A Daily Practice
Exercise
Do something to get the blood flowing, even work up a mild sweat /run barefoot in snow; then do prostrations.
Posture
Remove energy binders such as glasses, rings jewelry etc and loosen clothing around belly, i.e. undo pants top button and/or zipper.
7 Point sitting posture: make sure your centre of gravity is forward of the ‘2 little pointy bones’ in your buttocks and that you’re seated about four inches off the floor.
Breathing
Calm the breath/body/mind, then wake it up!
– Breathe through the nose, from the top and back of nose, using the ‘piggy noise’ grunting muscles.
–Do deep inhalation using the mantra syllable HRIH, breathe up to Gate of Purity, 16 fingers above the head. This is known as ‘climb the mountain & step into space’. State your Aspiration at the top of the in breath at the Gate of Purity – something like, ‘I aspire to Awaken speedily for the benefit of self and all beings’.
-Holding aspiration at the Gate of Purity: swallow in breath with a little spittle into pit of belly; lower chin and straighten neck to apply throat lock, gently apply anal sphincter lock, allow belly to hang out, relaxed and full of breath. Hold the belly full of breath as long as possible in a relaxed way.
-To exhale: breathe in a little first. Release chin and sphincter locks, by raising chin and letting sphincter go. Allow breath to cascade out using mantra syllable ‘SHEUH’ and punch last of out breath once using diaphragm muscles.
-Do three repetitions of in/out breath cycle. Allow breath to return to its own natural rhythm for a few moments.
-Then, using the diaphragm, do fast ‘bellows’ breathing through the nose for 20 or 30 seconds, until feeling slightly ‘giddy’. A warmth should be felt in the belly at this point, which is the ‘bliss’ referred to in the texts. Allow the bliss to spread throughout the body.
Then relax, let the breath return to its natural cycle, continue breathing through the nose and re-adjust the posture for meditation.
Sunyata, transition into visualisation – Inner-space (hollow body) practice:
Repeat 3x the mantra of the plenum void (‘sunyata’ or ‘emptiness’)
“OM SVABHAVHA SHUDDHA SARVA DARMAH SVABHAVA SHUDDHO HAM”
Meaning: ‘As all phenomena are void of inherent self-existence, so am I’
-Whilst visualizing the body as normal size but void of all internal organs, muscles, flesh etc, completely empty in fact, the only ‘thing’ separating the ‘inner’ space from the ‘outer’ space is a ‘skin’ of gossamer energy, tenuous and shimmering like a soap bubble, refracting rainbow light off the outer and inner ‘surface’.
–Realise that inner space is as vast and empty as outer space, with intense tiny points of light separated by vast distances. In every direction there is warm, clear, blissful, radiant light without any source, it is everywhere – the whole interior is illuminated. Without any referencing there is ‘mere’ awareness.
-Experience this ‘energy’ body as rapidly expanding and contracting – the size of a house, then a mountain, then a continent, the planet, solar system, galaxy, the universe, as large as you can conceive. Then back down to ‘normal’ size, then the size of a melon, mustard seed, molecule, atom, sub-atomic particle, back down to the smallest transformation of matter into energy and energy into matter. See this radiant inner energy body alternately and swiftly transforming, larger and smaller for some time.
-Eventually, allow technique to fall away. Rest the awareness in its natural state without making any effort or subject/object referencing to dichotomies at all; allow all thoughts, concepts, experiencing and /or evaluation of the senses even, to fall away; resting the mind in its natural, ‘naked’ state of primordial, pure, pristine, diamond-clear, warm, radiant, illuminated, blissful awareness…
-After some time, when thought arises, begin to utter the mantra ARAHUM (peaceful, or, for more determined, ‘concentrated’ energy or ‘wrathful’ purposes use ARAHUNG); for purification/genetic clearing while you experience the Lama/Guru in radiant energy form at the Gate of Purity, 16 fingers above the crown of the head. Luminous rainbow light of the five colours; white, red, blue, yellow and green – which combine together to form opalescent/iridescent lustrous, moonlight white liquid light shining from the Lama’s heart, fills the body and pours down from the Lama’s heart, out of the big toe of the right foot and into the crown of your head, filling your body from the bottom up.
This liquid light is the essence, nectar of purification and it slowly fills your body from the bottom up; pressing out all the physical toxins, ills, pain and discomfort in the form of a coal-black, tar-like liquid through the body’s lower openings – the genitals, the anus and the pores of the skin. The ground opens up in front of you and swallows up this black liquid. Then, as the upper body fills with light, the mental and emotional toxins etc, ‘the defilements, the ‘kleshas’ are pushed out of the body’s upper openings, nose, ears, eyes, mouth and the pores of the upper body; in the form of blue-grey vaporous smoke, which flashes over the horizon and vanishes. In this way not only are the physical senses purified and healed, but also the RNA/DNA is restored to its ultimate purity clearing the genetic material, as well the hindrances to the practice and all the malformations caused by the traumatas and traumas of conditioning from the moment of conception in this life, through the womb, until now, As the light overflows out of the crown of the head it forms into the personal Guru, purifying and consecrating the chakras and nadis, bestowing the blessing of transcendence on the ‘radiant energy template’, the ‘yogic body within the body’, thus clearing the karma formations of all previous lives in one’s own gene pool, as well as this one now and all lives to come.
One now begins to radiate boundless, formless, blessings throughout all dimensions of time and space simultaneously, to all sentient beings – engaging one in the formation of energy into matter and matter into energy on a cosmic scale. One then serves as an ‘Illumined’ thread in the universal ‘warp and woof’ of the Tantric interweaving of Being.
Spontaneously composed by K. Senge Gyaltsen, Sakya Shasanadhara at the request of Refuge Seekers Candace and Jesse – on the occaision of the 28th anniversary of his and Angelica’s ordination, August 22, 2005, at Sakya Namgyal, Markham – May any merit from it unfold their speedy Awakening. It was distilled from the Compassionate Wisdom Blessings of the Venerated Karma Tenzing Dorje Namgyal Rinpoche, His Emminence Kalu Rinpoche, His Holiness Sakya Trizin – and all his other teachers.
Long mantra 21x – Syllables Translation
Refuge, Bodhicitta, precepts, brahma viharas 4 Thoughts to turn the mind
Offerings – Outer/Inner/Secret offerings, requesting realization/mandala offering-Guru yoga, Energy body -Transformation center,