Vajrakilaya (Dorje Phurpa), also known as Vajrakumara (Dorje Zhonu, Youthful Vajra) is the wrathful heruka deity who embodies the enlightened activity of all the Buddhas. Vajrakilaya is one of the eight heruka deities of the Nyingma tantras. Vajrakilaya is also the personal meditational deity of Guru Padmasambhava. He practiced meditation on Vajrakilaya when many obstacles manifested before his display of attaining enlightenment.
Among the eight heruka deities, Vajrakilaya being the embodiment of the enlightened activity aspect of all the Buddhas, his practice is particularly swift in granting common and supreme accomplishments. In addition to being a swift path for the supreme realization of Buddhahood, the practice of Vajrakilaya is also particularly effective for clearing away any obstacles that we might face in the path to enlightenment. It is also effective in pacifying social conflicts and disturbances and in mending the breaches of samaya.
Wrathful heruka deities are powerful, yet compassionate, expressions of the primordially enlightened innate awareness. The vajra wrath swiftly cuts through layers of conceptual mind and reveals the wisdom nature swiftly. Unlike the ordinary wrath that finds its expression in aggression and hatred towards enemies, the vajra wrath of the herukas is non-dualistic and compassionate in nature. It is the uncontrived expression of the power of compassionate wisdom. Vajra wrath destroys the forces that are hostile to compassion – namely, the dualistic emotions of hatred, aggression, attachment, pride and delusion – by annihilating the ignorance that is at the root of all afflictive emotions. The wrathful heruka deities typically appear in union with their consorts. In the symbolism of the deities in union, the male deity represents “method” (in other words, enlightened activity or compassion) and the female deity represents “wisdom” (the realization of nature as it is). Their union implies that Buddhas are not separated for even a moment from their realization and the resulting great bliss even though they engage unceasingly in enlightened activity to benefit sentient beings.
The particular sadhana of Vajrakilaya that we perform at the centre is the daily practice sadhana from Ratna Lingpa’s terma called “dorje phurba yang sang lame” (The Unsurpassed extremely profound Vajrakilaya). This treasure teaching was revealed in 15th Century. This practice is performed from the view of Atiyoga while it also combines the aspects of Mahayoga and Anuyoga.
Suitability: To engage in this practice, one needs to have received an empowerment of Vajrakilaya and an oral transmission of this particular sadhana text from a qualified master. One should also try to be mindful of the meaning of compassionate wrath of the heruka without developing any wrong view. Those who do not have the empowerment can come and simply sit through the puja without reading the sadhana text and without reciting the mantra. They can still receive the benefits from this puja.