Tummo Breathing Practice

by Kali Ma
Directions for Tummo Practice:
Tummo practice comes to us through Swami Rudrananda and is used to digest and
release tensions, karmas, stuck emotions. He received this transmission when he was six
years old and two Tibetan lamas approached him and installed a "vase" inside him and
made prophecies about his future work. Later in his life he "discovered" this practice that
is often in Tibetan Buddhism called the Vase practice. It is used to expand and strengthen
the energy body and to draw in nourishing energy from a higher more refined source. We
grow by drawing in nourishment, information and light, from higher energy, from the
next level of being, from the next or higher dimension. It is traditionally done with eyes
open, looking at a picture of a master, saint or your teacher, the picture of whom should
be at least a foot away from you and a foot or so higher than higher than you. This
practice may also be used in person, open eyed, looking at your spiritual teacher and
drawing energy from them. It may also be used with eyes closed drawing energy from the
universe, or from the teacher in their subtle form. In this way it is used as a Guru Yoga
practice. The practice should be done gently, without straining the breath. The maximum
time to practice is for 30 minutes twice daily, once in the morning and again in evening
time. Practice should be done sitting up right in an easy crossed leg position with the hips
propped up higher than the knees so that the spine can relax. Sitting in a chair is also
acceptable if necessary.
Instructions:
Sit quietly, settling down and breath a few breaths, becoming present and relaxing
yourself. Breathe until you can tangibly feel yourself breathing energy. The whole of the
cosmos and the body is energy, as the teachings of Tantra Yoga reveal, as modern physics
reveals, and as the experience of meditation reveals. Become aware of the energy centers
of the body, where energy is concentrated, noticing each center until there is a tangible
shift in energy. This should be done by sensitively feeling. Notice the root of the body,
then the creative center at the level of the pubic bone, followed by awareness at the place
a few inches below the navel, the center of the chest, the throat, the third eye area and
then crown. Be aware in each of these areas until you feel a shift there, then direct your
attention to the next center. Then notice, FEEL the place just above the crown. From that
place, begin to inhale and exhale as if you are inhaling in the crown, drawing inward
breath, awareness, space and energies. On the inhale you are drawing it down into the
lower centers and allowing it to fill through the belly/low back. When you exhale, the
energy and breath travels from the root up and out the crown, rising up and out. Breathe
in this way in and down the central channel and up and out the central channel.
Part One: Inhale and hold the breath
Continue in this way, and on the next inhalation, draw in breath and energy into the
center of the chest. Hold this breath in the center of your chest. Relax as you hold the
breath, allowing the light to expand and relaxing the heart deeply. Pray to grow. Pray that
your longing to grow would grow, surrender your heart to growth. Swallow, allowing the

swallowing to help the chest relax more, and bring deeper awareness to the inner
opening.
Part Two: Exhale a fifth of the breath
Then Exhale from the center of the chest up through the crown, exhaling a fifth of the
breath up and out the crown, inhale again, drawing that higher energy down deeply into
you from above the crown, into the crown, past your chest and down into your navel and
lower centers.
Part Three: Hold the breath in the lower centers.
Hold the breath and energy in the lower centers, deeply relaxing and allowing it to break
up any density there, dissolve any patterns, digest any stuck emotions, feel breath and
energy permeating the lower centers. Fully relaxing as you hold this breath, while
allowing it to expand within you as an inner light filling in through the lower centers and
dissolving any darkness or density.
Part Four: Exhale up and out the crown
Exhale up and out the crown, allowing the breath to rise up the central channel, up and
out the crown. As the breath rises, surrender and release any tensions. As the breath rises,
opening and absorbing the energy liberated by the practice. The breath rises up and out of
you as a fountain of light that moves up and through the central channel.
Part Five: Return to regular breath
Returning to the regular flow and pace of breath, but with great consciousness, drawing
in energy and awareness as nourishment on the in breath, and exhaling out tensions,
surrendering tensions, and resistance. When the breath comes in it is held for a moment
and soaks into your being.
Part Six: Repeat After a few minutes of deeply relaxing in this way, when there is a
tension or distraction or more to digest, repeat the flow of the double breath cycles (part
one through five). Approximately 8 double breaths per half an hour should be done.

Tummo Breathing Practice

as taught by Swami Rudrananda in
his book "Spiritual Cannibalism"
You must find within yourself the deep, sincere need to grow.
There is a very simple exercise for this. You can work either in a group or by yourself to
quiet the mind and emotions. This is done by using a point of contact. You focus on your
teacher or an object as you open to your inner self. This gives you support until your
muscles are strong enough to draw energy directly from the atmosphere.
The person who undertakes these exercises must believe in God, or in a higher power, or
in a great potential within himself. This is necessary because the goal of the exercise is

surrender, the removal of all blocks, to allow the higher force to begin the process of
destroying the ego, the physical, lower force within us.
The first step involves using an object or a teacher, sitting before either in a relaxed
manner. You must find within yourself the deep, sincere need to grow. You must bring the
wish deep within your chest area and ask deeply, as if the voiced wish were emanating
from your heart, for help to surrender. This wish must be silently repeated several times
until there is a sensation of an opening, like the opening of a flower.
This is the beginning of the second dimension, or spiritual world. The opening is the
inner wish that in turn opens the mechanism of the person, making a place for the higher
force to enter. The aim of the exercise is to maintain the opening in the chest and to
deepen it by relaxing and asking for help within this area. You are breaking down the
blocks of the physical dimension. The energy is refined, and this brings about a chemical
change, enabling you to use the spiritual muscles. The opening, or surrender, must be
continuous during the exercise in order for the force to enter and for the process of
spiritual growth to begin.
Spiritual growth is a process of exercising and expanding the psychic muscle and nervous
systems until they become controlled enough so they may be used at will. It also
becomes, in time, a continuous process which works together with the ordinary life
process. A growing spiritual life adds a quality and depth to life.
Asking from the very depths of yourself to surrender or attain a state of nothingness is the
key to opening to the flow of higher energy. As you surrender and ask to open to higher
cosmic energy, work to draw this energy into yourself and channel the energy through
your energy centers (or chakras, as they are called).
A breathing exercise to use for drawing in cosmic energy is as follows: you draw in the
breath high up through the nose and into the heart chakra. As you start the breath into the
heart, you swallow in the throat and try to feel the swallow travel down to your heart
center. The swallow is to release tension in the throat chakra and allow energy to expand
there. After swallowing, you continue to inhale breath into the heart center until the lungs
are filled to their maximum capacity. The breath is held in the heart chakra for about the
count of ten. This time count may become longer as strength is gained in the breathing.
During the time when the breath is held, you bring your mental concentration to the heart
center and ask to surrender and try to feel very deeply inside the heart center. You must
ask into the very core of your being, or deeply into the subconscious, to surrender to and
receive the cosmic energy.
After the breath has been held for the count of ten, you exhale one fifth of the breath and
inhale again, bringing the energy and the concentration to the energy center just below
the navel. The breath is retained in the navel chakra for about the count of ten and then
exhaled very slowly.

This double breathing to heart and navel chakras may be repeated from eight to ten times
in a half hour period or about every three minutes. You should think of the breath as
energy and develop the sensitivity to feel deep expansion of energy and to let the
breathing be governed by that sensitivity as your strength and capacity increase.
When you are not doing the double breathing exercise, you should breathe into the navel
chakra slowly, hold the breath for a few moments, and then exhale very slowly. If you
feel an energy sensation in the navel or sex chakra, you should bring your attention to the
tip of your spine and rock slowly from side to side on the base of the spine. This breaks
up tension and allows the energy to rise up the spine to the top of the head. When you
begin to do this exercise, your sensitivity may not be on the deeper energy levels. At first,
you may not be able to feel definite energy sensations. This does not mean that the energy
is not flowing through those channels but that you have not yet developed the sensitivity
to feel it.
When this energy, known as the kundalini, rises from its dormant state, various
spontaneous body movements sometimes occur. These may be uncontrolled body spasms
and vibrations or heat. Also, as the kundalini force passes the throat energy center, the
head may move back and forth rapidly. All these movements and indeed any experience
must be surrendered to totally. There is no harm or danger in these movements as they are
deep, healthful tension releases.
The kundalini energy gradually rising to the head over a period of time becomes stronger
and stronger and eventually brings enlightenment.
This is an organic process of spiritual growth, continuously reaching for deeper and
deeper states of surrender and openness to the flow of cosmic energy. The more deeply
we attain openness and oneness with this higher energy, the more it will lift us up
spiritually and the closer it will bring us to the realization of our oneness with God or
everything in the universe.
Everything in the universe is energy or a manifestation of energy, and the purpose of
spiritual work is to become one with that flow of higher creative energy coming from
God through the cosmos.
To put a new idea into effect, one must be given added energy. To rehabilitate an
alcoholic, he is given vitamins. To help a man grow spiritually, he is given a teacher.
Christ said, "I give you my blood to drink and my flesh to eat." This is nourishment any
teacher must provide to put into effect the new ideas he presents. To work, any teaching
must have within it the vital ingredient of life a living creative force which is transferable.
The third step is to lower the point of surrender to the sex center (the seat of the sexual
organs) . This is for two important reasons: first, it is for deepening the exercise, a
necessity in this work; second and most important, it is for spreading the energy into the
true home of creativity in you. These organs which are used for creating life, a child in
ordinary life, become, with the force within, the seat of rebirth and regeneration. A

transformation takes place and with it, a sensation totally new to the student. The energy
refined is brought up the spine to the top of the head. It matures there and is then
absorbed into the body and a real change can occur.
This is one of the vital areas where prejudice, fear, all the old wives tales enter into play.
We hold great resistance to surrendering within this area. Actually, it is totally without
danger; it will do no damage and cause no lessening of the sex drive in you. Surrender in
this area can help someone who is blocked sexually, and often does. This exercise
requires
energy to run freely through you and this frees the life flow within it never limits you.
Only by fear and thinking are you closed. Consciousness opens all doors.
The word "surrender" as it is used in relation to spiritual development does not have the
negative connotation it often has in ordinary speech. The act of surrender, as the term is
used here, is the voluntary casting off of the thoughts and emotions that interfere with the
realization of the spirit within. There is often a sense of buoyancy or floating it is a
freeing of oneself from the dimension of the earth. Something within is returning to a
level on which it belongs.
At first, you can only work a half-hour to an hour each day. It takes nine months of
continual materialization for the soul to be born within a child. The limited amount of
time expended in daily exercise makes the spiritual process of rebirth within an adult a
much longer event, requiring in most cases years of daily work. This refined energy can
only be absorbed slowly; trying to do so faster only builds tension.
SURRENDER is the voluntary casting off of the thoughts and emotions that interfere
with the realization of the spirit within.
Creation is a special property which extends from conceiving a child to all forms of
invention. It is also a degenerative process, the breakdown within us of a higher
chemistry. For almost everyone, this process takes place in "highly creative periods,"
which may be a matter of several years, several weeks, or several days. Rare is the
strongly endowed person who can create continuously.
The breakdown of chemistry during these highly creative periods leaves a person in a
state of exhaustion. This is due to the fact that in creative periods certain chemicals are
used up faster than they can be reproduced. In these cases, creativity is part of an
unconscious death wish.
Creativity must become recreativity. Really creative people are the true riches of a
country. If the gift is misused, as it usually is, it becomes a curse. It is dangerous to drain
a man continually of his natural resources without replacing them; to do so will make him
self-destructive. Such misuse of creativity is death-oriented.

Tibetan Tantra Yoga (practice of Tummo)

Tummo is the mystic heat that sensed by all meditative practitioners

regardless all of different techniques. In Tantra yoga its known exactly as
Tummo (the energy of Kundalini). The practice of tummo is the core in
Tibetan tantra yoga. Because it was esoteric so its hard to find reliable
information about this method. Between the numerous documents, there
was one book of Lama Anagarika Govinda that I see most sufficient and
reliable, its The foundations of Tibetan Buddhism. Through this great
book you can understand the basic principles and many related issues of
Tibetan Tantra by the wise analytic description of lama Govinda, who lived
and practice Tantra for almost all his life. My following writing was based
on the information of this book. I would like to emphasize that the aim of
this writing is to present to the reader the most important technique of
tantra yoga in oder to complete the list of meditation techniques those are
the subjects of my Blog " Varieties of meditation". The reader may read
this as the referent document, no suggestion to practice the Tummo
without the careful guidance of a competent Guru.
In Indian yoga teachings, our spine is an energetic axis, which consists of
three energetic lines (Nadis) these are: Pingala (positive), Ida (negative)
and a middle: Shushumma. Along the axis there are seven chakras from
the perineum to top of the head: Mudladhara, Svadhisthana, Manipura,
Anahata, Visuddha, Ajna and Sahasrara. Each chakra correlated to a
seed syllable. Kundalini, the sacred serpent lie in the Muladhara chakra.
This system of seven chakras is Kundalini system.
When coming to Tibetan Buddhism, the Kundalini system had a little
change; it's because Muladhara and Svadhisthana are associated as one
Root zone, so theres one seed syllable AH represent for these two
chakras. Because the Ajna and Sahasrara are associated as one Top
zone so theres one seed sylable HAM represent for them. We now see

from Muladhara to Sahasrara five seed syllables in order: AH, TRAM,

HUM, HRI, HAM. These correlated to five chakras ( or group of chakras)
and was called " the Tummo system", a little differ from " the Kundalini
system".
The principle of Tummo practice is waking Kundalini (seed syllable A,
fire, red, positive) to create the Tummo heat, make it rises up and reach
the top of the head (seed syllable HAM, water, white, negative). When the
Tummo fire liquefies the Sahasrara into Immortal lotion it causes a
process of enlightenment. AH absorbs HAM to become AHAM (in
Sanskrit= I, me)
Lama Govinda described the method of Tummo practice as follow:
1. Conditions
Practitioner must study well in Buddhist philosophies, keeping good ethic,
having skill in mundane meditation, can imagine vividly the shape and the
bright red color of the seed syllable in his mind (see the AH seed syllable
in below image). And must have powerful contemplation to realize the
Tummo flame and its path.

Tantric tradition requires more serious conditions. To practice the Tummo

(one of the six yogas) you have to complete the preliminaries practices
which consists of two categories:
*The preliminaries that are general meditations derived from the common
mahayana teachings.
*The preliminaries that belong exclusively to the highest yogic Tantra
tradition:
-The general Vajrajana preliminaries:
Four complete empowerments

(Abhisheka)
The Tantric precepts (Samaya)
-The preliminaries that emphasized on Naropa
system.
2. Process of practice
- First, contemplate the seed syllablel RAM in his/her umbilical chakra.
- Next, imagine of Khadoma (the goddess of hidden knowledge) appear in
bright red light.
- - Then practitioner absorbs in, and become Khadoma, at this time practitioner
puts the seed syllable A in the root zone and put the seed syllable HAM
in the top zone.
With the conscious breathing, practitioner makes waking the seed syllable
A to a heating flame. This flame must be imagined increasing gradually
in size and heat level when it rises up along the spinal axis, from the root (
Mudladhara) to the top ( Sahasrara). The spinal axis be come a tube of
flame which begin with the tiny flame then gradually become a very large
one. This process may be described as ten stages:
Stage 1: the flame is imagined as tiny as a hair
Stage 2: the flame diameter is large as a finger.
Stage 3: the flame diameter is large as an arm.
Stage 4: the flame is large as a whole body.
Stage 5: the practitioners contemplation come to the utmost degree, the
flame is now become a very great one and the practitioner body absorbs
in an immense fire-storm.
Stage 6: the process is in reverse, the fire storm calm, decreasing to the
body size
Stage 7: the flame is decreased as the arm size .
Stage 8: the flame is decreased as the finger size.
Stage 9: the flame is decreased as the hair size

Stage 10: the flame disappears, all become void

3. breathing rhythm order
Practitioner imagines the seed syllable AH transforms to a fire thats
burning red and rises up the spine rhythmically. Each "breathing rhythm"
composes of one breath in and one breath out. In each breathing rhythm
the red flame rises up about haft a finger each time.
In details, the meditative practitioner:
with the first breath, begins imagine in the Root zone (Muladhara) the red
burning flame coming up the spine.
After the 8th breath it comes to the umbilical (Manipura)
Continues the breath in Manipura ten times here.
Down the contemplation back and reach Muladhara at 28 th breath.
Up the contemplation and reach the Anahata at 38 th breath
Up the contemplation and reach the Visuddha at 48 th breath
Up the contemplation and reach the top zone at the 58 th breath
Use the contemplative power to imagine the fire heat up the top zone in
ten breath rhythms ( from 58th to 68th breath). Imagine the Tummo fire
burns the Sahasrara into the cool liquid (the immortal lotion) which flows
down the spine and decreases the heat and the size of the Tummo fire.
At the 78th breath it comes down to the Vishudda.
At the 88th breath it comes down to the Anahata
At the 98th breath it comes down to the Manipura
At the 108th breath; It reaches, cools down, and extinguishes the Tummo
heat, see the image below.
Tummo flame is a spiritual entity in other words its existence, its position
or its rising path depend on the practitioner's contemplative power

Side effects of wrong practice

When imagining the Tummo fire burn up the top zone, if practitioner could
not imagine the great Tummo flame in Sahasrara (thousands petals lotus
chakra) changed its size to a smaller one and became the cooling liquid, it
would be a disaster. Many psycho-somatic disorders were reported in
wrong practices, theyre called Kundalini syndromes or "post kundalini
syndrome".

The above image simpifies the rising path of the Tummo heat
Referent book:
Foundations of Tibetan Bouddhism
Lama Anagarika Govinda (1898-1985)

Good work Pham!That is really wonderfull you shared here on yahoo360 ,

also giving links, because there are all arround the world many pleople not
searching and maybe here will find your blog interesting and will get
curiosity and will start to explore spirituality.Thaks!

Friday March 24, 2006 - 07:55pm (EET)

* heart

* Offline

Pham!! u wanna know lot and a nice seeker but first u experience
Kundalini awakening in urself......preaching without practicing spoils ur
VOID chakra which is a place of gurudom in u... please practice Sahaja
yoga ,, u would stop throwing blogs on this subject and feel shear joy of
union

Saturday March 25, 2006 - 12:17pm (IST)

* heart
* Offline

Pham.. Kundalini is located above Mooladhara chakra,, this information

confuses .. please feel in u,, go beyond ur mind logics and calculations

Saturday March 25, 2006 - 12:24pm (IST)

* Pham
* Offline

Thank you so much HTMAN, a short and simple writing is not the principle
and ennough document about Kundalini practice, you see the information
is of Lama Govinda. My blog entries present the diversities of meditation,
it must lists a numerous techniques of meditations as the comparative
methodology. It doesn't promote any methodes as the best for my friends.
I hope that reading my blog, readers will have the clear and wide view of a
lot of methods of meditation including the esoterics, the realm that's
always believed belongs to some secret sects or guru.

Saturday March 25, 2006 - 02:02am (PST)

* Pham
* Offline

Lama Govinda never confused in locating the position of Kundalini. In his

book he emphasized that the position of the Kundalini or the pathway that
it runs in the body depends on the meditation level of the practitioner in
other word it depends on the imagination of each practitioner. It may be in
the spine, in front of or in back of the spine, all depend on the capacity of
imagination. If you had no power of meditation, it would exist not.
Kundalini is a spiritual entity it exist or not exist depend on the power of
the spirit, so does its position.

Saturday March 25, 2006 - 02:20am (PST)

* Bogart
* Offline

Thank you. Your post are always enlightning. I am glad you said not to
practice without the right Guru.

Wednesday March 29, 2006 - 08:18pm (CST)

* heart
* Offline

Pham, Kundalini is dormant and resides in our sacrum bone above

Mooladhara chakra when unawakened...its simply a motherly
energy(residual energy) which has capacity to work and nourish our whole
chakra system including three energy channels called Ida , Pingla ans
Sushmana,,, Also raiising Kundalini beyond ur shasrara hakra gives u
second birth.......i only meant to say that these things r as
spontenious(Sahaja) as a birth of a child by a Mother,,, Just pray and
witness and it happens ofcourse thru a thrue spiritual guidance( call it guru
if u like)...

Monday April 3, 2006 - 01:29pm (IST)

* Wowwi
* Offline IM

Dear Pham it looks great now I have to read it

I will be back with a comment
Great job, I do enjoy the post and learning th edifferent methods and
aspects of Meditation as I only have surface myself , and your blogs give
me more insight and knowledge of what I am expriencing or what i may
experience
Thanks

Monday April 3, 2006 - 09:17am (PDT)

* Simon

* Offline IM

Hi Pham et al,
I had a look at this post as I used to get a lot of heat in the early years of
sitting practice. Although I did Shikantaza (just sitting),I had a residual
habit of focusing on my Hara region (just below the belly button).
I don't think this brought me any danger although I did relate it to the Fire
of Tummo, which i had heard of . Some traditions see the Hara area as
the location of another 'brain',or in the Castaneda books,the point from
which energy connections reach out to the world .Placing attention here ,if
nothing else stimulates blood flow to the centre of gravity, digestion, and
our physical centre of being (also the womb in women), and away from the
brain and it's obsessive habits of verbalising and abstract thinking.To my
way of thinking this is enough to allow our natural intelligence to gain
ground ,and open the space for insight and movement.
I realize that there are many approaches to 'The Way' ,and that of complex
descriptions and practices no-doubt enable some people entry who might
otherwise feel uninspired. I also can accept that some descriptions will
work as valid representations, and provide intellectual stimulation ,which
we as humans do seem to need .
I am wary however about getting caught up in these ideas as if they were
actually 'the truth'. Such as the discussion above about the location of a
particular force. I feel that when one has to refer to someone else as an
authority, one has already turned from 'Kundalini',or whatever name we
give that energy,and focused once again on ideas as a route to 'truth'.
However ,it may well be that if one does take some special method to
encourage (or force) change,or evolution, one may not have matured
naturally sufficiently to cope with it. Therefore it is important to be wary of
complex methods.
To my mind freedom, is essentially opening to the 'spiritual' nature of
existance,and beyond. As such there is no need to be more than you
already are. No need or value to forcing anything. No complex ideas to
grasp. No way to hold the immeasurable .I feel that if we determine to be
an example we can respect ,to realise our nature and express it, then that
is already in accord with 'the Way',and the creative principle.
Thank you for your page and the chance to comment, do visit mine ,if
you'd like,comments welcome !

Simon.

Tuesday July 11, 2006 - 07:19pm (BST)

* Minh
* Offline

Lama Govinda sang Tibet hc o vi c Ngi Tomo Rinpoche . ng

vit cun Con ng My Trng . Phn ch Post ln ny thin v thc
hnh qu , chu cha c ai ch dn nn khng dm hnh by .:)

Monday December 18, 2006 - 09:25pm (ICT)

* santo
* Offline

hi this is all imagenry part there is nothing to do with

breaths.the auther has given very good information but
i would like to know is author is a master of tummo has
he complete 12 years training as decribed.how much ice he
melted

Tuesday May 22, 2007 - 09:06pm (IST)

* Jacqu
* Offline

I work on tumo and the only thing I get is pure cold. The only method I
found for raising heat is pushing out violently the residual air from my
body. And there is an astonishingly high level of this residual air ! Jacques
De Schryver jdsetls@aim.com

Tuesday February 26, 2008 - 11:15am (CET)

Fashioning A-Wear-Ness

By Troma Rig-tsal Rinpoche

I heard a story of young boy who was walking by a dance studio on the
way home from school. He walked by every day and would stop to watch
the entire dance class. Noticing this, the teacher finally came out one day
and asked him who he was. He replied, "I am a dancer." She asked him if
he had ever had dance lessons and he said, no he had not. He had simply
walked by there every day and knew that what he saw was what he was.
He had no sense of anyone needing to tell him that. He had no sense of
needing to have some kind of references to verify that, or even
experience. He just knew. She invited him in to attend the class and
before long he had become the most famous male dancer in the US at the
time.

It happens to all of us. We see Stevie Ray Vaughn playing guitar in total
synchronization with his art and we know - that is what I am. We hear the
story of Yeshe Tsogyal or Shakyamuni Buddha and we recognize - that is
who I am. We hear the story of a warrior or hero and some recognition
stirs from deep within. We glimpse our Buddha-nature from outside the
window, on the way to somewhere else, and even though we are not
qualified, we do not have the credentials, the back story, the right
nationality, don't know the language or don't know the steps, but we just
know it is what we are. We recognize our own face when we see it. Our
Buddha-nature, goodness, so pristine, so innocent, so wise, it is our
innermost nature and we glimpse it many times in our lives. But unlike the
dancer in this story, we usually do not identify with it so wholeheartedly.
When asked, who are you? That is not usually who we say we are. We
usually lose track of the sentiment and find ourselves caught up in being
whoever we think we should be. But we can just be what we are now. The
Buddhist methods are all about stepping right into what we are. Good,
creative, kind, juicy, open and wise, our Buddha-nature is always available
for us, for every single one of us. Buddhism is a tradition of methods for
relocating that way of being that is our inner most nature. In the Buddhist
Tradition of the MahaSiddhas, those methods for finding our Buddhanature are unlimited. We could even begin by simply dressing the part.

It is widely accepted that Buddhism is about the mind. The MahaSiddha

Tradition of Buddhism is the realization of everything in our life as our
practice. Because there is no limit to mind, there is no limit to our practice.
Wherever we look, whatever we are doing, whatever we are saying - the
communication of our entire reality perception is being played out. We are
constantly communicating back to our own mind, reinforcing our ideas of
self, other and reality. Or we are deconstructing mistaken identities,
leaving in their wake an expanded space of open-ended-self, where
anything can happen. The way we speak, the way we move, the way we
reside in our physicality and the way we dress our body are all tied up in
mind, in our sense of Self. We can alter these expressions with awareness
and find out how fluid, unlimited and glorious our the nature of our mind
really is. In so doing, we discover self not to be an established fact we are
stuck with, but instead, an open-ended art that we can find intrinsic
freedom in.

Our relationship to body is perhaps the most accessible way to work with
our minds. Representing the most gross expression of mind, it gives us a
tangible domain in which to find awareness. Body demonstrates the entire
continuum of everything we deny in our mental life in the most
unmistakable way; the impermanence, insubstantiality and non-duality of
our body is irrepressible. Our bodily life confronts us with chaos, and no
matter how tidy the world in our mind, body has it's own ways - raging with
the elements and teaching us about death. Body rarely shows the either/or
mentality; it is a universe of multiplicity and paradox that leaves all our
concepts and even our sciences inadequate to describe is profundities.
Whatever pictures we have of who we are supposed to be, body is here
exploding our boxes with it's full range of human experience. It portrays to
us something vaster than our limited identities, more interdependent than
our separate sense of Self. How we relate to our bodies arises from how
we relate to our mind, and the reverse could be said to be true as well.
When we change our relationship with our body, we change our
relationship with our mind. We have Yogas to unlock this bodyenlightenment. And one of those Yogas is the Yoga of dress. This is a
practice that anyone could engage in by beginning to see dress as a
method of relating to mind. Padmasambhava gave instruction to Yeshe
Tsogyal to practice the Yoga of dress, inseparable from the Yogas of the
vital energies.

"Wear cotton cloth, wear bone ornaments,

and then go naked without adornments,

relying on the Tummo breathing

This is the discipline of dress."

- Padmasambhava to Yeshe Tsogyal, Mother of Knowledge

Practitioners during the MahaSiddha's era didn't have all the choices and
buying power that Western practitioners have today. Fashion and society
were much less flexible at the time. Yet they still used dress and clothing
as a practice none-the-less; the white skirts, the hats, earrings, shawls,
bone ornaments. There was no domain that their practice did not pervade.
What cotton clothes the tummo practitioners wore, the drums and bells the
chodpas and chodmas carried, the long-hair of the yogis all spoke of the
view, method and conduct of the path. Fashion and dharma were
inextricably interwoven in a full-body declaration of non-duality of
emptiness and form. For renunciates, such considerations are less
relevant, since their practice is to renounce form and with it body, the
material world and ordinary dress. For Tantrics however, our practice is to
vividly journey into the celebration of form and find the open, luminous
emptiness equally present in all things. It is our duty and our privilege to
dress with awareness as a profession to the sacredness of body and all
life.

Often we do not dress according to our highest inspiration because it

doesn't fit with our lowly identity for who we are. We see that level of flair,
color and style as reserved for rock-stars or other people with better
figures. We are afraid of making a fool of ourselves. And that is precisely
the point. To fall out of step with our fixed self-concepts, to appreciate our

bodies or dress for our Buddha-nature requires us to be willing to

experience death; the death of old-identities. That is why it can be an
authentic practice. It can thrust us into that open depth, where we come
face to face with non-fixed-self. Through a change in dress, our pictures of
our self could be allowed to open up so that we can bring forth previously
unexpressed aspects of who we are. We must be willing to be a fool to go
there; willing to risk, willing to see whatever sense-less, irrational beauty
and innocence is there in us, willing to behold the depth of our own sleep.
Willing to experiment, even if it brings us discomfort or ambiguity. When
we dare to dress for awareness we might find ourSelves less solid and
there is fertile ground in that.

"Dancer in the indestructible stream of magical illusion

Power holder. . . Hero. . .Little Yogin. . .

Vagabond. . .Light traveler. . . Champion. . .

Yogin tasting the one flavor of all things

These are some of the masks I wear."

-Drukpa Kunley quoted in Masters of MahaMudra

Or we may dress with amazing attention to appearance, meanwhile we

are rotting inside our mind, with all kinds of un-inspected poisonous
thoughts. It is always easier to clean up on the surface than it is to actually
do any inner work. This kind of artificial beauty leaves a bad aftertaste and

seems to attract people and situations that are equally as fragmented. The
most radiant appearance comes from radiant peace of mind. The Yoga of
dress is matter of finding our Buddha-nature and discovering what it
actually is to genuinely express it in all our activities, even the activities
which were formerly considered the most mundane, but which we can
discover as equal opportunities for enlightenment. With genuineness is
our vulnerability, and there it is again, that willingness to encounter the
empty thread that tentatively holds together the sweater of existence.

When I was in elementary school, one of my friends always wore this

purple shiny shirt. That purple shiny shirt appeared in the classroom, at
school dances, church, the beach, birthday parties and even a funeral.
Purple and shiny were not remotely near anything in style for boy's fashion
at the time and this was before Prince and Purple-Rain could have
vindicated him. At that age, one's fashion was noticed and scrutinized with
a brutal intensity; kids didn't hold back when it came to making fun of him.
When someone asked him about it, I heard him reply, "This is my favorite
shirt. It makes me feel like who I really am."

That is a power in the way we dress. It can arouse a particular state of

mind. It can confirm our idea of who we are, or undermine it. It is a daily
opportunity to unravel the self-concept that often eclipses our Buddhanature. For the Yogis and Yoginis of our tradition, dress has always been a
matter of practice. Adorned in bone ornaments, donning Khatvanga staff,
wearing the crown or conventional clothing, how we dress our body is a
reflection of how we address our mind.

"Dolled up in unadulterated passion

Classy with commitment

Decked out in devotion

So fly in my dharmic longing

Dressed to kill all my illusions..."

- Navina Roberts

Clothing can be liberating. Trungpa in a kilt comes to mind; or a favorite

picture of him in sunglasses, polyester collar and bell-bottoms.
Ngak'Chang Rinpoche in his blues-man attire, or even his damaru dressed
up in an exquisite case lined with fur from Yoko Ono's jacket. Gandhi gave
his followers tremendous empowerment in their struggle for independence
from foreign domination, when he guided them to destroy foreign clothes
and find cultural pride in returning to their own homespun cotton clothing.
My favorite scene in Gandhi's life is the one where he shows up in Britain
for the Round Table conferences, the British representatives soberly
dressed in European formal wear. Gandhi appears wearing nothing but
the traditional Indian dhoti and his indestructible human dignity. A cotton
sheet suddenly seemed the most regal clothing on earth.

It is a way of using clothing to find the liberated

quality of our own minds. It is wearing for a-wear-ness.

The Yoga of dress is not just about a specific uniform, though specific
wielding of dress is a pressing part of our tradition. The visibility of the
monks robes are an instant communication about who they are, how they
relate to the world and how we should relate to them. When I travel with
Lama Tenzin, it is interesting how his monastic uniform instantly opens us
up to all kinds of conversations and connections we may not have made,
had he been wearing western apparel. I look forward to the day when my
Yogic attire will have the same effect - instant recognition at airports,
markets or temples that I must be a Buddhist Yogini. But alas, the Yogic
attire is less widely recognized than the monastic garb. Last week,
Ngak'Chang Rinpoche told us that when he first wore the ordained Yogic
robes, teaching about the white skirt, long hair tradition and developing his
early Sangha, most people had not even heard of the Buddhist line of
Yoginis and Yogis. He shared with us that many people didn't even think it
really existed. We ourselves had only received the "lay" tantric version
before his gift to us. But now, largely thanks to he and Khandro Dechen's
compassionate activity, the ordained Yogic lineage has become more
visible - and that is the potential power of dress, to keep alive a religious
tradition, to speak volumes and centuries of teachings through color, fabric
and pattern. The Yogic clothing, as it has been worn since the time of the
Buddha, makes clear that renunciation is not the only serious
enlightenment path. The dress signals a way of being, passionate, vivid,
colorful, yet pristine. It pronounces a non-monastic, but no-less hard-core
Buddhism. Even if the symbols and meanings are not always understood
by the viewers, when the robes are worn, the yogic tradition is made
visible again, its extinction postponed another day, perhaps another
decade or lifetime. May the white skirts and the long haired yogis continue
for countless generations and may our humble efforts contribute to
manifest that.

Our clothing can open up a line of

communication that otherwise is not available.

The Yoga of dress is about how it makes us feel, and what mind state it
puts us in, yet that is just the foundation. The inspirational power of our
clothing is the beginning. Just as important is that our dress is a
communication with others. It is a communication about what we feel
about ourselves, about them and about the situation. Wearing our nicest
suit on a date clarifies our respectful intentions. Wearing a bathing suit to
church makes clear our lack of respect. Clothing is a communication in a
cultural context where clothing is a language that indicates status, power,
relationship, taste and individuality. It communicates this all
instantaneously and directly and therefore it is a very powerful way to
guide the direction of our interactions towards our highest aspirations. Our
dress can liberate others or bring to the fore qualities in a situation that
were previously peripheral. Our clothing can open up a line of
communication that otherwise is not available. When Trungpa gave up his
monk's robes he made a transformation from a foreigner with an exotic
teaching, to a man with a message that transcended culture. In setting
down his monastic clothing, he led his students into a way of being in
dignity and wakefulness in their midst of their very own world. Every-time
he donned another manner of dress, suit and tie, kilt, kimono, chuba or
military uniform, Buddha-nature was revealed anew to all who had eyes to
see. Looking at the whole series of costume changes - it seems apparent
that "liberation through wearing" could possibly arise in unlimited forms.

"When plunging completely and genuinely into the teachings,

one is not allowed to bring along one's deceptions. I realized

that I could no longer attempt to preserve any privacy for

myself, any special identity or legitimacy. I should not hide

behind the robes of a monk, creating the impression of

inscrutability, which, for me, turned out to be only an

obstacle. With a sense of further involving myself with

the sangha, I determined to give up my monastic vows.

More than ever I felt myself given over to serving the cause of Buddhism."

- Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Born in Tibet

I have loved the yogic clothing from Tibet and India and delight in my
ordained robes. They fit well with my body-type and make it much easer to
sit, do yogic exercises and teach for long hours in the clothes made for
just that purpose. Over these years, I have come to see that it is equally
powerful and important for myself and our practitioners to wear
conventional western clothing when appropriate too. That wisdom must be
also donned. Who else but the Tantrics could communicate the liberating
potential of dress? What better way than dress is there to communicate

the sacredness of all things, all, every single thing? We can find and
display Buddha-nature in our own culture, in our own time and that sheds
new light in a culture preoccupied with appearances. I have met many
well-intentioned people wearing the esoteric fashions of India, Bhutan or
Tibet whose lovely outfits could not disguise their arrogant, angry minds.
In that case, dress has not been used in the way it could have been. All
dress could equally be used for neurosis or wisdom. In the Yoga of dress,
it is how and why we wear as much as what we wear. It is a mind practice
as much as a body and clothing practice. It is a way of using clothing to
find the liberated, inspired quality of our own minds. It is not just about the
moment we dress in the morning but how we reside in our clothes each
moment of the day. It is wearing for a-wear-ness. This is hinted at in the
way that new shoes could give us a new perspective; or in the way a
clean, freshly ironed shirt could renew our Vajra-pride. It is not a matter of
having the money to buy the latest fashion or owning expensive things. It
is a matter of windhorse; caring for the clothing that we do have, and
wearing clothing in it's fullest glory, clean and pressed when possible,
radiant and dignified at all times. Gandhi set fire to foreign-made clothing.
Our revolution could take place when we set fire to whatever clothes do
not remind us of our Buddha-mind. If we wear only those garments, then
we could even be wearing a cotton sheet and discover the demeanor of a
king.

Form is the radiance of Buddha-nature, even with all it's apparent

restriction and limitation. We can find it's boundaries and responsibilities
do not constrict our freedom, but actually lead us deeper into it by
demanding us to be present, on the spot with what is. We can encounter
that the fabric of form is sewn from the thread of emptiness. Even our
bodies are saturated with the ultimate reality. Sometimes that is easy and
pleasurable. Other times, it is pain as the path. Being in a body is a
discipline, and that is good. Comfort is not all it has been made out to be.
Formality is not the downer it has been portrayed as. Too much comfort is
laziness. Our mind hangs out all over the place. Our sloppiness degrades
us, others and our environment. It firms up our self-hate and feeling of unempowerment. Think of the strictness and crispness of a military uniform.
It brings out a particular state of mind - alert, at attention, commanding
respect, ready to face whatever comes, even death. Any uniform is like
that to some extent, imposing a sense of structure and principle, clarifying
our situation. When our clothes fit well they do that. They hold us in a
container of dignity and uplifted-ness. When we dress up, instead of

dressing down, we can find more freedom - freedom to feel sharp, alert,
fabulous and joyous, freedom to express our respect for others and our
world.

Whenever we dress for our mind-state, we are giving awareness form.

There could be a marriage of mind, body and dress. We could artfully use
their combination to encounter the non-self and all its limitless
expressions. We could use it to celebrate form and show intrinsic dignity
of ourselves, others and this world. We could choose colors with the
Buddha Families in mind, eliciting the particular dynamics we are most
needing at the time. We can pay close attention to what notion of self,
other and all things we are dressing for each day and in doing so find
awareness. The yoga of dress is about showing up as who we really are.
We are Buddha-nature, and Yidam. We are noble practitioners, daughters
and sons of Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal, open and wakeful,
dignified and free, dressed to kill all illusions that imply otherwise.

tummo

Jan 28, 2007 at 2:23 PM

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Inner Fire Yoga, or Tummo, is the basic method used in the advanced stage of most tantra
systems. When doing this practice, we will need to visualize our body in a certain way.
This is called the Vajra Body and incorporating it into our self-image provides a useful
way to work with our bodily energies.
The structures visualized are not actually there when the body is autopsied. There are
correlates with our physical bodies, yet that is only part of the picture. When we close our
eyes and feel our bodies, it is hard to deny that different parts of the body have different
energies and feelings. In any case, to do the practices, one needs to suspend disbelief and
visualize the postulated structures and energies. After extended practice, the
visualizations become internalized and become powerful tools for calming ourselves,
connecting with the body and channeling energy.
As babies, we are born with blissful energy freely flowing throughout our entire body. As
we develop, this energy is inhibited by the traumas of life and stored in our
neuromuscular systems. We no longer breathe freely and our muscles become distorted
with tension and stored psychic and physical pain. Inner Fire Yoga teaches us a method to
free up this trapped energy and use it to our advantage. If we look carefully at emotion,
we find that an emotion is actually a energized physical sensation in one part of the body
or another. Thoughts are superimposed on these energies. The energy of emotion can
scatter us, or we can learn to use it to center ourselves. In Inner Fire Yoga, energy is
generated and collected in the navel chakra and spread upward through the center of our
body, centering and energizing us in a positive way.
Sexual desire and anger can be very useful. Sexual energy in most adults is usually
limited to the area of the sexual chakra. When this energy is spread throughout the body,
it really isnt just sexual anymore. It is a total body energized or blissful feeling. This is
not the ordinary limited bliss of orgasm. Sexual energy can be freed up and distributed

throughout the body by moving it into the navel chakra and then doing the Inner Fire
Yoga. Anger is energy also, but the energy can be harmful. In the inner fire yoga we can
learn to take the energy of anger (usually felt in the solar plexus) and throw it also into
the navel chakra as fuel.
Emptiness:
The blissful body is only half of the equation in Tantra. The other half is the
indispensable understanding of non-dual awareness, or emptiness (the mind free or
empty of conceptual divisions).
The practice of tummo is a core practice in Tibetan tantra yoga. I would like to emphasize
that the aim of this article is to present to the reader the technique of tantra yoga. The
reader may read this as a reference document: I do not suggest you practice Tummo
without the careful guidance of a competent Guru.
In Indian yoga teachings, our spine is an energetic axis, which consists of three energetic
lines (Nadis) these are: Pingala (positive), Ida (negative) and a middle: Shushumma.
Along the axis there are seven chakras from the perineum to top of the head: Mudladhara,
Svadhisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Visuddha, Ajna and Sahasrara. Each chakra relates to a
seed syllable. Kundalini, the sacred serpent lies in the Muladhara chakra. This system of
seven chakras is the Kundalini system.
When it was incorporated into Tibetan Buddhism, the Kundalini system changed; its
because Muladhara and Svadhisthana are associated as one Root zone, so theres one seed
syllable AH represent for these two chakras. Because the Ajna and Sahasrara are
associated as one Top zone, theres one seed sylable HAM to represent them. We now
see from Muladhara to Sahasrara five seed syllables in order: AH, TRAM, HUM, HRI,
HAM. These relate to five chakras (or group of chakras).
The principle of Tummo practice is waking the Kundalini (seed syllable A, fire, red,
positive) to create the Tummo heat, make it rise up and reach the top of the head (seed
syllable HAM, water, white, negative). When the Tummo fire liquifies the Sahasrara into
Immortal fluid, it causes enlightenment. AH absorbs HAM to become AHAM (in
Sanskrit= I, me)
Preconditions
The practitioner must study well in Buddhist philosophies, behave ethically, have skill in
mundane meditation, must be able to visualize vividly the shape and the bright red color
of the seed syllable in his mind (see the AH seed syllable). And must have powerful
contemplation to realize the Tummo flame and its path.
Tantric tradition requires more serious conditions. To practice the Tummo (one of the six
yogas) you have to complete the preliminaries practices which consists of two categories:
The preliminaries consisting of general meditations derived from the common mahayana

teachings.
The preliminaries that belong exclusively to the highest yoga tradition:
The general Vajrajana preliminaries
Four complete empowerments (Abhisheka)
The Tantric precepts (Samaya)
The preliminaries for the Naropa yogas.
Practice
First, contemplate the seed syllablle RAM in the umbilical chakra.
Next, imagine the Khandroma appear in bright red light.
Then the practitioner absorbs, and becomes the Khandroma: at this time the practitioner
visualizes the seed syllable A in the root zone and visualizes the seed syllable HAM
in the top zone.
With conscious breathing, the practitioner awakens the seed syllable A to a heating
flame. This flame must be imagined as increasing gradually in size and heat level when it
rises up along the spinal axis, from the root ( Mudladhara) to the top (Sahasrara). The
spinal axis becomes a tube of flame which begins the tiny flame, then gradually grows.
This process may be described in ten stages:
Stage 1: the flame is imagined as tiny as a hair
Stage 2: the flame diameter is large as a finger.
Stage 3: the flame diameter is large as an arm.
Stage 4: the flame is large as a whole body.
Stage 5: the practitioners contemplation come to the utmost degree, the flame is
immense and the practitioners body is absorbed in an immense fire-storm.
Stage 6: the process is reversed, the fire storm calms, decreasing to body size
Stage 7: the flame is decreased to the size of an arm .
Stage 8: the flame is decreased to the size of a finger.
Stage 9: the flame is decreased to the size of a hair.
Stage 10: the flame disappears, all becomes void

The practitioner imagines the seed syllable AH transform into a fire that is burning red
and which rises up the spine rhythmically. Each breathing rhythm consists of one
breath in and one breath out. In each breathing rhythm the red flame rises up about half a
finger, each time.

The meditative practitioner:

with the first breath, begins to imagine in the Root zone (Muladhara) the red burning
flame coming up the spine.
After the 8th breath it reaches the umbilical chakra (Manipura)
Continue the breath in Manipura ten times.
Descend and reach Muladhara at 28th breath.
Ascend and reach the Anahata at 38th breath

 Ascend and reach the Visuddha at 48th breath

Ascend and reach the crown chakra at the 58th breath
Use the contemplative power to imagine the fire heat up the top zone in ten breath
rhythms ( from 58th to 68th breath).
Imagine the Tummo fire burns the Sahasrara and produces a cool liquid which flows
down the spine and decreases the heat and the size of the Tummo fire.
At the 78th breath it reaches the Vishudda.
At the 88th breath it reaches the Anahata
At the 98th breath it reaches the Manipura
. At the 108th breath; It reaches, cools down, and extinguishes the Tummo heat itself.
The tummo flame is a spiritual entity, in other words its existence, its position or its rising
path depend on the practitioners contemplative power. When imagining the Tummo fire
burn up to the crown chakra, if practitioner could not imagine the great Tummo flame in
Sahasrara (thousands petals lotus chakra) change its size to a smaller one and become the
cooling liquid, it will cause damage.

SAKYA TUMMO
Heat Yoga

HISTORY OF TUMMO

Tummo is a spiritual technique taught by Tibetian Lhamas. Tummo in Tibet

is not translated as heat, but rather depicts mystical technique, and the
energy generated was not primarily to warm the body of the practitioner,
but to support the spiritual progress of the practitioner.

Tibetians divide Tummo into three categories: Tummo exoteric which

grants the body the ability to heal and subtle warmth. Esoteric Tummo
which allows the body to survive even in extreme cold, and the Mystic
Tummo (Kriya Yoga) which gives warmth in spiritual achievements while
living in this world. Tummo esoteric (Chandali) is very well known and is
mastered by many Tibetians who either gain it through one's own effort, or
through initiation or Angkur from a Vajra Master. While Tummo exoteric
and mystic is not mastered by many people, even among Tibetian mystic,
there are only several people who mastered the three kinds of Tummo.

BENEFIT OF TUMMO

With the flow of Tummo in oneself, all body level, physical, mental,
emotional and intuition level will progress much faster. With Tummo
esoteric of course one can survive in extreme cold even without any single
cloth like what happened at Lachi Kang (near Everest summit), Himalaya.

The mastery of Tummo exoteric is very beneficial for the curement of

various kind of ailments and illness on all levels, physical, mental,
emotional and spiritual. It is very easy to use Tummo because it does not
require concentration at all and the healing will happen automatically
simultaneously at all levels of beingness. A Tummo practitioner himself
doesnt need to know and able to diagnose the patient's illness, this way it
helps patients who feel embarrassed to speak of his/her illness. Tummo
mystic will surely cause Tummo practitioner to achieve meditation
perfection in very short time.

SAKYA TUMMO

Sakya Tummo is a Tummo system that originated from Buddhism.

Therefore, this Sakya Tummo is of direct lineage: Sastra Vardhana - Your
Name.. Different with other Tummo system in general, Sakya Tummo only
gives angkur once, which is of Vajra Master grade. Despite of that, the
Sakya Tummo angkur is already comprised of all grades wholefully,
mantras and mudras, and also vajra body protector, vajra weapon and
many others. It is a Tummo system that is very integrated and is very
powerful. Sakya Tummo allows a disciple to accelerate his/her spiritual
advancement and inner power in healing others.

ENERGI COMPOSITION OF SAKYA TUMMO

Inside human body, there exist at least three kinds of energy. Those three
kind of energies are utilized optimally as Booster in Tummo technique.
Those three kind of energies are:

1. Vayu, Living energi of the universe that flows inside the body. Vayu is
of wind element. There are many kinds of Vayu, but the most important
among them are five, which are:
* Prana, Pra means the first . Na means the smallest energy unit.
This energy is obtained through breathing. It functions to move and
maintain all physical organs.
* Samana, This energy functions to help digestion process in
disassociating nutrition from useless matters, which would result in bodily
waste (feces).
* Vyana, This energy helps dissipating prana and samana (ojas and
tejas) to the whole body.
* Apana, Apana functions to push out wastes and any other
unneeded materials out of the body.
* Udana, Udana pushes air out of the lungs and skin surface.
Including pushing out the spirit out of the body.

2. Ojas, Energi generated from drinking. This energy is of water

element. Ojas is obtained from water that we drink, juicy fruits and fresh
vegetables.
3. Tejas, Energi generated from food. This energy is of fire element.
Usually comes from solid food.

Sakya Tummo Angkur will also give harmonious adjustments with the
universe energy that will enter from your Crown Chakra, and arouse the
awakening of Kundalini energy(only to extent of Kundalini energy. Not the
consciousness nor such higher level. Kundalini is contained in 7 layers of
concentris ball. The rotation of this seventh layer will be accelerated)
which will arouse from your Base Chakra, which will then be combined
with Vayu, Ojas, and Tejas. That is why Tummo is felt by some of its
practitioners have stronger energy power than Reiki. Someone which
serious to true elaborate area of spiritual shall also take system of Tummo,
because in system of Tummo hence we will obtain

* Activation Source of Energy in Body like Bottom, Middle And Upper

Tantien.
* Activation and evocation fully Kundalini
* Activation of Shield or Aura Protector of Body from all metaphysics
attack
* Activation and stabilize system of Yin Yang body
* Activation all 72.000 band of nadis and 365 chakra in physical and
eterik body
* Activation of universe energi and earth
* Activation of Third Eye, Pineal and Pluitary Gland, and Ajna System
* Activation all energy system of body include Vayu, Ojas, Tejas and
Tattva.

CONTENTS:

1. Introduction about Tummo and History

2. History of Buddha Sakyamuni, Founder of Buddhisme
3. How To Receive Angkur Tummo and Afirmation
4. How To Improve Tummo Energy
5. Symbol and Meaning
6. Mantra of Sakyamuni Buddha
7. Spiritual Weapon, Shield and Mudra of Sakya Tummo
8. Citta Sudhi Pranayama Technique
9. others..

G Tummo
Gtummo

What is gTumo ?

Gtumo is inner fire a cosmic heat energy from astral body that increases
spiritual achievement of a human being. Gtumo also functions to cure
various types of physical and psychical diseases. Application of gtumo to
heal is not followed by concentration, breathing technics and medicines. It
can be said that gtumo flows when we think of other things beyond healing
effort. Application of gtumo for first grade practitioner is done by palmhand touch, while for second grade, master grade and vajra master grade
practitioners is done by palm-hand touch and using energy patterns
enabling distance healing to one or more patients collectively.

GTumo has been practised by lhama ( tantra buddhis monk) on Tibet for
since buddhism enter Tibet. Still practise now by selected monk, included
Dailai Lhama himself.

Gtumo can be applied by everyone after get the attunement of gtumo. The
gtumo can be attuned by vajra master grade practitioner in 10 minutes for
each grade and instantly the new practitioner can aplly gtumo to him/her
self and others by only
touching palm of hand. Application to your self is done by palm-hand touch
on both
thighs generally, while for others are done by touching palm of hand on
the patient's
shoulder.

Before do all this meditations you have to get angkur or initiations from
vajra master of gtumo. There are three levels practisioner + vajra master
of gtumo, practioner for each level must have angkur first from vajra
master before practise and use it. Totally there are four levels of gTumo :
three levels for practisioner ; Respa, High Respa, and Personal Master.
One level for Master Teacher : Vajra Master.

Meditation for gTumo Level 1 (Respa of gTumo)

gTummo: #1--a gentle chakra-lights meditation

This might not be so for everyone, but it's been my experience that when a
meditation is too complicated and intricate, it's difficult if not

impossible to maintain the meditative state. Trying to remember the right

colors, how many petals the lotus has, etc., will pop you right out of
alpha or theta, and right into wide-awake beta. In my meditation, I can
tell when I've done this easily: I go from a feeling like gliding over a
perfectly calm lake to bouncing along in choppy water. So it is, that for me,
one of the best chakra meditations I've tried is the first one ever taught
me, long before I even knew what a "chakra" was. You can vary it
somewhat to emphasize one chakra or another, but here is the "bare
bones" of it: Begin at the base, and imagine a light there. Don't worry
about colors--did you know that different systems are going to give your
chakras
different colors anyway? So your colors just might vary anyway. Thus--no
particular color, but a light. If you see it in a particular color, fine;
if not, also fine. Accept whatever it is you see as your personal gift.
It is yours. Never mind the size of it: just acknowledge the light, and enjoy
it, love
it. Now up to the next centre, the spleen center; do the same, noting the
light in that center. And so on to the crown, which is where we now change
directions. Moving down now, we return to the 3rd eye, then to a place
WITHIN the head, right in the center of it in fact; now down to the throat,
and to the heart. Change directions again. Back to the throat, the 3rd
Eye, and crown. Change again, back to the 3rd Eye, the place in the
middle
of the head, throat & heart. Repeat this sort of figure-8 as many times as
you feel comfortable with, dwelling on each light as long or as short as
you like. End the meditation, always, with the heart centre. As to removing
a particular block, as in the throat (a real common one!),
I've found the harder you "try" the more stubborn it becomes. It's almost

as though by concentrating on that one spot, and the problem you believe
is
there, the more energy you send to the block, making it stronger. If I do
the work on all the centres more or less equally, I notice "blocks"
gradually dissolving, sort of like a sand castle in the wind, a few grains
at a time, but over time, the castle smooths, then diminishes, and then
it's gone, absorbed into the universe of the Beach. Full body Reiki is a
wonderful help for this process, but it does take time for most folks.

Meditation for gTumo Level 2 (High Respa of gTumo)

Working with the gTummo fires: NOTE: This meditation has been adapted
from Lama Thubten Yeshe's meditation in his book, "The Bliss of Inner
Fire." Although there are references to kundalini nectar, this is the nectar
from the kundalini as the fires heat up. It's very blissful, but this is not the
same as kundalini rising--although in time, it might, but very gently. So, to
begin. You can do this any time you have a few moments. First make
yourself peaceful and centered. You can lie down or sit; if you sit, make
sure your back is straight and your legs uncrossed. Use the lotus position
for other things, but not this. Start with the basics, and become
comfortable with that practice, then move on to "Blazing the Inner Fire",
practice that awhile, then move on to the next and so on. If at any point
you feel discomfort, stop, and try again at a later time. Basic. Now, first
picture all your chakras. Start from the root and go up, and see each one
as a lotus. Now envision your entire body, with all the chakras, all the
lotuses present and shining. The petals are sort of waving, as though a
fine breeze is caressing the petals of all the lotuses.
Enjoy the feeling a few moments. Now focus on the area just below the
navel, which is the gTummo. See a flame, reddish in color, like a lit candle
flame. The lotus petals again
stir as you take in a deep breath, making sure it enters the central
channel. Release the breath, again through the central channel, stirring

the lotus petals. Make that small flame grow taller, rising up the central
channel. As it
reaches upward, it rises past the solar plexus, the heart, throat, third
eye and crown lotuses. It is like a flame suddenly blazing up--and now it
dies down again. You will feel a blissful heat, which should be soft, not
harsh, very warm, but not painful. If painful, stop awhile, but so far,
I've not had that happen. Repeat your deep breath sequence, and become
one with the flame, and intensifying your inner fire now. The brilliant red
fire now radiates up
the central channel to embrace the heart, throat, and crown chakras
(lotuses). From crown to feet, your entire body is filled with blissful
radiant red light. The heat from this should be subtle, gentle, and pleasant.
Blazing the Inner Fire: Again, the breath sequence, and remember to
concentrate on the central channel. As you breathe, imagine you are
drawing in all your negativity to be absorbed, burned, and cleansed by
these fires. Take another breath, and swallow, pressing down firmly,
whilst also tightening your lower muscles. Notice the increase in heat in
the gTummo area as it becomes greatly enlivened. Now the fire explodes,
blazing up 3-4 inches up the inner channel. Before, the fire was small and
only lasted a few moments. Now it is powerful and doesn't die down. The
blissful heat shoots up the central channel and automatically stimulates
the other chakras. The lotuses are now on the verge of melting into
blissful kundalini nectar. Hold your breath as long as its comfortable, then
release it, imagining winds shooting up your central channel. Feel the
bliss. Tighten the lower
muscles again slightly; this adds more bliss and more explosions of heat.
Repeat tihs deep breath again, imagining the gTummo as a sort of chalice

of fire; the winds from your breath whip around the edges of the chalice
shape causing the fires to blaze and to generate incredible heat. The more
heat there is, the more response you'll feel from the upper chakras. The
heart chakra begins to vibrate, and it's almost ready to melt. Soon the
throat chakra follows suit, and then the crown. Blissful k. is about to drip
from
these lotuses. Every movement of energy encourages your consciousness
to unify with bliss and the Divine. Your entire body is filled with bliss and
Divine heat. Blazing and Dripping. Repeat the breath sequences,
tightening the lower muscles as before. Negative energies now no longer
exist; only the positive energy in the central channel. Feel a new
movement of energy coming from the gTummo now, intensifying your
inner heat and melting the kundalini. The flames blaze all the way up to
your heart chakra; it wraps
around the heart lotus 3 times, and it becomes superhot. The lotus fills
with blissful kundalini, which then flows downward to the gTummo; it's like
pouring liquid butter over a fire: it blazes even higher. Your entire nervous
system becomes fire, causing still more blissful k. to flow down. Concrete
concepts automatically wither and disappear; you rest in the feeling of
utter satisfaction. Blissful energy explodes into an intense
awareness of wisdom and universal reality. As more wind enters the
central
channel, preconceptions disappear, and you transcend your current
reality. Again, the breath sequence & the tightening of the lower muscles,
causing the flames to again blaze up, higher now, beyond the heart and to
the throat chakra. The fires fill up the throat lotus and wraps itself around it
three times, superheating it. Blissful k. now drips down from the throat
lotus, through the heart lotus, to the gTummo, causing the flames to
flare up still more. You are filled with much bliss. Again, the breath
sequence & the tightening of the lower muscles; again the flames blaze
up, still higher now, past the heart & throat to the crown. The crown lotus
begins to melt and flow downward, filling the throat with intensely blissful
k., which mixes with the throat k and flows down to the
heart; here also it mixes with the heart k and then flows down to the
gTummo. The gTummo fires now bursts limitlessly, filling your entire body
(spiritual and physical) with blissful heat. Every nerve, every hair, every
pore is one with bliss. Extraordinary blazing and dripping. As before, do
the breath & tightening of the lower muscles; the flames flare up again.

They blaze up to the heart, filling it with fire, while the heart drips
downward; the throat, filling it with flames, while it drips k. downward; the
crown, filling it with fire, while k. drips downward. Flames are moving up,
while k. drips down. Now the fires blaze downward to your feet, from just
below the navel to your feet; your entire body is filled with blissful inner
fire. Your chakras and channels are filled with it. You're one with blissful
inner fire. Now imagine your brow chakra (3rd eye) and your right nostril
shooting out, lightning, this blazing fire into the universe. It reaches all the
supreme beings, bodhisattvas, great teachers, and Masters, and it enters
their bodies through their left nostrils, touches their 4 centers (gTummo,
heart, throat & crown), and melts their k. Now the blissful energy comes
out
their right nostrils and enters your body through your left nostril, and
their supremely blissful energy comes to your energy centers, generating
supremely blissful heat throughout. The bliss itself, says Lama Thubten
Yeshe, should be digested and transformed into wisdom. Bliss becomes
wisdom; wisdom becomes bliss.
Otherwise, the experience is only pleasure, which can create desire,
which will create nervousness and other negative conditions. Integrate
what you experience into blissful wisdom to avoid this. It activates all the
chakras, clears them of negativity, literally melting away any blocks you
might have created in this lifetime or brought with you
from others. With your Reiki, you might find, as I do, that this practice also
makes your hands a little hotter.

Meditation for Level 3 (Personal Master of gTumo)

Meditation using hand positions:

Here is a series of hand positions you can use to work with your gTummo
a
little more directly. As you work with it, you can imagine the sacred
flames being fueled by your blocks, any illness that might be present, past
traumas that might still be hanging on, etc. Just imagine the flames

reaching these (you don't even have to name them), and as the blocks,
etc.,
get hotter, they begin to melt. As they melt, they drip down to the
gTummo, and feed the flames. Your impurities will feed and fuel your
soul's growth. Begin by placing both hands at about the gTummo area.
This is located
about three fingers (or so) below the navel, but as with the acupoints, the
"general area" will suffice. Call forth the fires, or allow them to flame
up (either will work ok). Hold the position as with the regular Reiki hand
positions, 3-5 minutes OR until you feel some heat. If no heat, continue
with the rest of the meditation/hand positions. Eventually you'll feel it.
Once you get the heat going, imagine the fires building until they move
upward, and as they do, move one hand (I'm using the right hand) to the
solar plexus, leaving the other hand at the gTummo. Imagine that you're
taking all that heat with it as you do so. It should be hot from gTummo all
the way to the s.p. Now hold that position (one hand at gTummo, one at
s.p.) until you feel the heat at the s.p. area. Next, imagine the s.p. fires
moving upward, and as you do, move your left hand (which was at the
gTummo) up to the heart area, leaving the rt. Hand at the s.p. Hold this
position until you feel the heat at the heart area,
3-5 minutes or however long it takes. When the heart fires begin to move
upward, move your rt. hand (which was at the s.p.) up to the area just
below your throat, the place between the collar bones, where there's a
little hollow. Imagine the fires following
it up. Meanwhile leave the left hand at the heart. When the heat at this
center begins intensifying and moving upward, move your left hand to the
3rd eye area on the forehead. You might not feel as much heat here, but
imagine the fires anyway. The right hand remains at the base of the throat.
When you imagine the fires are growing brighter (and warmer) from the
3rd Eye area, now move your right hand up to the crown--now you are
likely to feel more heat in the entire head area, very yummy heat at that!
Wait until it "feels right" or a minimum of 3-5 minutes, then move your left
hand up to join your right hand on the crown. Let the hands sort of form a
circle around the crown, and leave them there about 3-5 minutes or until
you feel it's "done." This sounds complicated, but it's simply a little "hand
over hand" thing, and you can start with the right hand or the left hand--

experiment with it a bit. The places I get the most sensations are when I
have one hand at the heart, the other at the base of the throat--and the
3rd eye/crown. I
suspect that others will have different areas where this happens. What I
SUSPECT this does is give those gTummo fires a little "assist" in rising up
to melt all the impurities, etc., along the central channel. When I'm done, I
really feel "light" and blissful/peaceful. So in brief, it's:
1. Both hands at gTummo
2. Rt. hand at s.p., left hand at gTummo
3. Left hand at heart, rt. hand at s.p.
4. Rt. hand at throat hollow, left hand at heart
5. Left hand at 3rd Eye, rt. hand at throat hollow
6. Rt. hand at crown, left hand at 3rd eye
7. Both hands at crown.

Hands on gtumo and applications

There are several good sets of hand positions. We'll cover a few of them
here. The first one is good for general, all-around healing and
relaxation. Although it might seem to be based on the chakra system at
first glance, if you examine traditional Chinese acupuncture charts, you'll
note that many important acupuncture points are covered with this first,
basic set of hand positions. Use this set for your first self-healing, and
for most of your daily work.

Now, to begin. First, do the front of the body.

TREATING OTHERS

1. Open the aura, then the crown chakra. Visualize it, or use an "opening"
motion with your hands.

2. Place your hands over the eyes, palms toward the forehead, fingertips
toward the mouth. Gently--and if your palms are at all sweaty, spare your
client the discomfort, and place a hankie or kleenex between your hands
and
the person's face.

3. Place hands under the back of the head, just over the occipital ridge,
fingertips toward the neck. Your hands will have to be slid under the head
if the person is lying down. Brief, gentle pressure on the stillpoint (the
indentation just below the hairline) can increase relaxation.

4. Hands over the cheekbone, fingers pointing down. Little fingers should
be near or lightly touching the bottom of the ears.

5. Fingertips together, place hands lightly over throat. It may be that

the patient is more comfortable if you don't touch the throat at all--ask

if they are comfortable when doing this position.

6. Hands just above the breast for the heart chakra, one hand in front of
the other, forming a line with your hands. Some teachers suggest placing
hands between the breasts, but some women may be squeamish about
this.

7. The solar plexus--hands just below the breast, one hand in front of the
other, forming a line with your hands.

8. The navel area--hands as in #6 and #7.

9. Just below the navel, across pelvic area and above pubic bone, hands
as
before.

10. Hands on either side of the hip bone area.

Now it is time for your patient to turn over, so you can do the back.

The back is done differently, working from the bottom up, following the
energy's natural flow of down the front, up the back. There are only two
back positions.

1. Place one hand at the base of the spine, and one at the base of the
head.

2. Place both hands at the top of the head (at the Crown).

Additionally, you might want to consider doing the legs and feet, cradling
the knee and ankle joints in both hands, and holding each foot in that way.
Time and intuition will be your guides.

How long should you hold each position? Ideally, between three and five
minutes--or until you feel the flow of energy lessen or stop. You might be
guided to hold one or more positions even longer. Time might be a
consideration in this, too. Use your best judgment.

As you move through the hand positions, the patient might experience
relief
and release from conditions that were longstanding. Emotional blocks
could
be removed, releasing buried feelings. It is not uncommon to hear a long,
intense sigh after about ten minutes or so. There can also be weeping or
groaning. These reactions do not occur in every patient, however. If your
patient reacts this way, let him or her know that this is fine, and not to
fight it. Mentioning it before the session, however, could be like a
"self-fulfilling prophecy." There's no point in bringing it up unless it

occurs. Each person is unique, and will have unique experiences.

When you are done, soothe the aura with gently sweeping motions from
top to
toes, and back again. Then close it. Do not close the crown chakra.

In all likelihood, your Reiki client will be "spacey" when you're done.
Don't rush him or her off the table or out of the room. Allow time to
reorient, and for questions. Often, there are lots of questions, especially
with a first-time patient!

Some Teachers say that it takes three treatments to get the job done, but
some cases will require more, and some clients will come only once or
twice. You'll have to be flexible in your work: life demands it.

SELF-HEALING

Reiki, along with Huna and one or two other methods, is almost unique
among
the spiritual healing modalities, in that it works as well on yourself as
it does on your clients. This is because you are not using your own
energy. You are using energy channeled from the universe, and there's a
never-ending supply of this type of energy. When you are done with a

client, you should feel energized, as some of the Reiki stays with you as
you pass it on to the patient--a little bonus for the healer.

Every Reiki practitioner should take care of him or herself first. A

healthy channel is a good channel, after all. It's not self-indulgence,
it's good maintenance. Follow the hand positions for healing others, and
apply them to yourself with these exceptions: the first and third
positions should have the fingertips pointing upward; rather than hands
pointing in the same direction on the torso positions, point fingertips
inward, hands facing one another. In the throat position, it might be more
comfortable to point the heels of the hands inward--experiment, and do
what
works best with you.

You should do self-healing daily, without fail. If you haven't the time to
do it all at once, split them up--maybe the head positions in the morning,
the front of the torso at lunch, and the back at bedtime. At least do the
front positions--a little Reiki is better than none!

In other matters, consider your diet and lifestyle carefully, and drink at
least six, preferably eight glasses of water daily. Reiki will cleanse the
body of a lot of collected toxins, and the water helps wash it out. Try to
include potassium-rich foods, or take a supplment, and add a little more
protein to your daily diet.

OTHER HAND POSITION SETS: CHAKRA BALANCING

Sometimes, because of an imbalanced kundalini flow or for other reasons,

including emotional upsets, the chakras will become imbalanced. This
hand
position set is good for restoring the balance to the chakra system.

1. Begin with one hand at the 3rd Eye, in the middle of the forehead, and
the other hand at the root chakra. Hold the position until the energy
feels the same in both hands.

2. Next, place one hand at the throat chakra, and the other at the spleen
chakra. Hold as before.

3. Now, place one hand at the heart center, and the other at the hara area.
Hold as before.

4. End with both hands at the Solar Plexus. Hold at least three minutes,
or longer if guided.

ACU-POINT BASED HAND POSITION SET

This set has been widely published on the internet and in books, and is

excellent for bringing the the entire body--physical, mental and

spiritual--into balance. Originally, it was designed for use with
acupressure, but it's perhaps even more effective when used with Reiki. In
all, there are ten hand positions to be held for a minimum of three minutes
each.

1. Place the RIGHT hand atop the head, on the crown chakra area, while
at
the same time placing your left hand over the 3rd Eye area.

2. Leaving the right hand atop the head, now move the fingers of the left
hand to the tip of the nose.

3. The right hand is still at the crown; move your left hand to the heart
center area.

4. Leave your right hand at the crown, and now move your left hand to the
solar plexus area.

5. The right continues to remain at the crown, while you move your left
hand to the spleen center area.

6. The LEFT hand remains at the spleen center, and now the right hand
moves

to the corresponding area on the back (back side of spleen center).

7. Now move your right hand to the back of the left shoulder, at that
point where the neck joins the shoulder. At the same time, your left hand
holds or rests upon the left buttock at the point where the buttock meets
the leg.

8. Leave your right hand at the back of the left shoulder, and move your
left hand to the front of the body, at the position of the left groin.

9. Now place your left hand on the back of the right shoulder, while your
right hand holds or rests upon the right buttock at the point where the
buttock meets the leg.

10. Leaving your left hand on the back of the right shoulder, now move
your
right hand to the front of the body, at the right groin.

Instant Delayed Gratification

Enlightenment is not achieved, it is realized. It is not something that we

GET it is something we discover as innate to existence. This discovery is
delayed nor is it instant. It only happens now, rather than in the far future,
and yet the future is also contained in the now. It has this curious quality of
ineffability. When it is chased, it is far off. When it is forgotten it is not lost.

As sincere practitioners enter the path, awakening is the state of being at

hand and at the horizon. Yet those with the fixation on instant gratification
can have such frustration in dharma.

I am always amazed to see the variety with which my students grow in

awareness. The pace is always unique, some very quickly, others much
slower than they like. We are living in the time of instant gratification.
Whenever we want to reach someone- we do via cell phone, email, pager,
and fax. If we do not know where we are, we can use the satellite tracking
system in our car, which tells us immediately. If we have an emotional
problem we pop a pill and enjoy our pharmaceutically induced state of
chipper-happiness. If only the realization of the teachings could be that
fast for everyone. Just punch a few numbers, hear a few rings, and then
the voice in your head of the cosmic operator espousing true meaning of
reality! When you are feeling lost inside, flip a switch and that great Vajra
Satellite in the sky finds you and tells you where to go! When you have an
emotional crisis you dont know how to resolve, then take the prajna pill
and you are through it! I have seen many people approach the dharma
this way and then find frustration, or boredom when it doesnt quite work
like that, or when it seems to work that way for others around them, but
not within their own mind.

The instant gratification approach to the teachings is part of why so many

people try to fake enlightenment through taking on a god-realmpersonality-performance that is so arrogant, or candy coated that it is just
another form of dualism as it looses touch with what is. In that pseudospiritual state, people pretend that their intoxication with self, and notions
of light, happy, passivity is equivalent to enlightenment. It is the childs
version of enlightenment, where enlightenment is seen to mean being
happy and serene all the time.

Cynicism is also a result of the instant gratification culture, whereby,

before truly knowing through sincere, thorough exploration and
experience, one makes a decision against spirituality. It short cuts
experience, and is more instantly gratifying in ones shallow search for
meaning. People may settle for this because of their own inadequacies in
dealing with the nature of reality and the experiences of pain and
confusion their in.

This instant gratification approach also manifests as jealousy when ones

fellow practitioners proceed further along on the path than you do. There
is the feeling that you should get what you want because you want it.
There is the feeling that you might deserve it through whatever actions
you have generated based on achieving the outcome of being special.

This instant gratification fixation, in Vajrayana is called clinging to the

self. The nature of dharma is not to fix things, or to give you gratification.
However Dharma is INSTANT, it is about what is happening right now. It is
not about what happened last week, how you compare to others in what
happened in the recent past, or what you anticipate happening in the
future. It is about this instant letting go of the urgency, demands, clinging,
obsession with gratification, comparison-mind and instead simply being
present. Just present. Clear, adorned awake-ness. Simple. It has a quality
similar to acceptance and spontaneity combined.

When a moment of awareness occurs, it accomplishes the work of the

magic pill, the Vajra Satellite and the Cosmic Voice, because awareness is
the ultimate gratification. However you may be very weak in your capacity
to experience pure awareness and the completion it carries, its own
fulfillment of itself. Thus Dharma is not only Instant, it is also delayed. The
Instant aspect is Dzogchen and the Delayed aspect is the transformation
process of the Tantric technologies and view. Thus, in addition to the
instant availability of awareness, there is your re-connecting with it,
uncovering it, maturing in your capacity to remain in it. Within the
transformation of Tantra, is the leela of unraveling and transforming
obstructions. The pace at which you do this is your own. As Patanjali says,
the pace is determined by the intensity with which you practice. It is also
determined by how much support you give yourself to live the teachings,
which refers to the three jewels, your teacher, the teachings and the
community. Yet when applying the sadhanas, your resolution to grow and
connecting with your refuge, though this is a process, it is ALSO INSTANT!
It is instantly liberating, it instantly empowers you and generates more
freedom. The instant gratification is there- just not the way the self
thought it would be. Even better than achieving some goal of the picture of
enlightenment, in the moment you are actually becoming more
enlightened. Yet there may be more there, and more and more. And so
there is the quality of delay of gratification as you continuously never
arrive. The ground is never solidified. The final aha never happens as
many ahas continuously unfold the endless mystery of existence.
Gradually the fruit of Tantra, which is non-duality arises- and you are no
longer grasping onto instant gratification, nor are you obsessed with some

delayed gratification of some distant achievement in the future. Instead

you are in the instant delayed gratification of the moment. You are in the
continuous, and discontinuous nature of the moment. The complete and
incomplete nature of the moment. The pleasurable and painful qualities of
the moment.

Every person moves along the path at their own pace. While some make
take much longer to penetrate through the thickness of their poisonous
patterns, once they do they might proceed forward at lightening speed,
living the slogan that the first obstacle is the last. Another might quickly
make major breakthroughs in going beyond their limiting patterns for good,
but then proceed slowly from there. Others might play more of a shoots
and ladders game. Others might instantly get it, and go forward like
shooting stars blazing through their darkness. Others might have instant,
strong realizations that illuminate everything, but are not held on to, like
lightening. The most important thing with all sincere, serious practitioners
however, whatever the pace, is that you allow yourself to BE where you
are. Until you do so, you are slowing your evolution down anyway. The
instant awakenings only happens when you are IN the instant- present
there! Awake to it! You must befriend the paradox of how Dharma is both
Instant and Delayed gratification and once and be present with whichever
is true.

This paradox of Instant and Delayed, Continuous and Discontinuous,

pervades our whole life. On the one had, death is at the end of our life, but
only from a limited perspective. It is also the most intimate element of
living, constantly showing us discontinuity, informing every instance. It is
both instantaneously occurring and also gradually delaying its most gross
demonstration every time we keep breathing.

In many paths it is not believed that one can be enlightened in ones own
lifetime. In this way Vajrayana and its Mahasiddha style exhibited by the
MahaSiddha Dharma are very unique. It is the dharma method that makes
possible enlightenment in one lifetime. For practitioners considering
broader perspective of how many lifetimes one has incarnated, this is the
INSTANT DHARMA! Just add sadhana! However our culture is so urgent,
now and demand oriented that it loses perspective how short one lifetime
is, how it passes in an instant and how we cannot delay our dharma
activities in order to realize what is most important while we can.

The way public students often come to teachings is with the instantgratification-hustle-bustle-attitude of Western culture. They are rushing
around from one activity to another to another to another to another and
another. Then they arrive late to the program. In the middle of the retreat
they go to an appointment and then at the end they rush off to leave early
for the next appointment. Strangely with all of this rushing around, they are
still missing the most important thing- the moment- and subsequently their
whole life. Of course there are times when it is worth it to cram a
previously committed schedule in order to receive a great teaching.
However as a lifestyle, and a chronic condition, this can be severely
debilitating to awareness. It doesnt leave gaps to digest and process
oneself. It doesnt allow spaciousness for spontaneity and moving with the
energy. It feels bad to the body/mind, which then reaches for Samsaras
inadequate methods of instant gratification to get some temporary relief.
Even though this winds up causing more suffering later, the whirlwind
momentum and sheer stress of such a busy-busy life make it impossible
to have clear discrimination and make better choices.

Gratification comes in two forms, temporary, and ultimate. The temporary

form is very sparkly and overtly seductive, whereas the ultimate form is
more elusive. It is elusive because it is basic nature of everything. It has
been so ubiquitous you may have missed it, like a fish in the ocean. Giving
oneself instant gratification weakens your chances of connecting with the
ultimate gratification because you are constantly focused on the temporary
kind and suffering because of its insufficient nature- a condition known as
SAMSARA! But to reach for the ultimate there is must be a delay inserted
where compulsive actions used to immediately take over. However the
sadhanas are so powerful in these moments that as soon as you apply
them, there is usually some relaxation and perspective, when you do them
right. However the angst, and confusion you that caused you to go for the
doughnut, might still be there, and there may be a process to unravel that
habit. This is not because your enlightenment is not there with you as the
nature of existence itself, it is because you habitually disconnect yourself
from it through elaborate means which all must be unraveled.

As long as one is unable to delay gratification, they become a slave to the

compulsions, habits, and reaction of their conditioned self. This is a very
sorry and sad condition. It generates much suffering and destroys
relationships, opportunities and drains ones life-force. The Yogis of India
and Tibet understood that there is a special power in harnessing the

energies of desire, a potent friction that ignites the creative and cosmic
energies within oneself. Though renunciate paths are famous for these
kinds of methods, the Tantric path also equally employs them. Without a
control over the habitual, reactionary, compulsions of the conditioned self,
there is little peace. Once the energies of desire and impulse in oneself
are directed and controlled, then one begins to be consciously in charge of
their own life force. Not only does the art of delaying gratification mature a
being, it brings a being to life.

Inevitably, the instant gratification conditioning makes it difficult for

students who want to learn discipline. If they cannot be spacious to sit
through a whole retreat, how can they be patient enough to sit through the
urge to be neurotic and apply the sadhanas instead! It takes a power of
being that arises through peace with instant or delayed gratification- the
power of ones awareness. Awareness abides through gratification or
delay. Awareness has abided throughout your whole life, whether you
have connected with it or not. It contains both the power of pausing and
spontaneous action.

This teaching is dedicated to everyone who is slower than the rest of the
class and all those who desire to go beyond the busy-grasping mind and
discover the simple, un-glamorous, but oh-so-fulfilling quality of being in
awareness.

With Love

Kali Ma Troma Rigtsal Khandro

Sunday, September 4, 2005
Trigug, Santa Cruz Retreat House

Naro's Six Dharmas

The final Completion Stage teachings of the Naropa lineage are grouped
into six practices.
These are called variously "Naro's Six Dharmas" or "the Six Yogas of
Naropa". They are:

Tumo - the Yoga of Psychic Heat

Karmamudra - the Yoga of the four Mudras
Jangwa, Gyurwa, Pelwa - the Yoga of Dream Time
Osel, the Yoga of the Clear Light Mind
Gyulu - the Yoga of the Illusory Body
Powa - the Yoga of transference of consciousness

This is only one of the enumerations of the Six Yogas. Some texts group
them differently, or emphasize different aspects.
Here I include Bardo Yoga in with Dream Yoga, and "Forceful Projection"
in with Powa Yoga.
Under Karmamudra the four Mudra classes are:
Karma Mudra - without qualification.
Samaya Mudra - with Tantric Vows and Empowerment.
Jnana Mudra - Visualized.
Maha Mudra - taking the whole universe as the Mudra.

The Sakya tradition, which also derives from Naropa and his sister
Niguma thru the Mahasiddha Virupa,

calls them "The Subsidiary practices"

Dharma Teachings

An Interview with HH17 Karmapa, Thaye Dorje, Menlo Park, California,

USA.

Sept 2003

HH17 Karmapa, Thaye Dorje

Buddhism Today: It is a great pleasure to speak to you during your very

first visit to the United States. What are your impressions of America and
American people?

Karmapa: In America everything is very big I see big roads, big cars,
even big people (laughter). But generally, people have open minds,
which is very important for Buddhism.

Since I was very small, back in Tibet, I always wanted to travel. The
possibility of seeing different places made me very excited. When I was
traveling in Europe, or anywhere else, this gave me a learning experience,
and it has been the same here. Even though I've been staying in one
place for two months now, I am still learning a lot. All in all, it's been a
great experience.

BT: What are the most essential points of Buddhism?

Karmapa: Buddhism is not a religion or a philosophy. What makes

Buddhism so special, and different from all the other religions, is the fact
that it is a method that enables us to connect to our true essence. Based
on Buddhist methods, we can realize the nature of everything. One can
say realize the nature of mind, because mind creates this samsaric world.
For that reason, mind is quite important, but otherwise, in a simple way
one could say "the nature of everything." Whatever we see, whatever we
feel, whatever we create, Buddhism describes the nature of it all.

Buddhism is just a method. It is not based on what someone said or on

faith; it is based on facts. When using this method, as we try to get to the
truth, we not only use the dharma but also all other resources, whatever
knowledge we can gain from this world without clinging to any of it.

BT: Where does bodhicitta (the bodhisattva mind) fit in?

Karmapa: For us Karma Kagyu practitioners, who follow the Mahayana

and Vajrayana paths, bodhicitta is very important. Bodhicitta makes
everything very different. Whatever we do, even though we still do it
thinking of ourselves, we should do it with the intention of benefiting
others. This is essential for Vajrayana Buddhism.

Both Mahayana and Vajrayana work with bodhicitta.

The Mahayana way is broader and clearer, but it goes by the book,
following instructions. Vajrayana uses more direct tools; it is more risky
and tempting. We go directly to the last stage, and from that point we try to
look back and see how we reached there.

The Hinayana and the Mahayana schools will first plant a seed, then water
it and give it more soil, and then they will get fruit. They use a very
systematic approach. Within the Vajrayana we try to combine the planting
of the seed with the fruit itself. We try to bring them closer and use every
possible way to have that fruit within days.

BT: So you take the goal as a starting point.

Karmapa: Yes. That's how we use the most effective tools.

BT: It's like adding fertilizer and using genetic engineering.

Karmapa: (laughter)

BT: Could you explain more about bodhicitta?

Karmapa: Bodhicitta is a Sanskrit word. In Tibetan we use the terms

monpa sem khyed and jukpa sem khyed. Sem means mind and khyed
means to generate, to generate the bodhicitta mind both in an intentional
and actual way. Monpa sem khyed is the intentional practice of bodhicitta,
and jukpa sem khyed is active bodhicitta.

First one has to see the samsaric world as suffering, then see that sentient
beings are caught in this suffering. On the basis of this understanding, one
then develops a commitment to remove suffering and give happiness
instead. In Tibetan we call it jampa and nyinje. Jampa means to give
happiness, and nyinje means to take away suffering. This is quite simple
and basic. I think the English terms are "loving kindness" (jampa) and
"compassion" (nyinje).

To give lasting happiness does not mean doing charity work but teaching
the dharma and helping beings understand the meaning of the dharma,
how to use it and how to practice it. Both intentional and active bodhicitta
are necessary.

Bodhicitta is important when it comes to dharma activity. We have to help

others as well as ourselves. By helping others we will gain more
understanding, and by helping ourselves we will be able to help others
more. It works both ways.

BT: What exactly is active Bodhicitta?

Karmapa: Aspiring or intentional bodhicitta is a commitment to reach the

state of enlightenment, while active bodhicitta is to actually engage in the
path to enlightenment. Active bodhicitta is courage. It is not just making
wishes and then running away, but putting them into action, taking the
situation into your hands and getting into it. Active bodhicitta involves the
Six Paramitas (liberating actions).

BT: For example, when you give teachings or initiations, or when someone
starts a Buddhist meditation center, is that active bodhicitta?

Karmapa: Active bodhicitta is a combination of both intention and action.

Without an intention, what would one do? When building a center, giving
teachings and initiations, or even meditating, we need the intention of
doing it to help others, don't we?

BT: You are the head of the Karma Kagyu lineage. What is the Karma
Kagyu lineage?

Karmapa: Ka in Tibetan means all the instructions, and gyu means the
transmission that has been passed on from one realized master to the
next. The transmission is pure, clear and without fault. The Karma Kagyu
lineage comes from Tilopa and Naropa. Tilopa received the transmission
directly from Dorje Chang and from the realized masters of the four
directions of India. It was then passed to Marpa, Milarepa and down to
Gampopa. Gampopa gave the transmission to his three main disciples,
especially to the first Karmapa Dusum Kyenpa. They used to call the first
Karmapa "Khampa Use." Khampa is a region in eastern Tibet, and use
means gray hair.

Our Kamtsang Kagyu starts with the first Karmapa. Our main practices are
the Six Yogas of Naropa and Mahamudra. Mahamudra is the Sanskrit
term we use in the Kagyu school. In Tibetan it is Chag Gya Chenpo, and it
is a specific teaching to our lineage of meditating directly on the nature of
mind. Of course there are other terms for Mahamudra within the
Nyingmapa and Gelugpa schools, like Tawa Chenpo, Uma Chenpo and
Dzogpa Chenpo.

BT: What is the difference between Mahamudra and Dzogchen?

Karmapa: These are just different methods. There are different

approaches for different people, whatever is suitable for them. In the end,
it does not matter which methods we use to attain realization. The fruit is
always the same. It's like saying, "Now I am going to Frankfurt, and I can
get there with Lufthansa or with United."

BT: In our Diamond Way Buddhist centers, the main practice is Guru Yoga
on the 16th Karmapa. Will you explain the benefits of this practice?

Karmapa: One must first understand the meaning of Guru Yoga. Guru
Yoga is the practice on one's own teacher. Normally, one could visualize a
peaceful or a wrathful deity, but the reason for doing Guru Yoga is that the
teacher is a human being, just like us. In this way, it is easier to relate to
him or her; we can have a stronger link and a better connection. In fact,
without the teacher, one would never know the dharma. A guru is the best
guide, the best way. Both deity practice and Guru Yoga are essential, but
the reason Guru Yoga is so special is that without a teacher one would
never even know the deity. The teacher shows us everything. We are
taking all of his or her qualities and using them to reach the same level of
realization.

When we think of a teacher, because he is human like us, we can more

easily relate to him and gain something. So when we practice Guru Yoga,
the blessing we receive will be even greater, simply because our mind is
more open. Otherwise, we could just do Guru Yoga on a stone. It's the
same. But with the teacher we feel more confident.

On the other hand, we should not think of a teacher as only being human,
but also think of his qualities. These qualities are the Three Jewels; the
teacher has all three. Like the Buddha, he is not simply a person but
someone who shows the path to enlightenment. Secondly, he possesses
and knows the dharma, and thirdly, he or she helps us on our way, and

that is the sangha. If you think that Guru Yoga is a practice on the
teacher's body only, then it will be a source of samsara. There is no lasting
quality in a human body; it's just flesh and bones.

Through Guru Yoga, the teacher enables us to understand the last stage,
that final piece that makes everything clear as crystal. The teacher has
such a quality.

BT: Guru Yoga seems to be a much more convenient practice for our
lifestyle than, for instance, the Six Yogas of Naropa.

Karmapa: Every part of Buddhist practice is essential. Whichever practice

you do is important, and they are all effective. If you feel more confident,
and something is more suitable for you, you will attain results more
quickly. It is a matter of what is most suitable for each individual, for his or
her situation, for the time, and even for the culture.

BT: Can we achieve the realization of the great masters without long
retreats and such practices as The Six Yogas of Naropa?

Karmapa: When we talk about the Six Yogas of Naropa, we think of so

many things we have to do, and it feels like a huge burden. Then we hear
that if one simply does Guru Yoga, one can achieve the same result. One
says, "Yes, Guru Yoga is very short, and I can do it." But slowly one comes
to understand the special qualities of the methods of the Six Yogas of
Naropa, like for instance the Phowa, that without doing them one cannot
go as deep and cannot actually realize the truth in such a short time. So at
some point one wants to practice The Six Yogas; it becomes a necessity.
Through Guru Yoga, one will get closer and receive bits and pieces of the
Six Yogas of Naropa. One will get a taste of it but not the complete
experience.

BT: Could you say something about the power of mantra? What are the
benefits of using the Karmapa Chenno mantra?

Karmapa: We use the Karmapa Chenno mantra in the Guru Yoga practice
on the 16th Karmapa to get closer to Karmapa's level of realization. In
Tibetan, karma means activity, and pa is the person who performs activity.
Karmapa means simply the man of activity. So, even the mantra is a form
of Guru Yoga.

BT: Just saying the mantra is Guru Yoga?

Karmapa: Maybe not exactly just saying it, but also thinking about its
meaning. When we repeat this mantra, we are very close to Karmapa's
essence; we invoke his body, speech and mind. These words carry the
essence of the three forms of Karmapa: past, present and future. One can
simply say that Karmapa, or any other teacher we do Guru Yoga on,
embodies the Three Jewels.

When reciting the six syllable mantra of Chenrezig (skt. Avalokitesvara),

Om Mani Peme Hung, we open our minds to his timeless qualities. When
Avalokitesvara took the Bodhisattva Vow and began his activity, he made
strong wishes that all who repeated this mantra would receive his
blessing. It is the same with Karmapa Chenno.

BT: Every Karmapa proclaims himself to be the Karmapa, and we

understand you did the same when you were a small child.

Karmapa: Yes, though I was very small at that time.

BT: Would you say that it was a strong conviction?

Karmapa: Yes, and I had a strong feeling that I could do something good,
simply put, that I could perform the activity of the dharma and take up the
challenge to teach. I had very strong confidence. At that time, I was very
small and I didn't know exactly what that feeling meant. It was very
strange, and I only began to understand it when I was six or seven years
old.

Through my practice, I can now say that I can take up and perform
whatever the previous Karmapa did, and that I have the capacity to do it.
That is what I feel. In that way, yes, I can say that I am the Karmapa.
Karmapa simply means the person who carries out activity.

BT: You are very confident that you can take over his task.

Karmapa: Yes, otherwise I am just another version of those people

claiming to be Karmapa.

Just saying, "I am Karmapa" is not enough. To recognize the Karmapa,

one needs proof. It takes a lot of work and intense meditation on the part
of the person who is responsible for recognizing him.

BT: In this case Shamar Rinpoche?

Karmapa: Yes, Shamar Rinpoche with the help of another lama.

BT: Now you are in a completely different environment from Tibet. Do you
miss the place where you grew up? Do you have the feeling that you
might go back there?

Karmapa: Who knows, I might go back there freely one day. I spent most
of my childhood in Lhasa, but I do not miss it that much. What I do miss is
the quietness of Eastern Tibet, the grasslands, the mountains and nature.

BT: Do you think Buddhism in Tibet is in decline?

Karmapa: Not completely. Many teachers are still there, and there are
many people working with the dharma. If we look at history, the teachings
originated in India, later were brought to Tibet, then to China, to Europe,
and so on. In India, there are still traces of Buddhism left. There is
definitely a strong base in Tibet. At some point in time, Buddhism may
again flourish there.

BT: Your father is a high Nyingma lama. Can you tell us how he influenced
you when you were a child?

Karmapa: He was a very strong influence. I think that having him as a

father, and also my mother, gave me easier access to the dharma.
Especially because my father was a high Nyingma master, a Rinpoche,

his knowledge of the dharma was very deep. I learned much more and
advanced faster than regular kids.

BT: Did he teach you to meditate?

Karmapa: No, not exactly meditate. He taught me how to read and write. I
did not have a tutor at that time. I did not go to school because my parents
did not think it would be safe. Since the time I was very small, they
somehow had some understanding about who I was. So it was my father
and my uncle who taught me everything.

BT: You had the option of learning at home?

Karmapa: Yes, I was lucky. By the time I came out of Tibet, I knew quite a
lot. Of course, I had no computer, but I had memorized a lot of texts.

BT: Who are your main dharma teachers now, and can you say something
about their qualities?

Karmapa: Well, almost every teacher has his own special qualities, and I
have been very fortunate to have many dharma teachers. I received
empowerments from Shamar Rinpoche, Chobje Thri Rinpoche, Ludhing
Khenchen Rinpoche, Beru Kyentse Rinpoche, Khen Trinley Paljur
Rinpoche and Peba Tulku. Topga Rinpoche, Sempa Dorje and Khenpo
Chodrak taught me Buddhist philosophy. Sometimes I spend several
months meditating in retreat. This is quite important because knowledge is
not enough; one has to have the experience of it.

BT: Where did you get your Western education?

Karmapa: I have not gone to any school, but I learned a lot from my
previous English teachers. I learned English from several people,
including Mark Tschelischeff, an American, Lucy, a lady from the New
Zealand Embassy in New Delhi, Professor Sprigg, a Scotsman with a
strong British accent, and Shona and Stewart Jarvis from Australia.

Today, one can also learn a lot with the help of modern technologies like
the Internet. Even though I have learned quite a lot already, it is still not
enough. I must learn more, there is unlimited knowledge in this world. It is
an ongoing process, and there is no end to it.

BT: Can you tell us about the most recent initiations into the lost Marpa
tantras that you received from Ludhing Khenchen Rinpoche? Why are
these tantras considered so precious?

Karmapa: Shamar Rinpoche had asked Ludhing Khenchen Rinpoche

several times to pass on these initiations, but it was difficult to find the time
for it in India because of Ludhing Khenchen's numerous activities there.
When he planned to travel to Seattle, we decided it would be the perfect
opportunity to receive these important initiations here in America. These
are hidden teachings, which have not been taught in our lineage for two
centuries. Fortunately, they have been practiced in the Sakya lineage, and
this was a golden opportunity to get them back. I received twenty-two of
them; there are some that due to our schedule we could not manage. It
took a lot of energy on the part of Rinpoche just to give these twenty-two.
He had to practice everyday for six hours in order to prepare for each
initiation, and then another two hours or more to give it. The longer
initiations took two days.

BT: Why is it important to pass these tantras on?

Karmapa: It is important that a large variety of methods are preserved.

They are all of the same essence but have different qualities. In order to
transmit an initiation to the public, one has to receive oral instructions and
transmission, and then achieve a certain realization. There always has to
be someone who has the time to practice it, realize it and pass it on.

BT: Do you think there are students who will be able to practice these
tantras today?

Karmapa: I would say yes, everybody could do it. We have to use them,
not just preserve them for the future.

BT: But practically, is that possible?

Karmapa: Everybody has to find the right moment and the right time to do
it. It is the same thing as saying that everybody has the Buddha nature.
For example, there are different types of fruits in a garden, but one can
only eat them when they are ripe. If one eats them before, they are bitter
and difficult to digest.

BT: So it depends on the individual practitioner, whether he or she is ready

for it or not?

Karmapa: Yes, even if students are not yet ready, as a teacher one would
still try to create the best possible conditions for them to practice. That's
why we have dharma centers.

BT: How do you see your activity as the 17th Karmapa?

Karmapa: It is still quite a long road, and there are a lot of challenges
ahead. I am making the first step, and I think that it will be quite
interesting.

BT: Is it important for the Karmapa to perform the Black Crown ceremony?

Karmapa: It was important. It was a tradition kept until the 16th Karmapa,
but still only a tradition, no more than that. For me it is not so important.
We can have it, but if we don't, it will not make a big difference.

We say that the Black Crown is a symbol of Karmapa's activity, and it was
true for that time. Now, given the right moment, even a baseball cap could
open someone's mind. It's like a door handle that opens a door.

BT: There are different styles of practice within the Kagyu lineage, which
sometimes lead to divisions within the sangha. As a head of the lineage,
do you see your role as someone who will unite and unify various
approaches, or do you welcome the variety of groups and practitioners
and consider it a natural way of things?

Karmapa: It is natural to have small divisions. At the time the Buddha

taught, there was just one understanding of his teachings. After he passed
away, more and more approaches appeared.

Different ways of practicing are good if they are effective and help people.
However, if divisions appear and difficulties arise, they should be solved.
Modernizing the way of teaching may also be required. The idea is not to
bring anything new, but to use different terms while preserving the same
essence.

BT: What makes Diamond Way methods unique?

Karmapa: I would say that this is not a proper question. You can find
something unique in all other Buddhist methods as well.

Diamond Way is a very modern method, especially effective for the West,
and we already have seen a good deal of results. For instance, in Europe
there are many practitioners, many centers, and people don't just follow
but understand, which is most important. In that way, Diamond Way is very
effective for modern times. It is probably better suited for the Western
mind, so in this way it is unique.

BT: The development in Europe is mainly due to the activity of Lama Ole
Nydahl. Why do you think he was able to achieve such results?

Karmapa: I think he is a great example for everybody. You can see how
one individual can accomplish so much. Before he became a Buddhist, he
was very wild. But once you tap into your Buddha nature, you can move
mountains.

BT: Can we ask you a personal question? Is it difficult for you to always be
the focus of everybody's attention?

Karmapa: In a way I am getting used to it. (Laughter) Sometimes it can be

irritating, but in some cultures it is a way to show respect, and it is done
with best intentions. In the US or in Northern Europe, it is easier and more
relaxed.

BT: What is the best way to address you? Should your students call you
Your Holiness?

Karmapa: I would not mind whatever name is being used. Karmapa is fine;
it is very simple. I think that I would prefer a name to a title.

BT: What about prostrating before a teacher?

Karmapa: Prostrating as a greeting depends on the situation. In Asia, it is

part of the culture. In the West, sometimes it would look rather awkward
and we can skip it. For myself, whenever I receive initiations, prostrating is
a must. In the right context, it is a sign of respect. We should not do it
without a reason. Whatever we do in Buddhism, we should do it with a
proper understanding.

BT: How do you see the future of the Karma Kagyu lineage?

Karmapa: The future looks very good. (Karmapa smiles.) Within our
lineage, there are many people interested in the dharma who are not
simply followers but have an intellectual understanding as well. This is a
good basis for further development.

BT: Thank you very much.

The interview was conducted by Gosia Pellarin, Alyson Talley, Tomek

Lehnert and Brooke Webb

Buddhism Today Vol.13, 2003

Copyright 2003 Diamond Way Buddhist Centers, USA