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Great-Bliss-Tantric-Sex-and-the-Path-to-Inner-Awakening

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Common Vehicle through <strong>the</strong> forceful effort of renouncing <strong>the</strong>m <strong>and</strong> shunning <strong>the</strong>m away.<br />

Instead, by purifying <strong>the</strong>m, eventually <strong>the</strong>y are released.<br />

Meditation<br />

In <strong>the</strong> Mahāyāna, <strong>the</strong> motivation for meditation is no longer solely for yourself. Meditation must<br />

be motivated out of universal compassion or you will not attain inner awakening.<br />

In Mahāyāna Tranquility Meditation (Śamathā), <strong>the</strong> first four meditative states taught by <strong>the</strong><br />

Buddha, <strong>the</strong> Four Form Absorptions, remain of value <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> path. The Four Formless<br />

Absorptions, however, are avoided because <strong>the</strong>ir intense peace <strong>and</strong> bliss can <strong>to</strong>o easily lead you<br />

<strong>to</strong> believe that you are enlightened when you are not, <strong>and</strong> may lead <strong>to</strong> higher rebirth in<strong>to</strong> impure<br />

realms <strong>to</strong> which you might become attached. Special instructions called <strong>the</strong> Nine Levels of<br />

Mental Stability (Nava Bhūmi) help you <strong>to</strong> attain <strong>the</strong> First Absorption, called Even Placement<br />

(Samāhita), more easily. Through Tranquility Meditation, you attain a stable, thought-free,<br />

single-minded focus with clarity of awareness, <strong>the</strong> foundation for Insight Meditation.<br />

For Insight Meditation (Vipaśyanā), you meditate on <strong>the</strong> three veil-penetrating philosophies of<br />

<strong>the</strong> Middle Way, Mind Only, <strong>and</strong> Buddha Essence, <strong>and</strong> seek <strong>to</strong> perceive ultimate reality directly.<br />

You see relative truth as conventional, illusory, <strong>and</strong> leading <strong>to</strong> suffering, <strong>and</strong> ultimate truth as<br />

stainless <strong>and</strong> liberating. Insight Meditation is never simply a mind quieted of its thoughts, which<br />

alone cannot uproot <strong>the</strong> core misconception of self <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r. Once you perform <strong>the</strong> deep<br />

analysis of Insight Meditation, you can <strong>the</strong>n shift in<strong>to</strong> nonconceptual meditation. The highest<br />

Insight Meditation establishes a nonconceptual, bright, clear awareness. Seeing your emotions<br />

<strong>and</strong> thoughts as without any self-existence, <strong>the</strong>y are naturally pacified without forceful effort.<br />

Through <strong>the</strong> union of Tranquility Meditation <strong>and</strong> Insight Meditation, you calm your mind <strong>and</strong><br />

enter a profound meditative absoption, perform an analysis of <strong>the</strong> Two Truths, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n rest your<br />

mind in a deep, nonconceptual meditative absorption on <strong>the</strong> true nature of reality. It is this union<br />

that eliminates all your obscurations <strong>and</strong> leads <strong>to</strong> buddhahood.<br />

Results<br />

Buddhahood<br />

“The complete, perfect buddha always abides in <strong>to</strong>tal absorption.”<br />

- The Profound Play Sūtra<br />

Buddhahood in <strong>the</strong> Mahāyāna is far more vast <strong>and</strong> glorious than in <strong>the</strong> Common Vehicle, <strong>and</strong> is<br />

more celebrated. The activities of <strong>the</strong> buddhas are inconceivable. In early Buddhism, a single<br />

buddha arises in an era, teaches, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n passes away in<strong>to</strong> nirvāṇa. In <strong>the</strong> Mahāyāna, buddhas<br />

transcend time <strong>and</strong> space <strong>and</strong> are innumerable. The Mahāyāna rejects <strong>the</strong> original Buddhist goal<br />

of individual enlightenment ending in peaceful isolation. As a buddha, your Five Aggregates are<br />

not released but purified, <strong>and</strong> you remain eternally engaged in <strong>the</strong> world <strong>to</strong> relieve <strong>the</strong> suffering<br />

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