(6) A rain-cloud, verily, is a sacrificial fire, O Gautama. The year, in truth, is its fuel; the thunder-clouds, the smoke; the lightning, the flame, the thunder-bolts, the coals; the hail-stones, the sparks. In this fire the gods offer King Soma. From this oblation rain arises.

(60) And when the spirit of the rain goes forth from its chamber, the angels come and open the chamber and lead it out, and when it is diffused over the whole earth it unites with the water on the earth. And whensoever it unites with the water on the earth . . .

(12) If He desireth, He causeth it to rain, morning and evening ; And if He desireth, He withholdeth it, And all things are. in His hand.'"'

(18) When wandering alone, separated from dear friends, When the void forms of one's own thoughts are shining here, May the Buddhas, exerting the force of their grace, Cause not to come the fear, awe, and terror in the Bardo. When the five bright Wisdom-Lights are shining here, May recognition come without dread and without awe; When the divine bodies of the Peaceful and the Wrathful are shining here; May the assurance of fearlessness be obtained and the Bardo be recognized. When, by the power of evil karma, misery is being tasted, May the tutelary deities dissipate the misery; When the natural sound of Reality is reverberating [like] a thousand thunders, May they be transmuted into the sounds of the Six Syllables. When unprotected, karma having to be followed here, I beseech the Gracious Compassionate [One] to protect me; When suffering miseries of karmic propensities here, May the blissfulness of the Clear Light dawn; May the Five Elements not rise up as enemies; But may I behold the realms of the Five Orders of the Enlightened Ones.' Thus, in earnest faith and humility, offer up the prayer; whereby all fears will vanish and Buddhahood in the Sambhoga-Kaya will undoubtedly be won: important is this. Being undistracted, repeat it in that manner, three of [even] seven times.

(6) In a clean spot, a firm seat should be made, neither too high nor too low, and it should be covered by cloth, skin, and holy grass one over the other. There, being seated, having made the mind one-pointed, controlling the actions of the mind and the senses, let him practice Dhyana Yoga for self-purification.

(6) If thou dost not recognize the radiance of thine own intellect, think, with faith, 'It is the radiance of the grace of the Bhagavan Ratna-Sambhava; I will take refuge in it'; and pray. It is the hook of the grace- rays of the Bhagavan Ratna-Sambhava; believe in it.

(3) O nobly-born, if thou dost not now recognize thine own thought-forms, whatever of meditation or of devotions thou mayst have performed while in the human world — if thou hast not met with this present teaching — the lights will daunt thee, the sounds will awe thee, and the rays will terrify thee. Shouldst thou not know this all-important key to the teachings — not being able to recognize the sounds, lights, and rays — thou wilt have to wander in the Sangsara.

(3) On the mythological tree in heaven which produces both wind and water, that is the rain-cloud, see my Egyptian Mythology, particularly with reference to Mist and Cloud , in Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch. , Vol. VIII

(6) Now there are three confirmatory experiences which can be tested. The first is that, when one has entered the state of meditation, the gods (20) are in the valley. Men are heard talking as though at a distance of several hundred paces, each one quite clear. But the sounds are all like an echo in a valley. One can always hear them, but never oneself. This is called the presence of the gods in the valley.

(33) "First secure a thread of red silk that has been spun or twisted to the left instead of the right. Then place in the ground twelve crosses made of laurel leaves, and also prepare a long strip of new white paper. Write with an unused pen the characters and symbols as seen on the second circle. Wind this latter strip of paper around with the red silken thread and pin them upon the twelve crosses of laurel leaves. Outside this second circle make a third one which is also of virgin parchment and pinned upon twelve crosses of consecrated palm. When you have made these three circles, retire into them until at last you stand in the center upon a pentagram drawn in the midst of the great cross first drawn. Now, to insure success, do everything according to the description, and when you have read off the sacred invocation pronounce the name of the spirit which you desire to appear. It is essential that you pronounce the name very distinctly. You must also note the day and the hour, for each spirit can only be invoked at certain times."

(12) Worship the God of heaven, Who causeth the rain and the dew to descend on the earth, And doeth everything upon the earth, And hath created everything by His word,

(2) During this interval, the directions are to be applied [by the lama or reader]: There are those [devotees] of the perfected stage and of the visualizing stage. If it be one who was in the perfected stage, then call him thrice by name and repeat over and over again the above instructions of setting-face-to-face with the Clear Light. If it be one who was in the visualizing stage, then read out to him the introductory descriptions and the text of the Meditation on his tutelary deity, and then say, O thou of noble-birth, meditate upon thine own tutelary deity. — [Here the deity's name is to be mentioned by the reader.] Do not be distracted. Earnestly concentrate thy mind upon thy tutelary deity. Meditate upon him as if he were the reflection of the moon in water, apparent yet in-existent [in itself]. Meditate upon him as if he were a being with a physical body.

(11) He speaks to the tulip, and makes it blossom. He speaks a spell to body, and it becomes soul; He speaks to the sun, and it becomes a fount of light. Again, in its ear He whispers a word of power, What is it that God says to the ear of earth, That it attends thereto and rests steadfast? What is it that Speaker says to the cloud, That it pours forth rain-water like a water-skin? Whosoever is bewildered by wavering will, l In his ear hath God whispered His riddle,

(34) Still, even when this is done, if the holding [phenomena] as real remaineth undissolved, the womb- door is not closed; and, if one be ready to enter into the womb, thereupon one should close the womb- door by meditating upon the Clear Light, this being the fifth [method]. The meditation is performed as follows: 'Lo! All substances are mine own mind; and this mind is vacuousness, is unborn, and unceasing.' Thus meditating, allow the mind to rest in the uncreated [state] — like, for example, the pouring of water into water. The mind should be allowed its own easy mental posture, in its natural [or unmodified] condition, clear and vibrant. By maintaining this relaxed, uncreated [state of mind], the womb-doors of the four kinds of birth are sure to be closed. Meditate thus until the closing is successfully accomplished.

(13) As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind.

(3) On the authority of Zayd ibn Khalid al-Juhaniyy (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

The Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) led the morning prayer for us at al-Hudaybiyah following rainfall during the night. When the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) finished, he faced the people and said to them: Do you know what your Lord has said? They said: Allah and his Messenger know best. He said: This morning one of my servants became a believer in Me and one a disbeliever. As for him who said: We have been given rain by virtue of Allah and His mercy, that one is a believer in Me, a disbeliever in the stars; and as for him who said: We have been given rain by such-and-such a star, that one is a disbeliever in Me, a believer in the stars.

It is related by al-Bukhari (also by Malik and an-Nasa'i).

(101) And now give presents to the rain that it be not withheld from descending upon you, nor yet the dew, when it has received gold and silver from you that it may descend.

(11) Afterwards, with a cloud for a jar (khûmb)—thus they call the measure which was a means of the work—he seized upon the water and made it rain most prodigiously, in drops like bull's heads and men's heads, pouring in handfuls and pouring in armfuls, both great and small.

(9) O nobly-born, if thou art one who hath not obtained the select words of the guru, thou wilt have fear of the pure radiances of Wisdom and of the deities thereof. Being thus frightened, thou wilt be attracted towards the impure sangsaric objects. Act not so. Humbly trust in the dazzling pu7re radiances of Wisdom. Frame thy mind to faith, and think, 'The compassionate radiances of Wisdom of the Five Orders of Buddhas have come to take hold of me out of compassion; I take refuge in them.'

(41) And there mine eyes saw the secrets of the lightning and of the thunder, and the secrets of the winds, how they are divided to blow over the earth, and the secrets of the clouds and dew, and there I saw from whence they proceed in that place and from whence they saturate the dusty earth.