Then the pure tantra Vajradhara
opened the door of nonabiding wisdom
and again made this request:
"
""Oh Vajradhara,
the lamp of the empty bindu
is as you have taught.
""
""The lamp of the pure dhātu
is as you have taught.
""
""What is the essence of these words?
What is their definitive meaning?
How many divisions do they have?
What is their nature?
What is their characteristic?
How are they cultivated?
By what are they measured?
Where do they abide?
Through what door do they appear?
What is their true nature?
What is their example?""
""Although I have understood all this,
for the sake of future beings,
I request this from Vajradhara.""
Then the great Vajradhara
spoke these words:
""Listen, pure tantra Vajradhara.
What I teach is without error.
Retain it in your mind without error.
The lamp of the pure dhātu
comprises the essence of awareness.
It appears within the enclosure of the chain.
Those who cultivate this
will realize its true meaning.
It is a vivid blue that never changes.
It abides within the enclosure of the rim.
It appears as the self-luminous outer object.
Its essence is unfabricated.
The dhātu of awareness is its own domain.
The vajra chain
is the inner enclosure.
Its nature is as it is.
Its example is like this.
Its divisions are threefold:
The dhātu of the basis
holds the kāyas of the wisdom of awareness.
The dhātu of the path
comprises the pure essence of awareness.
The dhātu of the object
holds the chain in custody.
These are its divisions.
Its nature is unceasing appearance.
Since there is no awareness without this,
appearance is unceasing.
The rain is the lamp of the dhātu.
Having distinguished saṃsāra and nirvāṇa,
the body and speech are settled in their natural state.
Then the appearance of the dhātu and vidyā is examined.
When the measure of familiarity with this is attained,
the external appearances of objects
increase more and more.
One gradually attains great familiarity.
When the measure of stability in this is attained,
all phenomena are exhausted.
This is explained as a branch
of familiarizing with that.
From the unchanging appearance of blue,
the five lights of clear colors
become very clear.
In the upper part in front of oneself,
four finger-widths or one cubit above,
the body is separated.
That is the measure.
The eye is not a condition of the elements.
The abiding of one's vidyā
appears as a chain.
It is grasped in the cloudless sky.
When self-knowing appears within,
it abides within the heart.
It radiates outward as the cloudless sky.
In the pure eye consciousness,
the five blazing light rays
are unchanging and pervasive.
It abides as the great intrinsic radiance of blue.
Since the arising of appearances is unimpeded,
it appears as the outer field.
This is the way that the arising of appearances
appears as the unchanging mode of pervasiveness.
Since the appearances of this are naturally pure,
the unity of the dhātu and vidyā
abides as pristine consciousness, resting imperturbably.
It is self-arisen and the domain of oneself.
Since appearances are connected with the eyes,
that itself arises as the sky free from conditions.
Thus, the arising of appearances is unimpeded.
Thus, the three key points are the intimate instructions.
The person who possesses them
becomes familiar with the dhātu and actualizes it.
At the upper end of existence,
this is the union of the two,
from the nature of method and wisdom.
The two are intertwined and one,
without touching with a finger.
Since the conditions of the daytime arise,
there is appearance, and also at night,
the intrinsic nature of blue is applied.
The intrinsic nature of the dhātu is the house of light.
The unchanging great intrinsic radiance
is present in all buddhas and sentient beings.
It is not made by anyone.
It has always been nondual and equal.
This is the great pervasiveness of the subtle.
It arises as a part of one's own consciousness
and is a direct perception, utterly secret.
In this great secret
anyone who wishes to practice
is fully enlightened in primordial enlightenment.
If one looks at the side of things,
the characteristics of the illuminating
appear as signs.
By looking at emptiness,
there is no apprehended object of self-clarity.
Emptiness is not grasped by anyone.
This is clarity and emptiness
that have always been pervasive and present.
The object of clarity and emptiness, self-appearing,
holds the measure of enlightened intent.
It is shown to be the great self-purity.
In the sky of timeless appearance,
everything is included in the unchanging basic space.
If this is free from the conditions of arising,
there is not a single one who is not fully enlightened.
The appearance of samsara is impossible.
For example, like the letter na,
it is bound by the two and is a single bond.
It cannot be turned black.
Having gained confidence through familiarization with that,
like a rainbow in the sky,
the colors are distinct and completely perfect.
Then, through the power of further familiarization,
one who possesses the signs of that
The same is true of the space element.
Whoever wishes to uphold this tantra
is a sublime and fortunate one.
By upholding this tantra individually,
one attains inconceivable great qualities.
The tantra has three characteristics:
one should know how to apply them to its essence.
Just as the characteristics of the tantra
realize its own essence.
Thus, from the Blazing Lamp Tantra:
Chapter Four: The Lamp of the Pure Space
Thus, when the Teacher spoke these words,
Vajradhara and others of pure tantra
gave rise to a joyful and delighted mind
and praised the one who spoke this.
The Blazing Lamp Tantra, the Golden Flower Garland
The Essence of Sixty-Six Hundred Thousand
Translated, requested, and finalized by the Indian abbot Vimalamitra
and the translator Kawa Paltsek.
The glorious mantra sisters
protect this command of the Victorious One.
The glorious hat protector
and the lords of samaya
sever the life-force of those without samaya and with negative deeds.
The commentary on this tantra is called the Pearl Garland.
The Blazing Lamp itself has five mother and child sections.
Virtuous, virtuous, virtuous.