The Tree of Enlightenment

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
e reliminary raices
I n Chapters 22 through 26, I tried to outline what we might
call the universe of experience of the Vajrayana. at is why
I began with a consideration of the cultural and intellectual climate
in which the Vajrayana first appeared, and only then went
on to consider its religious and philosophical background, methodology,
myth and symbol, and psychology, physiology, and cosmology.
In Chapters 27 through 29, I will look at the actual
stages in the practice of the Vajrayana path. In general, there are
three such stages: (1) the preliminary or preparatory stage, (2) the
stage of entry, and (3) the actual practice. I have divided the preliminary
stage into two categories: general and specific.
As mentioned in Chapter 22, the Mahayana and Vajrayana
are in fact two components of a single tradition. eir starting
point and goal are identical; they differ only in the methods
employed in getting from that starting point to the goal. From
this we can understand that, in terms of general preliminaries,
there is a great deal of similarity between what is required for
Mahayana practice and what is required for Vajrayana practice.
We need to touch on the preliminaries briefly to emphasize
again that the Vajrayana practices are not ones that can be
undertaken without the proper kind of preparation. In fact, the
general preliminaries required for Vajrayana practice are those
required for the whole of the Mahayana path. In this category
of general preliminary practices, we have (1) the taking of refuge,
followed by (2) contemplation of suffering, (3) the law of karma,
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