The Cult of Tara

MAGIC AND RITUAL IN TIBET
his master fall into the abyss: should one hope to see only personal
benefit in taking these vows, this is to be led by the nose to
destruction. . . .
But then how actually does one purify oneself on this path
common to both types of Great Vehicle ? It should be done according
to what is given in the precepts of Atlsa.
First one should find a virtuous friend in the Great Vehicle, one
who has all the requisite qualities, and serve him properly by
heeding his words and cleaving to him. He explains the great
importance and difficulty of obtaining human birth: and he who
is purifying his mind conceives a fervent desire to get the utmost
use from his human body. The best way to get the utmost use
from it is to set out in the Great Vehicle: and the gate through
which one does so is the thought of enlightenment. If that
thought in one's stream is pure, one becomes a genuine follower of
the Great Vehicle; but if it is but a thing of mere words, one's
following the Great Vehicle is a thing of mere words. Hence the
wise man meditates step by step on all the obstacles to obtaining
such a human birth, until he awakens the thought of enlightenment
in all its essential characteristics.
Furthermore, if he does not, right at the beginning, turn his
thoughts away from this life, then he will meet obstructions,
whether it be on the path of the Great or Little Vehicle: hence he
should meditate on the brevity of this life and his inevitable death
at its end, and on the way in which he will wander lost through
evil destinies after he dies, that he may turn his thoughts away
from this life.
Then he should meditate thoroughly upon the horrors of the
infinitude of this world, even if one be reborn in a heaven beyond:
and he should turn his back upon it and direct his mind toward
liberation.
After that, in order to turn his back upon the thought of this
world, he who has thus calmed himself purifies at length his
friendliness and compassion, and the thought of enlightenment
whose roots they are, until he purifies a genuine thought of enlightenment.
Then, knowing the conduct of a Bodhisattva, he conceives a
desire to undertake its study and performance. If he is able to
take on the responsibility of conducting himself as a son of the
Conqueror, he takes the vows of a Bodhisattva: he studies the six
perfections in general, and in particular he studies to make his
mind fit for the Calm which is the essence of contemplation, and he
studies the Insight—the understanding that all events are illusory
and space-like—which is the essence of the Perfection of Wisdom.
Then, if he is able to take on the responsibility of the Vehicle
of the Mantra, to carry out its vows and pledges, he should serve a
master such as is described in [Asvaghosa's] Fifty Verses on the
Guru, and thus set out upon the Tantra.