Intro to the Thirteen Deities of Guru Rinpoche

The Thirteen Deities practice, also known as the Thirteen Profound Instructions of Guru Rinpoche, encompasses both the generation and completion stages of practice, as well as activity-enhancing methods. This extremely secret teaching was transmitted by Guru Padmasambhava to the Tibetan people at Gungtang Valley before his departure to the land of the Rakshasas. Apart from five pure disciples, not a single word was shared with others. It is a skilful method for liberating Tibetans from suffering and contains unique teachings from all of Guru Rinpoche's manifestation activities. The practice incorporates the essential points of the Eight Great Herukas from the Ancient Translation School of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as the profound meaning of the Six Dharmas and Six-Branch Practice from the New Translation School. It enables one to attain the state of Vajradhara in this lifetime, removes obstacles to spreading both sutra and tantra teachings in this life, and extensively accomplishes Buddhist activities. It can harness the consciousness of local deities, nagas, and dharma protectors to fulfil assigned tasks, and spontaneously accomplishes the four types of activities related to dharma, wealth, desire, and liberation. It is a great treasury of blessings.

This teaching is divided into four sections:

1. The Outer Supplication Section
Known as the Seven-Chapter Supplication (The Seven-Line Prayer to Guru Rinpoche), it was discovered by Sangpo Drakpa, an incarnation of King Mutri Tsenpo. It was translated from dakini script by Guru Chowang, an incarnation of Nyang Tingdzin Zangpo, and this practice has spread throughout the world.

2. The Inner Accomplishment Section
Known as the Practice of the Vidyadhara Lineage, it was discovered by Vidyadhara Yeshe Jungne, bringing countless fortunate beings to maturity and liberation.

3. The Secret Accomplishment Section
Known as the Later Collection of Teachings, it was discovered by Arik Panchen Pema Wangyal, an incarnation of King Trisong Detsen. Within a single mandala of over three hundred deities, it contains methods for achieving both common and uncommon accomplishments. These blessings continue to shine brilliantly in the world.

4. The Most Secret Section
Known as the Extremely Profound Wish-Fulfilling Jewel or the Treasury of All Siddhis, commonly called the Siddhi Treasury, this is the empowerment practice. Kathok Rinchen Chenpo II, Rinchen Tsewang Norbu, an incarnation of Nubchen Namkhai Nyingpo, received teachings directly from Guru Rinpoche multiple times. This contains the essence of all Guru Rinpoche's accomplishment practices, combining both distant and close lineages, pure vision and mind transmissions, and old and new translation traditions. It contains ocean-like deity practices and complete generation and completion stages for each instruction. All Buddhist teachings are contained within these thirteen deity instructions, which, like a wish-fulfilling jewel, naturally accomplish all aspirations.

Subsequently, many accomplished masters such as Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, the great treasure revealer Chokgyur Lingpa, and the great Heruka Khyentse Yeshe Dorje discovered various extensive and concise aspiration prayers, all drawn forth through the direct or indirect blessing power of the Siddhi Treasury.

The Siddhi Treasury states: "In the future, incarnations of qualified treasure revealers will discover such teachings, and their discoveries will be blessed by this." Many saints have written commentaries and extensive explanations of this teaching, including the holy Barava Orgyen Wangyal Yeshe, Dana Pema Öser, Sumang Tsewang Kunkyab, and Yumok Sonam Thondup.

Regarding the compilation of rituals, through the aspirations of the great Situ Panchen, Rinchen Chenpo IV Rinchen Lekpai Dorje, Longtsö Pema Lungrik Gyatso, and Rinchen Chenpo V Jigme Nyeden, various long and short ritual texts suitable for practitioners of different capacities were composed.

This tradition continues unbroken in the Amdo and Golok regions through the kindness of Longtsö Pema Lungrik Gyatso and Rinchen Jigme Nyeki. Additionally, through the aspirations of Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, parts were included in Volume Nine of "The Great Treasury of Precious Termas."

The postures, expressions, and colours of the deity images differ slightly from other traditions, but these are not errors. As mentioned in Master Barava's commentary, any deity can be visualised with one or multiple faces according to different practices and preferences.

Texts exist as handwritten copies from Dzakha Monastery, Mangyu Genong, Ladakh Tashidzong Rinpoche, and many other scholars and accomplished practitioners' personal copies. Woodblock prints are preserved at Bodong, Babang, Dzama monasteries, Rikung Mantric College, and a few other locations, though most versions are handwritten.

In our translation, some phrases in the supplication text have been slightly modified based on the dialogue between Rinchen Tsewang Norbu and the Royal Preceptor of Nepal, not through arbitrary changes.

Introduction to the Peaceful Guru
The practice discovered by Kathok Rinchen Chenpo II Rinchen Tsewang Norbu belongs to the three kayas' single mandala practice. Among the three kayas, the nirmanakaya consists of Guru Rinpoche and four dakinis, the nine great heart sons who accomplished the eight great Herukas, the sambhogakaya Vajrasattva and eight great bodhisattvas, and the dharmakaya Samantabhadra and four primary Buddhas.

Introduction to the Eight Great Herukas
The eight great peaceful buddhas manifest as the eight great bodhisattvas common to Mahayana sutras. In wrathful form, they are known as the eight great blood-drinking deities: True Nature, Manjushri Body, Lotus Speech, Kilaya Activity, Command Over Mamos, Amrita Qualities, World Offerings, and Fierce Mantras, collectively known as the eight Herukas. Though the eight bodhisattvas are already buddhas, they appear in bodhisattva form, here named as eight buddhas according to their ultimate attainment.

The Eight Blood-Drinking Deities:
- Body Activity - Manjushri Heruka
- Speech Activity - Padma Heruka
- Mind Activity - True Nature Heruka (Transcendental practices)
- Quality Activity - Amrita Heruka
- Activity Practice - Kilaya Heruka
- Commanding Non-Humans - Perfect Awareness King
- Fierce Mantras - Chemchok Heruka (Worldly practices)
- World Offerings - Möpa Heruka

In terms of consciousness, the eight consciousnesses exist during the ground and path stages, becoming eight wisdoms at the fruition stage. Buddha taught 84,000 methods of wisdom manifestation, among which the tantric section is most precious and rare, taught by only three buddhas among the thousand buddhas of this fortunate aeon. Tantra is divided into four sections, with Highest Yoga Tantra being supreme. In the Nyingma tradition's earlier translations, it divides into practice and sutra sections, with the practice section directly concerning the eight tathagatas' methods, containing many accomplished masters' shortcuts, divided into distant and close transmissions.

The distant transmission of the "Three Essential Instructions" entered the human realm through the great compassion of buddhas and bodhisattvas who would not abandon sentient beings. In Shakyamuni Buddha's realm of endurance, lighting the lamp of true dharma, from the meditation seal jewel bowl of Vairochana Buddha filled with fragrant ocean water, grew twenty-five lotus stems. On the thirteenth level's lotus pistil, equivalent to Vairochana's crown, exist one billion triple-thousand great thousand worlds, among which this Saha world is where Nirmanakaya Shakyamuni Buddha spreads the teachings of sutras and tantras, particularly the precious secret vajrayana that transforms desire through desire, makes afflictions the path, wisdom the fruit, and achieves buddhahood in one lifetime.

Twenty-eight years after Shakyamuni Buddha's parinirvana, Vajrapani taught the tantras to five noble ones of excellent lineage. King Indrabodhi, Vajrapani's emanation, received the empowerment of the displayed scripture and inner realisation of tantra's meaning, which was then spread to humans through the vidyadhara lineage. All practice sections were concealed by the dakini Karmaraj Matrika in the great stupa of Deche Tsekpa, later invited forth by the eight great vidyadharas and the complete collection of Guru Padmasambhava, continuing with the special empowerment of four great rivers.

Nyi Nyima Özer received the distant transmission of the Eight Heruka teachings and later revealed the "Assembly of Sugatas" (or Tathagata Collection) comprising 120 tantras, becoming the lineage holder of both distant and close transmissions.

The close transmission collections recorded in "The Great Treasury of Precious Termas" include: Guru Chöwang's "Secret Perfection of the Eight Herukas," Northern Rock Treasury Guding's "Self-Arising Self-Manifesting," Arik Panchen's "Complete Collection of Vidyadharas," Orgyen Lingpa's "Ocean of Collected Teachings," Pema Lingpa's "Mind Mirror," Sangden Lingpa's "Subduing Pride," Karmé Nyingpo's "Essence of Accomplishment," Pema Dechen Lingpa's "Collection of Teachings," and Mingyur Dorje's celestial teaching "Eight Herukas."

Among these, the three supreme collections are the extensive "Assembly of Sugatas," the intermediate "Secret Perfection of the Eight Herukas," and the concise "Self-Arising Self-Manifesting." All contain complete tantras, oral transmissions, and instructions for practitioners of superior, middling, and lesser capacities.

According to the treasure teachings, the Eight Herukas are divided into guru, deity, and dakini categories. This transmission follows the treasure discoveries of the father-son lineage (Pema Dechen Lingpa and Kathok Rinchen Chenpo II Tsewang Norbu), belonging to the unique and complete Dakini Eight Heruka tradition, primarily focusing on the completion stage with attributes including practices of channels, winds, and drops. Guru Chöwang's "Secret Perfection of the Eight Herukas" primarily focuses on completion stage practices both with and without attributes and the Great Perfection, while Northern Rock Treasury Guding's "Self-Arising Self-Manifesting" primarily focuses on Great Perfection practice.

Introduction to Vajrasattva's Five Stages
Among Vajrasattva's methods for benefiting beings, there are Vajrasattva tantras. In the Nyingma tradition's inner three sections, most are Vajrasattva methods, all taught through dialogues between Vajrapani (Mahasthamaprapta) Bodhisattva and Vajradhara or Samantabhadra.

In the early translation Nyingma tradition, Vajrasattva is the primary practice. During Guru Padmasambhava's time, both Namkhai Nyingpo and Guru Rinpoche translated several Vajrasattva practices, most importantly the "Guhyagarbha Tantra" from the tantra section. Among the eight great accomplishment practices, the generally known Eight Heruka tantras also belong to Vajrasattva practices, thus the Nyingma tradition, especially within treasure teachings, contains many Vajrasattva methods.

This empowerment comes from Kathok Rinchen Chenpo II Rinchen Tsewang Norbu's unique treasure teachings. The text titled "Essential Yoga" contains Vajrasattva's outer, inner, secret, most secret, and true nature practices, including Kriya, Charya, Yoga, Anuttara Yoga, and the extremely secret ear-transmitted yoga sections.

Introduction to the Dakini Section's All-Accomplishing (Standing Tara)
This teaching was discovered by Rinchen Tsewang Norbu, who repeatedly witnessed standing one-faced, two-armed Tara manifesting and teaching in various locations (Ladakh, Nepal's Boudha Stupa, Mönpa region, and Chamdo Monastery). He discovered the original Sanskrit ritual text in a ruined stupa in Nepal. Through practicing this, he achieved accomplishment and continues to spread this teaching today.