Samayasattva

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Samayasattva (Skt.; Tib. དམ་ཚིག་སེམས་དཔའ་, damtsik sempa, Wyl. dam tshig sems dpa' ) — the 'commitment being', i.e. visualising oneself as the deity during kyerim practice.

Why is it called the samayasattva? For instance, if one's teacher is in front of one, and one makes the vow to accomplish such-and-such a virtuous action or do such-and-such a practice, one should not break that promise [or, samaya]. Breaking that promise creates a seed for going to hell. If one does not break that promise but lives up to it, one can attain the ordinary and supreme siddhis. Similarly, when one meditates on one's body, speech, and mind as the nature of [the deity], since the buddha's body, speech, and mind are inseparable from one's own body, speech, and mind, one is blessed by the body, speech, and mind of all the buddhas. That is the promise of the buddhas; therefore that visualization is called the samayasattva.[1]

Alternative translations

  • Symbolic being (Oxford reference)

References

  1. His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Pure Appearance—Development and Completion Stages in Vajrayana Practice (Halifax: Vajravairochana Translation Committee, 2002), page 70. restricted publication

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