss, immutable great bliss being induced by way of an empty form of the Great Seal. This state of union, or non-dual body and mind, is described in a very clear way in the Kalachakra Tantra, unlike its hidden description in the Guhyasamaja Tantra, and thus they say that the Kalachakra Tantra is a non-dual tantra. (p.165)

The female tantras particularly emphasize wisdom, that is, the emptiness aspect. Translating into tantric terms, this refers to the 'clear light.' The male tantras emphasize the method aspect, which refers specifically to the 'illusory body.'

The Kalachakra System has five layers (four faces in each).

Prior to this Teaching, the Students are reminded of the importance of not to become proud of the minds that are seen. To say "this is mine" is an error. If you do own it, you may fall under the influence of negative forces (demons).

Array minds having arisen, are capable of knowing amounts of information more quickly and peacefully than other types of minds required for the development of Wisdom. By impressing on the Students, the vast Wisdom of the Buddha's mind, compared to the Students mind they begin to drop their pride and arrogance.

The Prajnaparamita has been taught at our Centre over three years and three moons on two separate occaisions. To continue with the Prajnaparamita Teachings, the Students are advised to view the practice as neither real nor unreal to stop pride.

To keep a balanced view of the magnitude of the task, reference is made to the Prajnaparamita Sutra contents (84 thousand sections) of Dharma in the human realm and 84 million sections in deva realm. How could they be proud if they know so little. Therefore, with a view of neither real nor unreal, and knowing what they see is so small in comparison.

Again and again, the dangers of prides are cautioned against because wrong Vajra pride can lead to low birth.

Many Texts warning of this effect were read to the Students during the teachings.

The red form of Yama, Deva of the Judgment Hall was kind enough to explain the error of pride to the Students by showing them the good "seeds" (Bodhicitta) they had accumulated and the bad seeds they had accumulated. If pride is not dropped by the Student, their bad seeds of pride multiply very quickly because of the merit.

Over many lifetimes a being can generate a vow for the causes to understand all sections of the Prajnaparamita Sutra. For a being to continue to learn this major text, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of each section and make sure that the knowledge can be accessed again in the future lives. There are minds that can achieve this and they are known as array or mandala minds.

Toward the end of the 5th Century C.E., Buddhist Tantra first appeared in India. Buddhist Tantra Practices were absolutely esoteric in character and were only taught to advanced students. (4). To explain the Practice of Tantra in the most general terms, it aims at obtaining direct access to fundamental Enlightenment by the medium of the latter's manifestations in the phenomenal world, i.e. The Buddha, Dharma, Sangha and Guru.

On 9 September, 1986, John D. Hughes, Founder of the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. requested the Venerable Geshe Doga to inscribe the title page of a book; The Kalachakra Tantra Rite of Initiation for the Stage of Generation, J. Hopkins, 1985 Pub. Wisdom Publications, London.

The book had been presented to John D.Hughes on the occasion of his 56th birthday, by one of his Students. A review of the book appears in The Tibet Journal Vol.XI, No. 1, Spring 1986, pp51-55. Pub. Library of Tibetan Works and Archives.

To any person interested in Vajrayana Buddha Dhamma or in the Kalachakra Tradition, this book and The Kalachakra Tantra by Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, trans. A. Wallance Ed. I.V. Jakic, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, 1985, pps.180 should be considered.

The Legatary printed above, is powerful enough to ensure transmission of Tantra knowledge to those who have established sufficient practice. A possible phonetic transliteration could read:

pya. ma. sa. pa. ir. se. ma. sa. kyi. sa. ga. du. la. skyo. da. ma.

dsa. da. pa. ir. pha. na. pa. ir. gro. ku. sha. ga. sdo. la. ba. ra. rna:

ma: sa: la: phu. la.

At this stage; no English translation has been attempted because the Nature of the Vastest Tantra Knowledge excels words. It is enough to say that the uppermost of the Path needs to be firm to ensure a state of evenness to hold while arising by the power of moral volition.

In order to practice the Kalachakra, there are four things that are necessary:

1. It is absolutely essential to receive the empowerment.

2. The Master from whom one receives the empowerment should be a fully qualified tantric master who bears the 20 qualities signifying such a master. These 20 include ten outer qualities and ten inner qualities.

3. For the empowerment one needs to have a completely accurate mandala made exactly the right way.

4. The disciples must be well trained in the common path and have both a very firm faith and enthusiasm for tantra.

The eminent master Dragpa Gyeltsen identifies four things that a practitioner of Kalachakra must put into practice in order to cultivate the required mind and progress in their practice. This is known as the common path, since it is common to both Sutrayana and Vajrayana:

1. "If one clings to this life, one is not a spiritual person". That is, one should draw one's clinging away from the affairs of this life and look rather to the life beyond.

2. "If one grasps at the bounties and pleasures of the cycle of existence, including those of humans and gods, there is no renunciation, the emergent mind" That is, one needs to turn one's mind away from pleasures and fortunes and, in this way, generate renunciation.

3. "If one clings to personal well-being there is no awakening mind" (Bodhicitta in Sanskrit). That is, one must turn the mind away from concern for one's own welfare to that of others.

4. "If there occurs grasping, there is not the view". That is, grasping at existence as somehow existing inherently, existing without being conditioned. The view here that should be cultivated is the view that sees all phenomena as conditioned, the 'view of the middle way.'

Benzin states for Buddhist practitioners however, the Kalachakra has a more profound meaning: "to empower them to engage in the advanced tantric meditation practices of Kalachakra."

It is of very great importance to cultivate a proper motivation for receiving these teachings. Since the Kalachakra Tantra is a means of attaining full enlightenment of Buddhahood within one short lifetime, the motivation to be cultivated is to listen to the teachings with the intent of reaching enlightenment ever so swiftly for the great benefit of all sentient beings. Rather than listening to the teachings as mere words, check your own mind and actually cultivate this motivation.

Geshe Wangdrak (Losang Tenzin) in 'An Introduction To The Kalachakra' states that the whole of the Kalachakra may be said to be made up of three Wheels of Time: The Outer Wheel of Time, The Inner Wheel of Time and the Other Wheel of Time.

The Outer Wheel of Time is the external world of the environment, and it is also called the procession of the external solar and lunar days. This refers to history, as the Kalachakra describes events that occurred in ancient times.

The Inner Wheel of Time is the human body, that is an inner Jambudvipa, or earth-surface. Likewise, the inner channels, elements, and movements of the winds are set forth as the Inner Wheels of Time. (Geshe Wandrak, An Introduction To The Kalachakra'). There are many references in the Kalachakra to Mount Meru, the mythical 'Centre of the Universe' in Buddha Dhamma. This should be understood as referring to the Inner Wheel of Time aspect of the Kalachakra.

The Other Wheel of Time "is the initiations and paths of Shri Kalachakra, together with their results. It is "other" than the preceding two Wheels of Time. The guru ripens the disciple's psycho-physical continuum with the initiations, and the disciple meditates on the path that consists of the generation process and the completion process. In this way the yogi actualizes the…buddha body that is the divine image of emptiness. This is the Other Wheel of Time."

The historical events mentioned in the Kalachakra concern Shambala, a kingdom in ancient India that is very famous as representing a perfect land, a Utopia of Buddha Dhamma.

"According to traditional, sacred history, on the fifteenth day of the third month, a year after his enlightenment, Shakyamuni Buddha appeared at Vulture Peak (Rajagriha) in the attire of a monk, setting forth the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra in One Hundred Thousand Stanzas. He also simultaneously appeared at Dhanyakataka in South India as Kalachakra, setting forth the Kalachakra Tantra…The tantra was expounded at the request of King Suchandra, an emanation of Vajrapani, who thereupon compiled the tantra in its long form, said to be twelve thousand stanzas. King Suchandra was from Shambhala…After hearing the tantra, the King returned to Shambhala, wrote a long exposition of it, and propagated Kalachakra Buddha Dhamma as the state religion".

The long form of Kalachakra Tantra is no longer in existence, and the Kalachakra of today is based on a later, condensed, Kalachakra Tantra written by Kulika Manjushrikirti of 1047 stanzas.
Kalachakra first became prominent in India in the early 10th Century A.D after the Indian master Chilupa from Orissa travelled to Shambhala and became an expert in the tantra, returning to India in 966 A.D. Sixty years after Chilupa's return, the Kalachakra Tantra was introduced into Tibet, this being in 1026, and quickly gave rise to a flourishing tradition.

The support of Buddha Dhamma by Tibetan kings began with King Sorong-btsan Sgam-po (629-649). He married two wives, one from Nepal and one from China. Buddha Dhamma was widespread in both these countries at that time: The Queen founded the oldest temple in Lhasa, the Ra-mo-che and the "Phiul-snang", where the first images of Buddha were set up in Tibet. Sorong-btsan Sgam-po commanded his scholar Thon-mi Sambhota to find a method of writing in India which would serve Tibet as a model. The Buddhist teachings were translated from the Sanskrit into the new Tibetan written language. These writings spread throughout the country.

About 100 years later, King Shri-srong-ide'u-btsan (756-797) showed great interest in Buddha Dhamma. This king had a scholar, Santaraksita, brought from India, and on his advice, Padmasambhava came to Tibet. Both men were famous teachers. They translated Buddha Dhamma writings and founded the first monastery for Bsim-yas.

With the support of the Tibetan Kings, Bsim-yas became the first Centre of Buddhist translating and teaching activity.

The followers of Buddhist doctrine of this period later called themselves the Raying-ma-pa school.

The second spread of Buddha Dhamma proceeded under western Tibetan kings in the l0th and 11th Centuries. Atisha came to Tibet in 1042 and translated over 100 Indian texts. Some sources indicate that Atisha introduced the tradition of Kala Cakra.

The Kalachakra School is the most recent phase to re-emerge, being first introduced in India in the 10th Century from Shambhala about sixty years before it went to Tibet.

It is generally accepted that the Kalachakra system was introduced in Tibet in 1027 A.D. and so the approximate date of its introduction in India is 966 A.D.

In the traditional view held by most Tibetan Buddhists, the Kalachakra was taught by the Buddha during his earthly career in the early to middle part of the first millennium B.C. Thus its appearance in India a thousand or more years later is actually a re-appearance or reintroduction from the land of Shambhala, where it had been kept since the Buddha's time.

The Kalachakra system exercised a potent influence in the life and culture of Tibet and numerous treatises on the system were written by Tibetan Scholars.

One large commentary on the Kalachakra Tantra was written by Mkhas-grub-rje the chief disciple of Tsong-kha-pa (1357 -1419 ).

Atisa wrote his commentary on the Kalachakra in Lhassa 1054 A.D.

The Kalachakra is so important in Tibet that the present cycle of Tibetan years is counted from the date of the introduction of the Kalachakra system into Tibet.

From the materials available on the Kalachakra finding the precise origins and dates is problematic as is often the case in pursuing historical details from an intellectual standpoint.

The Kalacakra Puja will be guided by Master Francisco So at the Chan Academy Australia, 33 Brooking Street Upwey 3158 Victoria.
The Puja will be in two parts:

The first part will be held on 27 January 2003 (the Australia Day holiday) and the second part held on 10 March 2003 (Labour Day holiday).

The Puja commences at 9.30am to 11.30am and then from 1.30pm to 4.00pm.

1. Sukhavati Ritual
2. Kala Chakra copy

Suitable offerings are round biscuits, round fruits, flowers and dark grape juice.

For any further details please contact our Puja Co-ordinator, Julie O'Donnell on 03 9754 3334.

May you be well and happy.

The authors, editors and researchers of this script are Julian Bamford BA (AppRec), Jason Glasson BA (Hons), Evelin Halls, Lisa Nelson, Lainie Smallwood BA, Amber Svensson, Pennie White BA DipEd.

References

Banerjee, Biswanath (2002) ' The Kalacakra School of Buddha Dhamma". Prajna, Vol. IV No. 1, 2002 C.E./2546 B.E., Bihar, India, pp. 42-45.

Bapat P.V. (Editor) (1956) 2500 Years of Buddha Dhamma, The Publications Division Goverment of India, 239, 363.

Berzin, Alexander (translator), Question Sessions with H. H. the Fourteenth Dalai Lama Concerning the Kalachakra Initiation, available at URL http://www.berzinarchives.com/kalachakra/question_hh_initiation_2.html, accessed 10 January 2003.

Berzin, Alexander, Summary, Kalachakra, Tantra, and Their Relation with World Peace, available at URL http://www.berzinarchives.com/kalachakra/kalachakra_tantra_rel_world_peace.html, accessed 10 January 2003.

Chaudhuri, Dr. Sukomal (2002) 'An Introduction to Kalacakra-Yana', Prajna, Vol. IV No. 1, 2002 C.E./2546 B.E., Bihar, India, pp. 46-49.

History of the Kalachakra Puja (Initiation) (http://www.mahabodhi.com/en/kalachakra_2002.htm) accessed 10 January 2003.

Kalachakra Initiation for World Peace of the New Millenium Graz, Austria, October 11 to 23rd 2002 brochure.

Sopa, Jackson, and Newman (1985) The Wheel of Time, The Kalachakra in Context, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, New York, USA, p. 92.

Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama (1985) The Kalachakra Tantra, Wisdom Publications, London.
Some Aspects of KALACAKRA INITIATION (http://www.mahabodhi.com/en/title2.htm)

Geshe Wangdrak (Losang Tenzin) of Namgyal Monastery, An Introduction to the Kalachakra (http://www.tibet.com/Buddha Dhamma/kala.html). Published by the office of Tibet, the official agency of His Holiness The Dalai Lama in London.

The Kalachakra Mandala (http://www.tibet.com/Buddha Dhamma/kala1.html). Published by the office of Tibet, the official agency of His Holiness The Dalai Lama in London.

Readability Statistics

Counts
Words: 3008
Paragraphs: 81
Sentences: 176
Syllables: 4745

Averages
Sentences per paragraph: 2.2
Words per Sentence: 17.1

Readability Statistics
Passive Sentences: 54
Flesch Reading Ease score: 51.9
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score: 9.9
Flesch Grade Level: 12.4
Coleman Liau: 12.7
Bormuth: 10.6

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