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The Accoutrements and Aspects of the Wrathful Deities
Wrathful deities display the nine expressions of the dance. Tenpe Nyima quotes the description from Heruka Galpo:
Captivating, heroic, and terrifying,Laughing, ferocious, and fearful,Compassionate, intimidating, and tranquil:Assume these nine expressions of dance.
These consist of three aspects of wisdom body, three aspects of wisdom speech, and three aspects of wisdom mind, described by Shechen Gyaltsap as follows:
1.) The first of these is captivating, which is an expression of passion. It refers to the essence of Vairochana, which is the deities’ seductiveness, as they are adorned with jewelry, the male and female consorts are embracing, etc.
2.) They are also heroic, an expression of wrath, referring to the essence of Ratnasambhava, the fact that they are so powerful as to be invincible.
3.) They are terrifying, an expression of stupidity, referring to the essence of Akshobhya, the way that they instill fear merely on sight.
These first three are their three physical expressions.
4.) They are laughing, the essence of Amitabha, emitting sounds of laughter like “Ha ha!” due to their state of passionate, haughty glee.
5.) They are ferocious, the essence of Amoghasiddhi, berating with abusive words like “Capture! Strike!”
6.) They are fearsome, the essence of Mamaki, as they overwhelm with fierce roaring sounds similar to thunder cracks.
These three are their verbal expressions.
7.) They are compassionate, the essence of Samayatara, taking ignorant beings and realms under their care with nonconceptual compassion.
8.) They are intimidating, the essence of Pandaravasini, meaning they are capable of anything necessary to tame incorrigible beings with their wrath, their state of mind being overcome by passionate wrath.
9.) Finally, they are peaceful, the essence of Lochana, referring to their nonconceptual realization that everything is the same taste in true reality.
These are their three mental expressions