By. Taranatha
Part 2
The Master remained for a long time in those charnel grounds, keeping company with the formidable beings who lived there—the bhūtas, rākṣasas, piśācas and ḍākinīs. By practising the recitation of the vidyā-mantras with diligence, he had visions of all the wrathful vajra-kings, like Trailokyavijaya and Yamāntaka, and received teachings from them. He spoke with Mahākāla and the seven mātṛkās as if speaking with humans. He took the cruel nāgas and yakṣas and made them his servants. He mastered ten million wrathful mantras, both worldly and transcendent.
Through the magical power of his mantra recitation, the Master went again and again, together with powerful non-human beings, to the eight great primordial charnel grounds of our world. He also met the eight divine masters of those places and accomplished an ordinary siddhi in each of them. In the charnel ground Ghorāndhakāra lived the master Dhanuṣkṛta, with whom he attained the siddhi of the sword. In the charnel ground Gahvara lived the master Bhūmiputra, with whom he attained the siddhi of the pill. In the charnel ground Jvālākulakaraṅka lived the master Sūryaputra, with whom he attained the siddhi of the balm of magic sight. In the charnel ground Vibhīṣaṇa lived the master Amṛtaprabha, with whom he attained the siddhi of fleet-footedness. In the charnel ground Aṭṭahāsa lived the master Śivaṃkara, with whom he attained the siddhi of the medicine that heals every ailment. In the charnel ground Lakṣmīvana lived the master Vararuci, Seeker of the Sublime, with whom he attained the siddhi of the elixir of immortality. In the charnel ground Kilikilārava lived the master Nagna, with whom he attained the siddhi of the treasure vase. In the charnel ground Caṇḍogra lived the master Bhṛgu, with whom attained the siddhi of the alchemy of gold.
Through these attainments the Master rose to the level of a vidyādhara. He thought, “Now that I have accomplished this, I shall attain complete awakening.” However, in a dream, the Buddha Amitābha came to him with the following prophecy, “You have not yet realised suchness. Due to your wrathful, war-like actions devoid of higher perception, you are creating great obstacles to what you desire. You will not obtain the siddhi of mahāmudrā by doing that alone. Since you have a karmic connection with the teacher Buddhaśrījñāna, go to him and meditate as he instructs!” Examining himself carefully, the Master understood that although his power had increased, his current path would not lead to meditation on the nature of mind. And so he made his way to the central land of Magadha.
At this point, King Dharmapāla had been ruling over Magadha for a long time. The learned and accomplished master Buddhajñānapāda was just beginning to accept disciples when the Master made his appearance. Paṇḍita Buddhajñānapāda presided as preceptor at the Master’s ordination in the monastery at Dharmāṅchura, where he took full ordination and became a bhikṣu in the Mahāsaṅghika tradition. The Master merely had to listen once to a monk reciting the text The One Hundred Thousand Verses on Vinaya to understand it. As he listened to the venerable master Buddhajñānapāda give the Prajñāpāramitā teachings, his view became as vast as the sky. Whereas other disciples had to undergo great hardships in order to receive empowerments from Buddhajñānapāda, the Master was able to receive them all quite effortlessly. Buddhajñānapāda also had a student by the name of Buddhaguhya, who gave the Master the empowerments and pith instructions of Yoga-tantra, while the learned Buddhajñānapāda himself transmitted the tantras and pith instructions in their totality. These included the five inner tantras: The Gathering of Secrets, The Net of Magic Illusion, The Secret Moondrop, Union with the Buddhas and The Garland of Activity. In each case, he fully realized the wisdom of the empowerments and reached a profound and clear realisation of non-duality.
Once the Master had come to realize the natural state, he asked, “Now what should I do?” The venerable master Buddhajñānapāda gave the following reply, “In the eastern country of Baṅgala, on the north side of the town Pāṇḍu, in a clearing in the forest called Parṣi, there is a small hill. Go, and engage there in the practice of the Glorious Heruka!” So, he arrived and quite effortlessly found a consort of the Lotus Family. For six months they practised the great-accomplishment of the unity of the generation and perfection stages. The Master constantly had visions of the many buddhas of the ten directions and questioned them. After a short while he attained the supreme siddhi of mahāmudrā and actualised the vajra-body.