The phenomena of purification

As has been explained by the verses, ‘Those of the Vajra lineage should definitely take life; those of the sword should speak untrue words,’ in both conventional and ultimate explanations.

Dropping the tooth stick and distributing blessed water

The tooth stick should come from a sappy tree and should measure twelve finger-widths in length. It should be adorned by a flower at its tip. The master gives such a stick to a disciple who stands to face the eastern side of a mandala. The disciples are then instructed to drop the stick onto a square mandala board measuring four cubits, the surface of which has been polished with the five products of a cow, namely: urine, dung, milk, butter, and curd collected before they had fallen to the ground.

If the stick stands erect it symbolizes the attainment the feat of a knowledge holder; if it falls towards the master the attainment of supreme feats; if it is upside down it symbolizes the attainment of the feat of invisibility; if it points to the east, peace; if to the north, increase; if to the west, power; if to the south, force; and if it falls out of the mandala it symbolizes the attainment of no feats whatsoever.

The meaning of the initiation and its purification

The permission initiation in the sector of the western pristine consciousness’s face corresponds to a father’s giving reading lessons and so forth to a child. Just as the wind of pristine consciousness circulates Just after a child is born, the permission initiation as well as its appendages clear away defilements of the pristine consciousness.

Planting the seed of Vajrasattva in the mental continuum clears away the constituents of pristine consciousness, and gives the capacity to attain the seventh ground as its fruit.

What is purified by the seven initiations altogether

From among the four types of Mandalas, these initiations are given on the basis of a sand Mandala. All seven initiation are called water initiations because they are followed by water activities. They clear away the defilements of ill deeds, they authorize disciples to cultivate the stage of generation and the achievement of the feats of the highest pure land. They set potencies for the collection of merit and grant practices and releases related to the stage of generation.

Having become upasakas of secret mantra, if during this life disciples actualize the wheel of the Mandala, they will become lords of the seventh round. However, if this is not achieved in this life but they remain free from the ten unwholesome actions, they will attain the state of the seventh ground after seven lifetimes. Then with a sense of attaining the seventh ground, the disciples should say the mantra with the pride of being the deity.