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The '''Six Yogas''' (or, more literally, '''Dharmas''') '''of Naropa''' ([[Wyl.]] ''naro chos drug''), sometimes also referred to simply as the [[Six Yogas]] ([[Wyl.]] ''chos drug''), are six sets of teachings and practices (or doctrines) which originate from the Indian [[mahasiddha]] [[Naropa]]. They form the basis of the inner yoga practices of [[Mahamudra]], as practised in the [[Kagyü]] and [[Gelug]] schools. They are:  
[[File:Naropa.png|thumb|[[Naropa]]]]
The '''Six Yogas''' (or, more literally, '''Dharmas''') '''of Naropa''' (Tib. ན་རོ་ཆོས་དྲུག, ''naro chö druk'', [[Wyl.]] ''na ro chos drug''), sometimes also referred to simply as the [[Six Yogas]] (Tib. [[ཆོས་དྲུག་]], ''chö druk'', Wyl. ''chos drug''), are six sets of teachings and practices which originate from the Indian [[mahasiddha]] [[Naropa]]. They form the basis of the inner yoga practices of [[Mahamudra]], as practised in the [[Kagyü]] and [[Gelug]] schools. They are:  


#'''Inner heat''' (Tib. ''[[tummo]]''; Wyl. ''gtum mo'') which is the root of the path. For a [[dzogrim]] practitioner this meditation on inner heat is like the root of the entire path. Without some experience of tummo practice, it is said, the various experiences (Tib. ''nyam'') of [[tsa-lung]] practice such as [[three experiences|bliss, clarity and absence of thought]] will not arise.
#'''Inner heat''' (Tib. [[གཏུམ་མོ་]], ''[[tummo]]'', Wyl. ''gtum mo'') which is the root of the path. For a [[dzogrim]] practitioner this meditation on inner heat is like the root of the entire path. Without some experience of tummo practice, it is said, the various experiences (Tib. ཉམས་, ''nyam'') of [[tsa-lung]] practice such as [[three experiences|bliss, clarity and absence of thought]] will not arise.
#'''Illusory body''' (Tib. ''gyu lü''; Wyl. ''sgyu lus'') which is the foundation of the path.
#'''Illusory body''' (Tib. སྒྱུ་ལུས་, ''gyu lü'', Wyl. ''sgyu lus'') which is the foundation of the path.
#'''Clear light/luminosity''' (Tib. ''ösal''; Wyl. '' 'od gsal'') which is the heart-essence of the path.  
#'''Clear light/luminosity''' (Tib. [[འོད་གསལ་]], ''ösal'', Wyl. '' 'od gsal'') which is the heart-essence of the path.  
#Then in order to test the strength of, or assess one's progress in, the practice of clear light, there is the '''dream yoga''' (Wyl. ''rmi lam'').  
#Then in order to test the strength of, or assess one's progress in, the practice of clear light, there is the '''dream yoga''' (Tib. [[རྨི་ལམ་]], Wyl. ''rmi lam'').  
#For those who are unable to complete the practice of clear light because untimely death occurs, there needs to be one who picks them up, just as when one is travelling to a country such as France and one needs to be picked up at the airport. The practice which comes to 'collect' you is the practice of '''[[phowa]]''' (Wyl. '' 'pho ba'').
#For those who are unable to complete the practice of clear light because untimely death occurs, there needs to be one who picks them up, just as when one is travelling to a country such as France and one needs to be picked up at the airport. The practice which comes to 'collect' you is the practice of '''[[phowa]]''' (Tib. [[འཕོ་བ་]], Wyl. '' 'pho ba'').
#Then, finally, the juncture which bridges the gap between past and future lives and provides a connection with the [[Zangdokpalri]] heaven of [[Guru Rinpoche]] or the pure realms such as [[Sukhavati]] (Tib. ''Dewachen''), is the '''[[bardo]]'''. By applying the bardo teachings a practitioner whose practice isn't particularly great can transform their practice and become a great practitioner.  
#Then, finally, the juncture which bridges the gap between past and future lives and provides a connection with the [[Zangdokpalri]] heaven of [[Guru Rinpoche]] or the pure realms such as [[Sukhavati]] (Tib. [[བདེ་བ་ཅན་]], ''Dewachen''), is the '''[[bardo]]'''. By applying the bardo teachings a practitioner whose practice isn't particularly great can transform their practice and become a great practitioner.  


==Further Reading==
==Further Reading==
*Garma C.C. Chang, ''The Six Yogas of Naropa'', Snow Lion, 1986
*Ngulchu Dharmabhadra, ''The Blazing Inner Fire of Bliss and Emptiness'', translated by David Gonsalez (Wisdom Publications, 2024)
*Glenn Mullin (translator), ''The Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa'' (Snow Lion, 2006)
*Garma C.C. Chang, ''The Six Yogas of Naropa'' (Snow Lion, 1986)


[[Category:Key Terms]]
[[Category:Six Yogas]]
[[Category:Prayers and Practices]]
[[Category:Prayers and Practices]]
[[Category:Enumerations]]
[[Category:Enumerations]]
[[Category:6-Six]]
[[Category:06-Six]]

Latest revision as of 07:39, 29 April 2024

Naropa

The Six Yogas (or, more literally, Dharmas) of Naropa (Tib. ན་རོ་ཆོས་དྲུག, naro chö druk, Wyl. na ro chos drug), sometimes also referred to simply as the Six Yogas (Tib. ཆོས་དྲུག་, chö druk, Wyl. chos drug), are six sets of teachings and practices which originate from the Indian mahasiddha Naropa. They form the basis of the inner yoga practices of Mahamudra, as practised in the Kagyü and Gelug schools. They are:

  1. Inner heat (Tib. གཏུམ་མོ་, tummo, Wyl. gtum mo) which is the root of the path. For a dzogrim practitioner this meditation on inner heat is like the root of the entire path. Without some experience of tummo practice, it is said, the various experiences (Tib. ཉམས་, nyam) of tsa-lung practice such as bliss, clarity and absence of thought will not arise.
  2. Illusory body (Tib. སྒྱུ་ལུས་, gyu lü, Wyl. sgyu lus) which is the foundation of the path.
  3. Clear light/luminosity (Tib. འོད་གསལ་, ösal, Wyl. 'od gsal) which is the heart-essence of the path.
  4. Then in order to test the strength of, or assess one's progress in, the practice of clear light, there is the dream yoga (Tib. རྨི་ལམ་, Wyl. rmi lam).
  5. For those who are unable to complete the practice of clear light because untimely death occurs, there needs to be one who picks them up, just as when one is travelling to a country such as France and one needs to be picked up at the airport. The practice which comes to 'collect' you is the practice of phowa (Tib. འཕོ་བ་, Wyl. 'pho ba).
  6. Then, finally, the juncture which bridges the gap between past and future lives and provides a connection with the Zangdokpalri heaven of Guru Rinpoche or the pure realms such as Sukhavati (Tib. བདེ་བ་ཅན་, Dewachen), is the bardo. By applying the bardo teachings a practitioner whose practice isn't particularly great can transform their practice and become a great practitioner.

Further Reading

  • Ngulchu Dharmabhadra, The Blazing Inner Fire of Bliss and Emptiness, translated by David Gonsalez (Wisdom Publications, 2024)
  • Glenn Mullin (translator), The Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa (Snow Lion, 2006)
  • Garma C.C. Chang, The Six Yogas of Naropa (Snow Lion, 1986)