Indistinguishable-body Visualization

In beginning sections of Tantric Sadhanas the practitioner visualizes all things to return to their selfless nature so as to free the mind from dualistic perspectives, and then the appearance of Yidam from such empty nature and subsequent salvation activities are practiced. Nevertheless, our ideas related to and senses of the body are so deep-rooted that it is extremely difficult to get them off our minds. Tantric patriarch Machig Labdron aimed at eradicating this root of dualistic perspectives and originated the practice of Chod, cutting through, to utilize our grasping to the body and transform it through visualization into offerings of the whole Dharmadhatu so as to transcend the grasping. (For detailed discussions please read my work, "Chod in Limitless-Oneness.")

As to the question of how one should visualize, during a practice session at the juncture of visualizing all things to return to their selfless nature, to transcend the habitual tendency of grasping to the body, the usual instructions would say to visualize the body as illusive, originally empty, without substance in reality (in the absolutely independent sense). However, all these ideas are in apparent conflict with our long-established vivid sensual experiences, and hence it is very difficult to dwell on them till full realization. Therefore, below I will offer my insight obtained through practices to share with all practitioners: One should think that in the Dharmadhatu this body is like a drip in the ocean, a grain of sand in a desert, or a puff in the atmosphere. As such, even though its presence is vivid and yet it has always been part of the totality and could not be distinguished and singled out. Once this point is comprehended, then one no longer lingers on how the body is but dwells instead on experiencing the boundless openness of the whole Dharmadhatu.

Written in Chinese on November 4, 2004
Translated on November 10, 2004
El Cerrito, California