Among the numerous teachings of the Illusory Body, one is to meditate on the shadow-like nature of the self-body. First let someone praise and then insult you and observe the reactions of pleasure and resentment. Thus the crude form of the delusory thoughts[r_nar:75] are subdued; this is the practice of the Impure Illusory Body. Another practice is called the Pure Illusory Body Yoga. That is to meditate on the illusory-like self-Buddha figure and let another person praise and insult you and observe the reaction of pleasure and displeasure, until an indifferent feeling toward both praise and insult arises. But this practice is not a special practice; it is the common practice of the highest Yoga and other general teachings.

Other teachings of the Illusory Body are the Three-Steps

[paragraph continues] Illusory Body, or the Secret Illusory Body; and the Two-in-One Illusory Body of the Five Steps. However, the discriminations and differences among these Illusory-Body teachings are not even briefly mentioned here. Nevertheless the teaching of Illusory Body (in the Six Yogas) is an uncommon teaching of the Perfecting Yoga of the Anuttara Tantra. The former one [the practice of The Impure Illusory Body. Ed.] does not, however, fulfill all the qualifications of the real Illusory Body; the second one [the Pure Illusory Body Yoga. Ed.] is also common because this teaching can also be found in the lower Tantras.

(Through the practice of the above teachings), the thoughts of anger and lust are subdued and the mind-state of unconcern is attained. Then combining the decisive understanding of the Voidness of the Middle Way with the Innate-Bliss and the essence of meditation practice, the yogi should carefully remember this state of mind. If he can practice well in such manner, immediately after the arising of the Yi-Dam figure (or the completion of the Arising Yoga period) through the power of Samadhi, all the manifestations appear to him as insubstantial and delusory like the mirage. With this teaching of identifying the manifestations with the Mandala, one does not have to meditate on the non-self nature of the divine manifestation purposely; such feeling will arise naturally without effort.

A teaching of the pith-instruction of the Marpa School is that the yogi should stare at a mirror ...and see whether his own image reflects from the mirror as the true Buddha's image. This teaching is designed for promoting the meditation of Arising Yoga. According to the pith-instructions given by gurus at the time of the bestowal of the Third

[paragraph continues] Initiation, the image of the Vajrasattva reflected from a mirror is shown to the disciple to point out the non-self aspect of the Illusory Body and to illustrate its mirage-like nature.