I prostrate and go for refuge to the kind root Gurus who are inseparable in nature from glorious Vajradhara! Please bless my mind with purity!
Those who wish to see the nature
of the mandalas of Secret Mantra
should cherish the Four Complete Purities
because this is the indispensable key.
Today, during these times, as interest among Westerners in the Tantrayana of Tibetan Buddhism grows day by day, for the benefit of some of my new students, I shall write a brief explanation of the nature of Secret Mantra and its exclusive special feature called the Four Complete Purities, in simple language for the sake of easy understanding.
In general, Buddhism includes two types of Dharma, Sutra and Tantra, sometimes referred to as Causal Dharma and Resultant Dharma. Causal Dharma is the teaching and practice of Sutra and Resultant Dharma is the teaching and practice of Tantra. It is generally vey important, in order to practice Tantra, to first practice the teachings of Sutra. Otherwise, if you enter the path of Tantra right from the beginning you won’t know what to think about and will end up going astray. Therefore, without looking down on them, you need to infuse your mind with the teachings of Sutra as they are practiced in common with both Sutra and Tantra: training your mind in Refuge, Bodhicitta, Karma, the Four Thoughts That Turn the Mind, the four types of preliminary practices, each done a hundred thousand times, and so forth. Then, if you wish to attain the state of a Buddha, if you do not enter the path of Tantra, through the Sutra path alone you can attain the liberated state of a Shravaka or Pratekyabuddha Arhat, which is a mere liberation from samsara, but you cannot attain the unexcelled state of a fully enlightened Buddha known as ‘non-abiding nirvana’ which, while liberated from samsara, does not just remain in the peace of a solitary nirvana. This is the state which enables a person who has attained Buddhahood to perpetually continue to benefit other living beings. As this is what we aspire to, we must definitely enter the path of Tantra.
When you practice Tantra something that is indispensable is the Four Complete Purities; it is very important to know this. It is the real practice of the Dharma of the resultant state of having attained Buddhahood. Some might think that it is not suitable for our minds to practice the resultant state of having already attained Buddhahood. Maybe they are right, that it is presumptuous for deluded ordinary beings like ourselves to practice the Dharma of the resultant state; that is does not fit our nature. However, even though we are ordinary, the seed of Buddhahood is undiminished in our mental continuums; that is the same for all of us. If we didn’t have the seed of Buddha within us, our practice of the path would be pointless. However, that is not the case. There is no difference in the quality or potency of the seed of Buddhahood within the exalted Buddhas and the minds of limited sentient beings, other than that whether it is realized or not; whether it is freed or not; one is not higher or stronger than the other, there is no difference at all. Since that is true it makes sense that we can eventually become a Buddha. That is why this practice of the Four Complete Purities is a principal practice of the Resultant Dharma.
First is the complete purity of body.
Second is the complete purity of place.
Third is the complete purity of entourage.
Fourth is the complete purity of deeds.
As for the first, the complete purity of body, this means to meditate on our impure illusory body as the Buddha or Yidam and to practice the generation or completion stages of Tantra.
Second, the complete purity of place means to practice meditating that our location, our environment composed of the four elements, our house and so forth, is a Pureland such as that of Sukhavati.
Third, the complete purity of entourage means we must meditate that our Vajrayana Dharma siblings and all living beings, even down to the bugs, are all in the nature of Avalokitesvara as males and Tara as females; in short, that all appearing forms are Gods and Goddesses, that all sounds are in the nature of Mantra, and that all mental states and thoughts are the energy and play of Buddha Mind, Dharmakaya.
Fourth, the complete purity of deeds means that, while visualizing ourselves as our Yidam, that light emanates from our hearts and strikes the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space, exhorting their Minds and we receive the blessings of their Body, Speech, and Mind. Think that all the negativity and obscuration we have accumulated with our body, speech, and mind is purified without exception. Again, as the Yidam, light emanates from our heart. It goes to the six realms of sentient beings, completely purifying their respective sufferings and sets them into Buddhahood. If we contemplate, meditate, and perform this practice correctly, that is the complete purity of deeds.
The practice of these four is called the Four Complete Purities. Furthermore, when in meditative equipoise, any appearance of forms, whether beautiful or not, we should think is the nature of the Deity. All sounds that are heard, whether pleasant or not, are the nature of the Six-Syllable Mantra, OM MANI PADME HUM. All thoughts that arise, good or bad, are the nature of Dharmakaya and Dharmadhatu.
We could speak of three types of benefits from meditating on the Four Complete Purities. As for the first benefit, the greatest suffering and problems that we encounter as sentient beings come through the doors of our five senses such as our eyes and ears. Depending on whether we find those objects appealing or unappealing, the attachment or aversion that our mind gradually develops towards them gives rise to problems. If we can use our mind to place a seal of the four purities upon those objects of attachment and aversion, the attachment and aversion will naturally diminish in strength.
We normally attend to what we see with our eyes or hear with our ears as validly and truly existent and we react to it accordingly. Buddhas see that the objects which appear to ordinary beings are not valid, meaning that the mind which perceives them is not valid; they do not really exist in the way that they appear to exist. We are unable to understand the actual nature of things just from the way that they appear to us. Ninety-eight percent of what appears to us is our mind superimposing the existence of that which does not actually exist. Even present day brain scientists agree with this.
The second benefit comes in all of our activities. Whoever we are associating with, wherever we are staying, whatever we are doing, if we can practice the Four Complete Purities and meditate on them, it serves the purpose of preventing our mind from going under the influence of attachment and aversion. For instance, after Tibet was occupied by the Chinese government many Lamas and Spiritual Masters were put in prison. At that time many practitioners such as my root Guru, by practicing these Four Complete Purities, transformed the mental and physical sufferings and difficult conditions they encountered into a great boost for their spiritual development; there are many stories about this. If the Four Complete Purities can be practiced in a fully qualified way the entire world becomes your friend; you won’t find bad thoughts in your mind even if you search for them, like looking for ordinary rocks on an island made of gold!
The third benefit of practicing the Four Complete Purities is that you arrive at a pure path based on the knowledge that you have always had the seed of enlightenment in your mind; it does not support the mistaken idea that you could never become a Buddha. If you practice the Four Complete Purities it is auspicious that you will quickly attain the state of a Buddha. In short, it has very many excellent qualities.
A Brief Explanation of the Necessity of the Four Complete Purities
In general, in ultimate nature all sentient beings have primordially been Buddhas, and their abodes are Purelands with no impurities at all. But, unfortunately, because beings do not realize this ultimate nature, they chase after mistaken objects and wander in samsara. When Buddhas encounter objects of the senses it is apparent that they do not truly exist from their own side, like a mirage or a dream. The actual nature of things is that they do not truly exist. Realizing the unreality of objects is realizing their ultimate nature. If we realize the ultimate nature of things we are an enlightened being, a Buddha. As an example of objects not truly existing in the manner that they appear to us, I’ll briefly tell a story about a conversation that occurred between Jetsun Milarepa and a Geshe.
One day Jetsun Milarepa met a Kadampa Geshe dialectician. The Geshe had mastered the use of words, conventional terms, and logical reasoning. Milarepa had mastered the emptiness that is the ultimate nature of the mind. So their areas of expertise diverged. One was a master of words, the other a master of ultimate nature. Milarepa and the Geshe had a debate.
The Geshe said, ‘Milarepa, you are a false spiritual guide who fools sentient beings, someone who leads them on mistaken paths! That is because, before you teach Dharma, you must know Dharma. If you don’t know logical reasoning you cannot teach Dharma. You haven’t learned logical reasoning! Therefore, you don’t know Buddhism. If you don’t authentically understand Buddhism, even if you teach someone it will cause them to take mistaken paths.’
Milarepa said, ‘I have been introduced to the ultimate nature of mind with complete certainty by Marpa Lotsawa. There is no other Dharma superior to that in which to train. Once you have realized the pith essential of mind, other conventional teachings are naturally included within it, like a hundred river tributaries flowing under a single bridge. Knowing the single Dharma is All-Liberating.’
The Geshe replied, ‘It’s not like that. Protector Nagarjuna said, “Without relying on conventions one will not realize ultimate truth. If you don’t realize the ultimate you will not attain omniscience.” As he said, If you don’t first learn verbal debate and the path of logic you will not become a Buddha. That being the case, I have a few questions to ask you. If you answer them I will follow you and become your disciple. If you can’t answer me, from today onwards you must follow me and become my disciple.’
Milarepa said, ‘Fine,’ and accepted the terms.
The Geshe then pointed his finger at a mountain that stood before them and said, ‘Take the subject, that rock mountain; it is obstructive because it is an impermanent functioning thing.’
Milarepa replied, ‘The reason is not established. Saying that means that I don’t accept that the mountain is an impermanent functioning thing.’ Milarepa then stood up and, with his miracle power, passed freely back and forth through the mountain without obstruction and then left imprints of his hands and feet on the rock surface of the mountain as if it were made of mud.
The Geshe was surprised but then pointed his finger at the sky and said, ‘Take the subject, this space; it is not obstructive because it is not a compound product.’
Milarepa replied, ‘For me, the reason stating that space is a non-entity, a non-functioning thing, is not established,’ and, through his miracle power, transformed space into a functioning thing, passed back and forth through it, and then sat in the middle of space, laid down in it, and so forth.
The Geshe was again surprised but said, ‘All that is impossible. It’s only because you’ve practiced black magic and can create visual illusions.’
Milarepa replied, ‘It is not because I have practiced black magic or any non-buddhist teachings. You haven’t learned what you need to know, which is the ultimate nature of your own mind. The problem is that you have been misled by spending your life learning conventional lines of logic which were not essential knowledge. I, a yogi, have realized that everything which appears is mind. Having realized mind to be Dharmakaya, I don’t have time for a lot of talk; I must practice holy Dharma. If you’d like to come, follow me. In terms of ultimate truth, all sentient beings are of Buddha nature and all external and internal phenomena composed of the four elements are nothing but pure in nature; there is no such thing as impurity. It is only because of grasping at duality that an impure world appears to sentient beings and, following their mistaken perceptions, they wander in samsara. If you really want to be free of samsara you must enter a path of purity.
Milarepa gave many such instructions to the Geshe, who developed faith in Milarepa and eventually became his disciple.
When we make our mind functional for the purposes of Dharma and train it in positive directions, realized qualities such as the ten stages and five paths are attained. The capabilities of our minds are unlimited. In our material world, the current-day power of science and technology has been expanded in many dimensions. If we focus our minds we can likewise bring phenomena under the control of our minds. For example, in the context of Dzogchen there is explanation of what is called Rainbow Body Dharmakaya. These days in Tibet very qualified Dharma practitioners attain this Rainbow Body at the time of death without leaving any remainder of their body behind. Others demonstrate a gradual diminishing of the size of their bodies. All of this is because of the power of the mind to transform this gross, impure body.
Buddhism maintains that all external and internal things, the entire world and its inhabitants, arise from the power of mind, not another creator. By subduing and training our mind in the causes for happiness, our mind will gradually create less and less non-virtue and, by continuing to practice with joyful effort, through the power of the complete purification of our current mind’s instincts and defilements, we will discover Buddhahood within the very depths of our being. Otherwise, by following a mind that is out of control with attachment, anger and so forth, through the power of nothing but non-virtue, we can fall into painful migrations and the like. In short, the resultant happiness or suffering of not only this life but all future lives depends on whether or not we can subdue and train our mind.
It is as Buddha said,
"We are our own Protector
and we are our own enemy.
A trained mind is virtue, [which brings happiness,]
while a non-virtuous mind creates suffering."
Written by Khenpo Karten Rinpoche. Published Saturday, June 22, 2025. The reason I wanted to give an explanation of the Four Complete Purities in today’s blog is because we often practice Yidam Deity yoga of the various classes of Tantra at Manjushri Dharma Center on Mondays, and I thought it would be beneficial for some of my Dharma friends and new students. This concludes my blog for today.
Tashi Delek!
English translation by Jampa Tharchin (David Molk) on June 19, 2025
English translation by Jampa Tharchin (David Molk) on June 19, 2025
