Part Four: Mitrayogin's Instructions on the Practices of the Six Deities

For each of the empowerments in the previous section there is a corresponding set of instructions, again all written by Öpak Dorje, with the exception of the Draklha sādhana, which was written by Drakpa Rinchen. And as with the empowerments, it is the instructions related to Avalokiteshvara that are the most detailed. They begin with a poem, Vajra Verses on the Graded Path of Avalokiteshvara, a highly condensed presentation of the entire path to enlightenment, from the preliminary practices, through the visualizations and mantra recitation of the generation stage, to the different practices of the perfection stage, culminating in the teachings on the intermediate state, or bardo. The Vajra Verses form the basis for the three texts that follow it: a complete sādhana, including an offering to the dharma protector and the feast offering; detailed instructions on the preliminary practices and generation and perfection stages—effectively a commentary on the Vajra Verses; and a supplement in the form of pith instructions.

The instructions for the other deities—Mañjushrī, Vajrapāṇi, Amitāyus, Green Tārā, and Yellow Jambhala—cover more or less the same ground but are less detailed. Sādhana texts for these deities are absent from The Treasury of Precious Instructions, which makes one suspect that they either have been lost or were never written down.

The section concludes with a prayer to the lineage teachers of the Avalokiteshvara sādhana (which can presumably serve equally for the practices of the other deities) and the sādhana of the protector of these teachings, Draklha Gönpo. Added on at the end of the lineage prayer is a sort of super-mantra combining the mantras of all the deities in this tradition.