Kalachakra Tantra And Cosmology

The Kalacakra Tantra is divided into five chapters. The content of the five chapters is as follows:

• The first chapter deals with what is called the "outer Kalacakra" (the world system, loka-dhatu), which provides a cosmology based on Vaibhasika Abhidharma, Samkhya, the Puranas and Jain cosmology. The Kalacakra calendar, the birth and death of universes, our solar system and the workings of the elements are expounded. The myth and prophecy of the kingdom of Shambhala is also discussed.
• The second chapter deals with "inner Kalacakra," which concerns human gestation and birth, the functions within the human body, and the subtle body aspects, mainly the channels, winds, drops and so forth. Human experience is described by four mind states: waking, dream, deep sleep, and a fourth state which is available through the energies of sexual orgasm. The potentials (drops, bindus) which give rise to these states are described, together with the processes that flow from them.
• The third chapter deals with the requirements and preparation for meditation, mainly, the initiations (abhiseka) of Kalacakra.
• The fourth chapter explains the Sadhana and yoga (spiritual practices), both the meditation on the mandala and its deities in the generation stage, and the perfection stage practices of the "six yogas".
• The fifth chapter describes the state of gnosis (jnana), which is the result or fruit of the practice.

The Kalachakra is a polysemic term in Vajrayana Buddhism that means "wheel of time" or "time cycles". "Kālacakra" is also the name of a series of Buddhist texts and a major practise lineage in Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism.

What is the significance of Kalachakra?

This is a sacred event where key Buddhist teachings are passed on to devotees. The word Kalachakra actually means "wheel of time" in Vajrayana Buddhism. Kalacakra also refers both to a patron tantric deity or yidam in Vajrayana and to the philosophies and yogas of the Kalacakra tradition. 

It depicts a mythic reality whereby cosmic and socio-historical events correspond to processes in the bodies of individuals. These teachings are meant to lead to a transformation of one's body and mind into perfect Buddhahood through various yogic methods.

Who teaches Kalachakra?

The Kalachakra Path is fully integrated with the foundational practices of the sutra tradition of Buddhism as taught by Shakyamuni Buddha, but in order to practice Kalachakra, it is necessary to be formally invited, which is the primary purpose of taking an initiation. As is evident, receiving an invitation to this great path is based on causes and conditions of both the receiver and the giver – simply attending the ceremony does not guarantee that one will receive true initiation. 

So too, the ceremony may form a connection to the path yet it is not the path. One can liken Kalachakra initiation to receiving a seed for practice however it is the practitioner that plants, nurtures and cultivates the seed.

Cosmology

The Kalacakra Mandala depicts the teachings of the tantra in visual and symbolic form.

In the Kālacakratantra's cosmology, samsara (cyclic existence) is made up of innumerable Buddha fields and of the five elements or properties (characterised by origination, duration, and destruction). 

The whole cosmos arises due to the collective karma of sentient beings, which produces vital winds (vayu) that mold and dissolve the atomic particles that make up the various inanimate things of the world and the bodies of sentient beings.

A key element of the Kalacakratantra is the correspondence between macrocosmic processes and microcosmic processes. The Kalacakratantra maps the various features and developmental processes of the world system to the various features of the human body. 

The phrase "as it is outside, so it is within the body" (yatha bahye tatha dehe) is often found in the Kalacakratantra to emphasise the similarities and correspondence between human beings (inner Kalacakra) and the cosmos (outer Kalacakra), as well as with the enlightened Kalacakra mandala of deities (alternative Kalacakra).

This correspondence comes about because both the cosmos and the bodies of sentient beings come into existence due to the efficacy of the habitual propensities of their minds. In this sense, the cosmos is like a cosmic replica of a sentient being's body. Thus, one can say that the cosmos and the individual are nondual and mutually pervasive, even in terms of their conventional existence. They are interconnected, and they influence each other. 

In terms of ultimate reality, the cosmos and the individual are also of the same nature, the nature of gnosis (jnana), which manifests in the form of emptiness (sunyata-bimba). Those who are free of the afflictive and cognitive obscurations nondually perceive the world as the form of emptiness in a nondual manner; that is, they perceive the world as an inseparable unity of form and emptiness. 

On the other hand, ordinary sentient beings, whose perception is influenced by afflictive and cognitive obscurations, see the world in a dual fashion, as something other than themselves. They see the world as an ordinary place inhabited by ordinary sentient beings. But in reality, the entire cosmos, with Mount Meru in its center, is a cosmic body of the Jina, a cosmic image or reflection (pratima) of the Buddha, having the nature of form. 

As such, it is similar to the Nirmanakaya of the Buddha. Therefore, according to this tantric system, one should attend to this cosmic image of the Buddha as one attends to the statue of the Buddha, created for the sake of worship.

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Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease

But increase further and further.

Dedication of Merit

By this merit may we obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrong-doings.

May we liberate migratory from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death.

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