IN HIS GREAT COMPASSION THE BUDDHA also emanated as Chenrezig, a form of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. Practices such as the Chenrezig and Tara sadhanas can be approached by someone leading an ordinary life, and the Chenrezig meditation is uncommon both in the ease of its performance and the blessing that it bestows. It too is development stage practice, and regardless of which yidam is practiced, this practice is important because in it we work with our attachment to "I" or "I am." As long as we have the idea "I am my body," we cannot obtain Buddhahood. The Vajrayana teaches precise and skillful methods to transcend or abandon this clinging, and all of these involve changing one's attachment to physical existence.

Instead of conceiving of oneself in an ordinary body, one visualizes oneself as Chenrezig. For example, one thinks, "I am Chenrezig, my form is that of Chenrezig." However, one does not think of the deity's body as solid or material, made of flesh and blood like one's ordinary body, or made of metal or stone like an idol. One thinks of it as appearance that is inseparable from emptiness, like a rainbow or like a reflection in a mirror. Although the visualization of oneself as Chenrezig is a mental attitude, it has been said that one's attitude can change phenomena. This means that if one maintains, over a period of time, the conviction that one is the deity, one will eventually become the deity.

-----------