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object:5.01 - The Dakini, Salgye Du Dalma
subject:Buddhism
class:chapter
book class:The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep
PART FIVE:The Practice of Sleep Yoga
The Dakini, Salgye Du Dalma
The Mother Tantra teaches that there is a dakini who is the protector and guardian of sacred sleep.
It is helpful to make a connection with her essence, which is also the nature of the practice, so that she can guide and bless the transition from unconscious to conscious sleep. Her name is Salgye Du Dalma (gsal-byed-gdos-bral-ma). This translates as "She Who Clarifies Beyond Conception." She is the luminosity hidden inside the darkness of normal sleep.
She is formless in sleep practice itself, but as we are falling asleep she is visualized as a luminous sphere of light, a tigl. Light is visualized, rather than a form like the syllables used in dream yoga, because we are working on the level of energy, beyond form. We are trying to dissolve all distinctions such as inside and outside, self and other. When visualizing a form, it is the habit of the mind to think of that form as something other than itself, and we must go beyond dualism. The dakini is the representation of the clear light. She is what we already are in our pure state: clear and luminous. We become her in sleep practice.
When we develop a relationship with Salgye Du Dalma, we connect to our own deepest nature.
We can further this connection by remembering her as much as possible. During the day she can be visualized in samboghakaya* form: pure white, luminous, and beautiful. Her translucent body is made wholly of light. In her right hand she holds a curved knife, and in her left hand a bowl made from the top of a skull. She abides in the heart center, sitting upon a white moon disc, which rests on a golden sun disk, which in turn rests upon a beautiful blue, four-petaled lotus. As in guru yoga, imagine yourself dissolving into her, and she into you, mixing your essence until it is one.
Wherever you are, she is with you, residing in your heart. When you eat, offer her food. When you drink, offer her what you drink. You can talk to her. If you are in a space in which you can listen, let her talk to you. This does not mean you should go crazy, but you can use your imagination. If you have read books on dharma and listened to talks on these topics, imagine her giving you the teachings that you already know. Let her remind you to remain in presence, to cut through ignorance, to act compassionately, to be mindful, and to resist distractions. Your teacher may not always be available, nor your friends, but the dakini is. Make her your constant companion and the guide of your practice. You will find that eventually the communication will start to feel real; she will embody your own understanding of the dharma and reflect it back to you. When you remember her presence, the room you are in will seem more luminous and your mind will become lucid; she is teaching you that the luminosity and lucidity you experience is the clear light that you really are. Train yourself so that even feelings of disconnection and the arising of negative emotions automatically remind you of her; then confusion and emotional snares will serve to bring you back to awareness like the bell of a temple that marks the beginning of practice.
If this relationship with the dakini sounds too foreign or fanciful, you may wish to psychologize it. That is all right. You can think of her as a separate being or as a symbol that you use to guide your intention and your mind. In either case, devotion and consistency are powerful assets on the spiritual journey. You may also do this practice with your yidam, if you do yidam practice, or with any deity or enlightened being; it is your efforts that make a difference in your practice, not the form. But it is also good to recognize that Salgye Du Dalma is especially associated with this practice in the Mother Tantra. There is a long history of practitioners working with her form and her energy, and making a connection with the power of the lineage can be a great support.
Imagination is very powerful, strong enough to bind one to the sufferings of samsara for an entire life, and strong enough to make the dialogue with the dakini real. Often practitioners act toward the dharma as if it is rigid, but it is not. The dharma is flexible and the mind should be flexible with it. It is your responsibility to find how to use the dharma to support your realization.
Rather than imagining how the day will go tomorrow, or the fight you had with the boss, or the evening ahead with your partner, it may be more helpful to create the presence of this beautiful dakini who embodies the highest goal of practice. The important point is to develop the powerful intention needed to accomplish the practice and a strong relationship to your true nature, which the dakini represents. As often as possible, pray to her for the sleep of clear light. Your intention will be streng thened each time you do.
Ultimately, you are to become one with the dakini, which does not mean assuming her form as in tantric practice. It means remaining in the nature of mind, being rigpa in every moment.
Remaining in the natural state is both the best preliminary and the best practice.object:7.01 - Self-Control
book class:Words Of Long Ago
class:chapter


One

Self-Control

A

WILD horse can be tamed but one never puts a bridle
on a tiger. Why is that? Because in the tiger there is a
wicked, cruel and incorrigible force, so that we cannot
expect anything good from him and have to destroy him to
prevent him from doing harm.
But the wild horse, on the other hand, however unmanageable and skittish he may be to begin with, can be controlled with
a little effort and patience. In time he learns to obey and even to
love us, and in the end he will of his own accord offer his mouth
to the bit that is given to him.
In men too there are rebellious and unmanageable desires
and impulses, but these things are rarely uncontrollable like the
tiger. They are more often like the wild horse: to be broken in
they need a bridle; and the best bridle is the one you put on them
yourself, the one called self-control.
*
* *
Hussein was the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed. His home
was beautiful and his purse well filled. Whoever offended him
offended a rich man, and heavy is the anger of the rich.
One day a slave carrying a bowl of boiling hot water was
passing by Hussein as he dined. By misfortune a little water fell
upon the grandson of the Prophet who let out a cry of rage.
Falling to his knees, the slave had the presence of mind to
recall an appropriate verse of the Koran:
"Paradise is for those who bridle their anger," he said.
"I am not angry," broke in Hussein, touched by these words.
"... and for those who forgive men," continued the slave.
173

Words of Long Ago

"I forgive you," said Hussein.
"... for Allah loves the merciful," the servant added.
In the course of this exchange, all Hussein's anger had vanished. Now wholly at peace with himself he made the slave rise
and said:
"From now on you are free. Here, take these four hundred
pieces of silver."
In this way Hussein learnt how to bridle his temper which
was as generous as it was hasty. Since his noble character was
neither wicked nor cruel, it was worthy of being controlled.
*
* *
So if your parents or your teacher sometimes urge you to control your nature, it is not because they think that your faults,
whether great or small, are incorrigible; but, on the contrary, it
is because they know that your quick and fiery spirit is like a
young thoroughbred which must be held in check.
If you were offered the choice of living in a sordid hut or in
a palace, which would you choose? The palace, most likely.
We are told that when Lord Mohammed visited Paradise,
he saw great palaces built on a height overlooking the entire
countryside.
"O Gabriel," said Mohammed to the angel who was showing him all these things, "for whom are these palaces?" The
angel replied:
"For those who control their anger and know how to forgive
offences."
Well, a mind at peace and free from rancour is indeed like a
palace, but not so a vindictive and turbulent mind. Our thought
is a dwelling-place that we can, if we choose, make clean, sweet
and serene, full of harmonious notes; but we can also make it
into a dark and dreadful lair filled with mournful sounds and
discordant cries.
*
* *
174

Self-Control

In a town in the North of France I once knew a boy who was
frank by nature but impetuous and always liable to lose his
temper. I said to him one day:
"Which do you think is more difficult for a strong boy like
you, to give blow for blow and to let fly your fist in the face of
a friend who insults you or at that moment to keep your fist in
your pocket?"
"To keep it in my pocket," he replied.
"And which do you think is more worthy of a brave boy
like you, to do the easier or the more difficult thing?"
"The more difficult thing," he said after a moment's hesitation.
"Well then, try to do it the next time you get an opportunity."
Some time later, the young boy came to tell me, not without
legitimate pride, that he had been able to do "the more difficult
thing". He said:
"One of my work-mates, who is known for his bad temper,
struck me in a moment of anger. Since he knows that normally
I am not one to forgive and that I have a strong arm, he was
preparing to defend himself when I remembered what you had
told me. It was harder for me than I thought, but I put my fist
in my pocket. And as soon as I did that, I felt no more anger
in me, I only felt sorry for my friend. So I held out my hand
to him. That surprised him so much that he stood looking at
me for a moment, open-mouthed, without speaking. Then he
seized my hand, shook it vigorously and said with emotion:
"Now you can do what you like with me, I am your friend
for ever."
This boy had controlled his anger as Caliph Hussein had
done.
But there are many other things that also need to be bridled.
*
* *
175

Words of Long Ago

The Arabian poet, Al Kosai, lived in the desert. One day he came
across a fine Naba tree and from its branches he made a bow
and some arrows.
At nightfall he set out to hunt wild asses. Soon he heard
the hoof-beats of a moving herd. So he shot his first arrow. But
he had bent the bow with such strength that the arrow, passing
right through the body of one of the animals, dashed against
a nearby rock. When he heard the sound of wood on stone
Al Kosai thought he had missed his mark. So then he shot his
second arrow and once more the arrow passed through an ass
and struck the rock. Again Al Kosai thought he had missed his
mark. In the same way he shot a third arrow, and a fourth, and a
fifth, and each time he heard the same sound. When it happened
for the fifth time, he broke his bow in rage.
At dawn he saw five asses in front of the rock.
If he had been more patient and waited until daybreak, he
would have kept his peace of mind and his bow as well.
*
* *
It should not be thought, however, that we have a high regard
for a training which weakens the character by depriving it of all
its drive and vigour. When we put a bridle on a wild horse, we
do not want the bit to tear his mouth and break his teeth. And
if we want him to do his work well, we must tighten the reins
to guide him, but we must not pull on them so hard that he can
no longer move forward.
Unfortunately there are only too many weak characters who
can, like sheep, be driven by a mere bark.
There are slavish and insensitive natures, lacking in spirit
and more forbearing than they should be.
Abu Otman al-Hiri was known for his excessive patience.
One day he was invited to a feast. When he arrived, the host
told him: "You must excuse me, I cannot receive you. So please
go back home, and may Allah have mercy on you."
176

Self-Control

Abu Otman went back home. No sooner was he there than
his friend appeared and invited him once more.
Abu Otman followed his friend as far as his doorstep, but
there the friend stopped and again asked to be excused. Abu
Otman went away without a murmur.
A third time and a fourth the same scene was repeated, but
in the end his friend received him and said to him before the
whole company:
"Abu Otman, I behaved in this way in order to test your
good temper. I admire your patience and forbearance."
"Do not praise me," replied Abu Otman, "for dogs practise
the same virtue: they come when they are called and go when
they are sent away."
Abu Otman was a man and not a dog. And it could do no
one any good that he should thus, of his own accord, without
dignity or good cause, submit to the mockery of his friends.
Did then this man who was so meek have nothing in him to
control? Oh, yes he did! It was the most difficult thing of all to
control - the weakness of his character. And it was because he
did not know how to control himself that everyone controlled
him as they pleased.
*
* *
A young Brahmacharin was clever and knew it. He wished to
add to his talents more and more so that everyone would admire
him. So he travelled from land to land.
With an arrow-maker he learned to make arrows.
Further on he learnt how to build and sail ships.
In another place he learnt how to build houses.
And in other places he acquired various other skills.
In this way he visited sixteen different countries. Then he
returned home and proudly declared, "What man on earth is as
skilful as I?" The Lord Buddha saw him and wanted to teach
him a nobler art than any he had learnt before. Assuming the
177

Words of Long Ago

appearance of an old Shramana he presented himself before the
young man with a begging bowl in his hand.
"Who are you?" asked the Brahmacharin.
"I am a man who is able to control his own body."
"What do you mean?"
"The archer can aim his arrows," the Buddha replied. "The
pilot guides the ship, the architect supervises the construction of
buildings, but the wise man controls himself."
"In what way?"
"If he is praised his mind remains unmoved, if he is blamed
his mind remains equally unmoved. He loves to follow the Right
Law and he lives in peace."
Children of goodwill, you too should learn to control yourselves, and if a tough bridle is needed to control your nature, do
not complain.
A spirited young horse which will gradually become wellbehaved is of much more value than a placid wooden horse
which will always remain placid whatever you may do, and on
which you put a bridle only for the fun of it.

178


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