Tantric
practitioners now days put much emphasizes on Tibetan Buddhism and especially
the Unsurpassed Tantra. On doing so, they have overlooked the importance of
Kriya Yoga. These folks have scorned at the complexity of Kriya Yoga and hence
tend to shy away from venturing into it. However, they have overlooked the fact
that although Kriya Yoga is complex, it is quite easy to achieve siddhi
(accomplishment).
Unlike the
practice of chakras, nadis and bindus of the Anuttara Tantra which is very
difficult to master and get it right. The first reason is that the practices of
Tummo and Illusion Body seek to transform; if the transformation is not
perfect, then problems will arise. On the other hand, Kriya Yoga only needs to
follow a prescribed ritual and generally not many problems will arise during
the process. Second, there are very difficult to find an accomplished master
who is willing to part with his knowledge. Furthermore there are many oral
instructions that a master will keep with his life and will not part to
ordinary folks such as us. Moreover, most of us don’t read Tibetan or Sanskrit,
hence it is extremely difficult to have a complete view of complete Anuttara system
naturally speaking.
The only remedial action is first to learn about Chinese or
Japanese Mantrayana and to achieve siddhi. The reason is that once siddhi is
obtained, our Satya-devata (本尊)
and Dharma Protectors shall help us in our further practices. Let me show you
my personal recent experience:
A few days back, I was busy in translating < Āryatārā-dhāraṇī-arolika>
and faced with problems as some of the Sanskrit terms cannot be translated from
localised Chinese terms; so my progress was delayed for a few days until this
morning that I dreamt of a secretary with a ponytail, wearing a white shirt but
black overcoat and skirt asked what would I like to drink. And I answered I want
some Chrysanthemum tea. So she turned her back and went to fetch a packet for
me. But the main door was blocked by heavy objects…
Then I heard a loud
bang, when I went to investigate; all the obstacles were gone! Apparently the secretary
has removed them and I got a pack of Chrysanthemum tea in my hand.
Well, you may want to say that this is only a dream.
Even stranger was that, after I woke up, and when I took a
second look at the problems, they were solved in a jiffy!
Hence, I would back by the effectiveness of Kriya Yoga is
beyond doubt. It is by the fact that I have not practise the Tara
Avalokitesvara sadhana, by merely translating, I already have one amazing
experience! Let alone if I really venture into real practice. The result should
be more evident I am sure. Well, then and again, it is up to you to believe it
or not.
May your efforts become fruitful Arjan Perng.
ReplyDeleteKriya Yoga is popular due to Yogananda in the west.
You might get a lot of people who would like to read translations
of this. The interesting thing is if one is knowlegeable also about
the western transmission and compare it with the translation.
Actually the sanskrit does awful in chinese. Its better to stick it to
literall pronunction in the western alphabet such as people translate mantra and put a translation below. While when it comes from Sanskrit the meanings are deep and can be understood on different levels with words that have different meaning.
I have done some small translation from chinese into english about taoist meditation and found that at time beside choosing one word would choose the whole set of words a pictogram could mean and add the context in addition and sometime have to point back to another paragraph where the same word is different written. As it is literal translation with interpretional translation one can point back to the literal one and compare which make sometime "other people" recognize few things which can upgrade the translation later.
I guess from Sanskrit it is a very time intensive task
where at time the higher beings also have word to say.....
(For some small text I took some weeks and thats only chinese into english while I have know chinese only from talking in Jyutping with the help of an online translator but going word for word. The text ended up 3 times as long as the chinese text)
May the patience and passion for translation keep you motivated on this task. And may we have the merit to read this translation in completeness
as most time I saw many able people in other area have good ideas, start very good but lost interest and the the publishing was after years canceled.