PACIFIC WORLD - The Institute of Buddhist Studies

Hopkins: Paradigm Change in Meditation 135It also may be that this process, in ordinary life, is so out of control that oneemanates forms that destroy one’s own welfare much like a paranoiac’sattackers or dream beings that pursue us.In this transmutory practice, after the enactment of such compassionateactivity the rays and deities return with actualized (not just potential)compassion to dissolve with all their power and experience into the moon,letters, and hand-symbol which turn into the deity. The meditator nowcould not view the deity as just a neutral appearance of light in a certainform but must see and feel it as an active expression of compassion andwisdom. The rays of light emitted from the moon, which itself is amanifestation of the mind realizing the ultimate deity, are endowed withcompassionate potential for appearance in forms that work the weal ofsentient beings. One has appeared in divine form, the essence of which isthe wisdom of emptiness and active compassionSeal DeityStill, self-generation is not complete. The imagined deity must befurther enhanced, this being accomplished through uttering mantra at thesame time as physically touching important places on one’s imagineddivine body with a hand gesture called a seal. 35 The one pledge seal of theparticular lineage may be used or individual seals for each of the placesmay be used. Ke-drup speaks of touching not five (counting the shouldersas two) but nine places (crown protrusion, hair-treasury [one coiled hair inthe middle of the brow], eyes, the two shoulders, neck, heart, and navel).With each mantra and touch the meditator imagines a heightening of theparticular area of the divine body in terms of its brilliance and magnificence.This is a further sanctifying of an appearance already sacred throughbeing a manifestation of wisdom and compassion.Sign DeityNow that all the signs of a full-fledged deity are present, the meditator,based on clear appearance of pure mind and body, can gain a sense ofdivine personhood or selfhood. Two types of meditation are used, analyticalwhich involves particular attention to details or brightening of theobject and stabilizing which is one-pointed attention on just one aspect.For deity yoga to succeed, two prime factors are needed—clear appearanceof a divine body and pride in being that deity. With success invisualizing the deity, both mind and body appear to be pure; hence, thesense of self that the meditator has in dependence upon purely appearingmind and body is of a pure self, a divine self. Divine pride itself is said toharm or weaken the conception of inherent existence, which is at the rootof all other afflictions in cyclic existence including afflicted pride. Due to