The Practice of Fivefold Mahamudra When Jigten Sumgon came Phagmodrupa, he first gave him the guru yoga practice. Jigten Sumgon said he didn't need any other teaching than guru yoga to achieve enlightenment. Jigten Sumgon sat meditating on guru yoga in his home. Before going into retreat Jigten Sumgon made seven branch offerings from 25 to 100 times before each teaching was given. Other people said he used to make offerings and now he doesn't come to teachings at all. So Phagmodrupa told him he had to come to teachings. Jigten Sumgon came to teaching and Phagmodrupa said the fivefold mahamudra teachings are the essence of dharma, and Jigten Sumgon developed great confidence in them. Phagmodrupa said until achieving enlightenment, do not separate yourself from these five practices. All the Kagyu traditions have mahamudra. But mahamudra is like a lion. Mahamudra with the five branch practices is like a lion with eyes. Without these it is like a blind lion. When Jigten Sumgon meditated on guru yoga he was not doing guru yoga alone, he was doing the full practice. The fivefold mahamudra condenses the three baskets of teachings, the four classes of tantra, and the pith instructions into one teaching. In the Gong Chig it says the 84,000 teachings are the antidotes to the 84,000 afflictive emotions. So we need all the teachings. However, if when you practice unless you can condense them, you will not be able to complete the practice. So you have to extract the essence, like taking butter out of milk. The first branch of fivefold mahamudra is bodhicitta, which is the essence of the cause. The second is the yidam deity, which is the essence of practice. The third branch is guru yoga, which is the essence of qualities. The fourth branch is mahamudra, which is the essence of meaning. The fifth branch is dedication, which is the essence of method. If we look at sutra and tantra, the generation of bodhicitta and dedication fall into the sutra vehicle. The creation and completion stages of deity practice. are the essence of tantra, method and wisdom. Creation stage refers to Chakrasamvara yidam practice and completion stage refers to mahamudra practice. To meet with success in the path you need the blessing of guru yoga, so it is like a helper for the four other methods. If you just meditate on mahamudra, your practice has emptiness but lacks compassion and will not lead to full enlightenment. If you have compassion without emptiness you will not gain enlightenment. Emptiness without compassion will only lead to the fruit of the lower vehicles. So you need to develop both. We need both method, the creation stage, and wisdom, the completion stage. Completion stage purifies obscuration of mind and creation stage purifies the obscuration of appearances. Bodhicitta is the essence of the Mahayana. Without it all the other branches cannot lead to full enlightenment. When we do each practice there are many places where we can get tripped up. To avoid these we need the blessing to follow the path, which comes from guru yoga. If you want to give rise to primordial wisdom, you need to see the lama in the form of the dharmakaya. If you don't enlightenment will not arise in you. All the previous Kagyu masters have relied on devotion, so if you lack it, you are off the path. When an
ordinary being meets their teacher they cannot see them as other than ordinary. As we practice, we can see the teacher as Nirmanakaya. As we progress we can see the teacher as Sambhogakaya. Finally we can see the teacher as dharmakaya. So we practice visualizing the lama as the four kayas, including Svabhavikaya. You can understand these as being progressively profound and subtle, the outer, inner, secret, and essence practices. As you see the lama, you receive the blessings from the four kayas. Eventually you realize you do not need to look outside yourself any more. First there is bodhicitta. Without bodhicitta, practice does not lead to enlightenment. Why? Because without it you fall into the lower vehicle, because you only think of your own benefit. Secondly, we have the yidam deity practice. Without it you cannot overthrow ordinary appearances. Then thirdly, you must have devotion to the lama to give rise to experience. So it is extremely important. Fourth is mahamudra. Without it you cannot cut off the root of existence. The fifth, dedication of merit, is necessary because without it whatever merit generated will not last. So now if you have all five branches, all stages of practice are included and you do not need anything else. We have five afflictive emotions and this practice transforms them. Bodhicitta transforms hatred. Yidam practice is the antidote to arrogance, the grasping to a self. Meditating on the lama counteracts jealousy. Mahamudra counteracts ignorance or delusion. Tilopa said that thousands of eons of darkness can be vanquished with one lamp. So similarly mahamudra counteracts delusion. Finally dedication counteracts desire and attachment. Desire is attachment and clinging and keeps us from giving. So giving counteracts attachment. So we have five dharmas brought onto the path through the fivefold mahamudra. These five fruits are relative bodhicitta, which gives rise to absolute bodhicitta which is mahamudra. Yidam practice exhausts the appearances of ordinary body, speech and mind. The guru yoga leads to the true nature of mind itself. When you meditate on your mind as inseparable from the lama's you give rise to unfabricated devotion and realize the true lama, the nature of your mind. Practicing the mahamudra leads you to find the Buddha is not outside yourself and leads beyond hope and fear. Fifth, dedication results in the accomplishment of your aims without effort. Next comes how fivefold mahamudra overcomes the five classes of demons. Bodhicitta overcomes the male demons, which are the result of hatred. Yidam practice overcomes the spirits of Mara, which are the result of arrogance. Guru yoga overcomes samaya breaking spirits, the results of jealousy. Mahamudra overcomes the naga spirits, who take birth as a result of illusion. Dedication overcomes female evil spirits, who are the embodiment of desire. Practice overcomes birth in the five realms, which is the result of the five kleshas. Asuras and humans are grouped as one, so there are five realms instead of six. Mahamudra also develops the five primordial wisdoms. Each wisdom is the purification of its corresponding klesha. Bodhicitta leads to mirrorlike wisdom. Yidam practice leads to the wisdom of equanimity. Guru yoga leads to the all accomplishing wisdom. Mahamudra
leads to the wisdom of the dharmadhatu. Dedication leads to discriminating wisdom. When we practice, we should practice all five in a single session. In every moment we should practice all five. So how do you do this? How do you make sure you don't leave anything out? If you do Chenrezig practice, you begin with refuge and generation of the enlightened mind, which is bodhicitta practice. When you visualize yourself as Chenrezig, that is yidam practice. Visualizing Amitabha on your crown is the lama practice. Completion stage practice is mahamudra. At the end is dedication, which is dedication practice. When you eat, you should meditate on compassion, which is bodhicitta. See your body as the abode of the deity, which is yidam. Visualize your lama in your throat which is guru yoga. See everything as a dream, which is mahamudra. And dedicate at the end of the meal, which is dedication.
