The Six Yogas of Naropa - Milam (3/6)

The Six Yogas of Naropa (Sankirt. Saḍdharma, "Naro's six doctrines" or "six teachings") are a set of advanced Tibetan Buddhist tantric practices compiled by the Indian mahasiddhas Tilopa and Nāropa (1016–1100 CE) and passed on to the Tibetan translator-yogi Marpa Lotsawa (c. 1012).

Another name for the six Dharmas is "the oral instruction transmission for achieving liberation in the bardo," or "the Bardo Trang-dol system." Bardo here refers to the three bardos of waking, sleeping, and dying. They are also referred to as "the path of means" (thabs lam) in Kagyu literature. They are also sometimes called the Six Yogas of Naropa (though not in the traditional literature, which never uses the term ṣaḍaṅga-yoga or sbyor-drug). 

The six yogas are a collection of tantric Buddhist completion stage practices drawn from the Buddhist tantras. They are intended to lead to Buddhahood in an accelerated manner. They traditionally require tantric initiation and personal instruction through working with a tantric guru, as well as various preliminary practices. The six yogas work with the subtle body, particularly through the generation of inner heat (tummo) energy.

The six yogas are a main practice of the Kagyu school (and were originally unique to that school), and key Kagyu figures such as Milarepa, Gampopa, Phagmo Drugpa, and Jigten Sumgon taught and practiced these yogas. They taught in the Gelugpa lineage and were introduced by Je Tsongkhapa, who received the lineage through his Kagyu teachers. 

Overview of Preliminary Practices  

For example, Milarepa is quoted by Tsongkhapa as stating that the first one establishes the basics, "such as refuge in the three jewels and the two aspects of Bodhicitta." Tsongkhapa also quotes poems by Milarepa, which show that he held that one should first practice contemplating the nature of karma, observing the faults of sensuality and samsara, as well as meditate on kindness and Bodhicitta.  

In all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, there are various preliminary practices drawn from the common Mahayana that are prescribed to students before beginning the practice of completion stage yoga (such as taking refuge, Bodhicitta aspiration, guru yoga, deity yoga, and dedication of merit). The details of this depend on the lineage, school, and individual teacher.

The six yogas of Naropa are meant to be a comprehensive and holistic collection of the completion stage practices of Indian Buddhist tantra. In Kagyu and Gelug, initiation or empowerment into at least one Anuttarayogatantra system (generally Cakrasaṃvara and/or Vajrayogini/Vajravarāhi Tantras) and practice of its Generation Stage are the bases for practice of the six yogas.

The six yogas though variously classified (from just two to up to ten dharmas), the most widely used list of six yogas in the work of the Kagyu school figure Gampopa conforms to the following list: 

*

1) Tummo - The Yoga of inner heat

2) Osel - The Yoga of luminosity or radiant  light

3) Milam - The dream Yoga 

“You should know all phenomena are like dreams.” — Shakyamuni Buddha.

Milam - The Dream Yoga or The Yoga of the Dream State is a suite of advanced tantric sadhana of the entwined Mantrayana lineages of Dzogchen (Nyingmapa, Ngagpa, Mahasiddha, Kagyu, and Bonpo). Dream yoga consists of tantric processes and techniques within the trance. Bardos of Dream and Sleep (standard Tibetan: mi-lam the bardo)

The Six Yogas of Naropa. In the tradition of the tantra, the dream yoga method is usually passed on by a qualified teacher to his or her students after necessary initiation. Various Tibetan lamas are unanimous that it is more of a passing of an enlightened experience than any textual information.

The first step to dream practice is quite simple: one must recognise the great potential that dreams  holds for the spiritual journey. Normally, the dream is thought to be ‘unreal,’ as opposedto'real'’ waking life.

But there is nothing more real than a dream. This statement only makes sense once it is understood that normal waking life is as unreal as a dream, and in exactly the same way.

What is the goal of dream yoga? 

Dream Yoga is a spiritual practice that aims to help individuals achieve greater lucidity, control, and insight in their dreams.. It is a form of meditation that is practiced while sleeping, with the goal of becoming aware that one is dreaming and learning to control the dream state.

Unless we are Yogis or Yoginis, the closest we are likely to come to an inciteful appreciation of emptiness and the true nature of phenomena might actually be our dreams. The first Karmapa attained enlightenment with dream yoga.

“It is easier to develop your practices in a dream than in the daytime. In the daytime, we are limited to our material body, but in a dream, our function of mind and our consciousness of the senses are unhindered. We can have more clarity. If a person applies a practice within a dream, it is nine times more effective than when it is applied in waking life.” Namkai Norbu Rinpoche (1938 - 2018)

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu (1938–2018) was an internationally renowned scholar of the Nyingma lineage who dedicated his life, prodigious mind, and intellect to becoming a master of the Dzogchen Atiyoga teachings.

In the bardo, one has the  yid lus , the vision body (yid, consciousness; lus, body). It is the same as the body of dreams, the mind body.  

If you’re in a nightmare and you become lucid, relate to your fear instead of running from it. This practice can show you that it’s not the contents of the nightmare that scare you, but your habit of taking the events to be solid and real.

However, lucid dreaming alone will not wake you up in the spiritual sense. If you merely indulge your fantasies, lucid dreaming becomes super-samsara. When intention is involved, even at the level of a dream, karma is created.  

Lucid dreams are not karmically neutral. If you want to go deeper, lucid dreaming can develop into dream yoga, which is when it becomes a spiritual practice. While lucid dreams can create negative karma, dream yoga is designed to purify it. “Yoga” is that which yokes, or unites. Dream yoga is designed to unite you with deeper aspects of your being and is more concerned with self-transcendence.

With dream yoga, instead of using your mind as an entertainment centre, you turn it into a laboratory. You experiment with dream meditations and study your mind using the medium of dreams. For example, one dream yoga practice is to change the objects in your dream.

In The Tibetan Yogas of Dream  and Sleep, “if we lose ourselves every night, what chance do we have to be aware when death comes? Look to your experience in dreams to know how you will fare in death. Look to your experience of sleep to discover whether or not you are truly awake.”

But, when we sleep, our minds create entire worlds within seconds; a century can pass in a relative minute; we can fly through the sky and meet Buddhas and stunningly beautiful Dakinis; we see monsters from the deepest fictional hells of our mind—and none of it is real. Yet, all of it is as real as we experience in our daily lives.

Lucid participation in your dreams can quickly help us develop insight into duality, into the true nature of phenomena, and into the illusion of appearances in our dualistic “waking” world.

Footnote

For those who have received the empowerment of this Tantric practise, you are reminded not to intentionally or unintentionally disclose the mantra to the public or anyone who may not have the empowerment or permission to practise, and disclosing the mantra intentionally or unintentionally is a form of breaking your Tantric Samaya vows to the lineage masters and Dharma protectors.
 
Please consult your Guru or a qualified lineage master for Vajrayana practise! Should a devotee even want to start studying and contemplating the Vajrayana practise, then it is truly necessary to first have completed the preliminaries and to be certain that Bodhicitta has arisen and developed in one’s mind.
 
Vajrayana features countless skillful and powerful methods that, if practised in the proper way, can make the process of accumulation and purification incredibly swift and direct. It is absolutely necessary to have pure motivation and to know that Vajrayana practise is not carried out to increase one’s own ego, power, or self-interest.  

Donations for our Buddhist research and development

Do you earnestly cherish our devoted work? Assuming this is the case, we are delighted that you are finding our blog useful and valuable. Would you consider making a donation for our Buddhist research and development?

We need your help to secure the future of scholarly interaction with Buddhism. Since our very first publication of Dharma works and activities in 2008, we have been effortlessly providing free distribution of Dharma posts and articles throughout the previous 14 years. We have exceptionally constrained support and do not receive subsidies or funding from people in general.

 

Please help us develop our Dharma activities that will not only benefit you but all Dharma readers on the planet. Please consider showing your support. Your generosity will certainly help us enhance our work and accomplish more for a better and brighter future.

 

Thank you for reading. May you find peace and great bliss. With your support, it helps to spread the Buddha’s precious teachings and turn the Dharma wheels in the world.

 

Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease.

But increase further and further.

 

Dedication of Merit

By this merit, may we then obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrongdoings

May we liberate migratory from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death.

 

*Note

I do not own or infringe any copyright on the picture(s).

Picture(s) courtesy and credit to the rightful distributors and/or studios

The picture(s) are intended for editorial use only.

The Six Yogas of Naropa - Osel (2/6)

The Six Yogas of Naropa (Sankirt. Saḍdharma, "Naro's six doctrines" or "six teachings") are a set of advanced Tibetan Buddhist tantric practices compiled by the Indian mahasiddhas Tilopa and Nāropa (1016–1100 CE) and passed on to the Tibetan translator-yogi Marpa Lotsawa (c. 1012).

Another name for the six Dharmas is "the oral instruction transmission for achieving liberation in the bardo," or "the Bardo Trang-dol system." Bardo here refers to the three bardos of waking, sleeping, and dying. They are also referred to as "the path of means" (thabs lam) in Kagyu literature. They are also sometimes called the Six Yogas of Nāropa (though not in the traditional literature, which never uses the term ṣaḍaṅga-yoga or sbyor-drug). 

The six yogas are a collection of tantric Buddhist completion stage practices drawn from the Buddhist tantras. They are intended to lead to Buddhahood in an accelerated manner. They traditionally require tantric initiation and personal instruction through working with a tantric guru, as well as various preliminary practices. The six yogas work with the subtle body, particularly through the generation of inner heat (tummo) energy.

The six yogas are a main practice of the Kagyu school (and were originally unique to that school), and key Kagyu figures such as Milarepa, Gampopa, Phagmo Drugpa, and Jigten Sumgon taught and practiced these yogas. They taught in the Gelugpa lineage and were introduced by Je Tsongkhapa, who received the lineage through his Kagyu teachers.

Overview of Preliminary Practices  

For example, Milarepa is quoted by Tsongkhapa as stating that the first one establishes the basics, "such as refuge in the three jewels and the two aspects of Bodhicitta." Tsongkhapa also quotes poems by Milarepa, which show that he held that one should first practice contemplating the nature of karma, observing the faults of sensuality and samsara, as well as meditate on kindness and Bodhicitta.  

In all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, there are various preliminary practices drawn from the common Mahayana that are prescribed to students before beginning the practice of completion stage yoga (such as taking refuge, Bodhicitta aspiration, guru yoga, deity yoga, and dedication of merit). The details of this depend on the lineage, school, and individual teacher.

The six yogas of Naropa are meant to be a comprehensive and holistic collection of the completion stage practices of Indian Buddhist tantra. In Kagyu and Gelug, initiation or empowerment into at least one Anuttarayogatantra system (generally Cakrasaṃvara and/or Vajrayogini/Vajravarāhi Tantras) and practice of its Generation Stage are the bases for practice of the six yogas.

The six yogas though variously classified (from just two to up to ten dharmas), the most widely used list of six yogas in the work of the Kagyu school figure Gampopa conforms to the following list: 

*

1) Tummo - The Yoga of inner heat

2) Osel - The Yoga of luminosity or radiant  light

Osel, the Yoga of the Clear Light (often translated as 'Radiant Light' (Sanskrit: prabhasvara), referring to the 'intrinsic purity' (Tibetan: ka-dag) of the substratum of the'mindstream' (Tibetan: sems-rgyud), is a sadhana found in Vajrayana and Bon centred on the state of luminous clarity. Many versions, derivatives, and accretions of the sadhana are extant. Ösel is generally included among the Six Yogas of Naropa and its sister tradition, the Six Yogas of Niguma. Osel is also an experience of 'rigpa', the'reflexive apperception' (Sanskrit: Svasaṃvedana) of the mindstream. 

What does Osel mean in Tibetan?

The term Osel literally means “clear light,” and there are many who translate it this way. “Clarity” is another popular rendering. The Vidyadhara, however, preferred “luminosity,” which points not so much to the light itself but to the quality or state of being radiant.

Thrangu Rinpoche once remarked that luminosity comes to mean the basic “knowing” quality of mind in which nothing is excluded.

In his oral commentary on Pointing out the Dharmakaya, Thrangu Rinpoche makes the following comments on Osel and shunyata in discussing “the dharmata nature of mind”:

While it is empty and there is nothing there in a sense, nevertheless there is a natural clarity or luminosity, which is traditionally referred to as Buddha nature, the spontaneously present qualities, and so on. Here, luminosity does not refer to physical light or some kind of physical radiance. In this context, luminosity simply refers to the cognitive capacity or awareness, which is the defining characteristic of a mind. A mind is not anything, and yet it cognizes; that is what is meant by the unity of luminosity and emptiness. This is something that we experience directly and that we do not have to talk ourselves into through logical analysis. 

* Footnote 

For those who have received the empowerment of this Tantric practise, you are reminded not to intentionally or unintentionally disclose the mantra to the public or anyone who may not have the empowerment or permission to practise, and disclosing the mantra intentionally or unintentionally is a form of breaking your Tantric Samaya vows to the lineage masters and Dharma protectors.
 
Please consult your Guru or a qualified lineage master for Vajrayana practise! Should a devotee even want to start studying and contemplating the Vajrayana practise, then it is truly necessary to first have completed the preliminaries and to be certain that Bodhicitta has arisen and developed in one’s mind.
 
Vajrayana features countless skillful and powerful methods that, if practised in the proper way, can make the process of accumulation and purification incredibly swift and direct. It is absolutely necessary to have pure motivation and to know that Vajrayana practise is not carried out to increase one’s own ego, power, or self-interest.  

Donations for our Buddhist research and development

Do you earnestly cherish our devoted work? Assuming this is the case, we are delighted that you are finding our blog useful and valuable. Would you consider making a donation for our Buddhist research and development?

We need your help to secure the future of scholarly interaction with Buddhism. Since our very first publication of Dharma works and activities in 2008, we have been effortlessly providing free distribution of Dharma posts and articles throughout the previous 14 years. We have exceptionally constrained support and do not receive subsidies or funding from people in general.

 

Please help us develop our Dharma activities that will not only benefit you but all Dharma readers on the planet. Please consider showing your support. Your generosity will certainly help us enhance our work and accomplish more for a better and brighter future.

 

Thank you for reading. May you find peace and great bliss. With your support, it helps to spread the Buddha’s precious teachings and turn the Dharma wheels in the world.

 

Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease.

But increase further and further.

 

Dedication of Merit

By this merit, may we then obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrongdoings

May we liberate migratory from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death.

 

*Note

I do not own or infringe any copyright on the picture(s).

Picture(s) courtesy and credit to the rightful distributors and/or studios

The picture(s) are intended for editorial use only.

The Six Yogas of Naropa -Tummo (1/6)

The Six Yogas of Naropa (Sankirt. Saḍdharma, "Naro's six doctrines" or "six teachings") are a set of advanced Tibetan Buddhist tantric practices compiled by the Indian mahasiddhas Tilopa and Nāropa (1016–1100 CE) and passed on to the Tibetan translator-yogi Marpa Lotsawa (c. 1012).

Another name for the six Dharmas is "the oral instruction transmission for achieving liberation in the bardo," or "the Bardo Trang-dol system." Bardo here refers to the three bardos of waking, sleeping, and dying. They are also referred to as "the path of means" (thabs lam) in Kagyu literature. They are also sometimes called the Six Yogas of Nāropa (though not in the traditional literature, which never uses the term ṣaḍaṅga-yoga or sbyor-drug). 

The six yogas are a collection of tantric Buddhist completion stage practices drawn from the Buddhist tantras. They are intended to lead to Buddhahood in an accelerated manner. They traditionally require tantric initiation and personal instruction through working with a tantric guru, as well as various preliminary practices. The six yogas work with the subtle body, particularly through the generation of inner heat (tummo) energy.

The six yogas are a main practice of the Kagyu school (and were originally unique to that school), and key Kagyu figures such as Milarepa, Gampopa, Phagmo Drugpa, and Jigten Sumgon taught and practiced these yogas. They taught in the Gelugpa lineage and were introduced by Je Tsongkhapa, who received the lineage through his Kagyu teachers.

Overview of Preliminary Practices  

For example, Milarepa is quoted by Tsongkhapa as stating that the first one establishes the basics, "such as refuge in the three jewels and the two aspects of Bodhicitta." Tsongkhapa also quotes poems by Milarepa, which show that he held that one should first practice contemplating the nature of karma, observing the faults of sensuality and samsara, as well as meditate on kindness and Bodhicitta.  

In all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, there are various preliminary practices drawn from the common Mahayana that are prescribed to students before beginning the practice of completion stage yoga (such as taking refuge, Bodhicitta aspiration, guru yoga, deity yoga, and dedication of merit). The details of this depend on the lineage, school, and individual teacher. 

The six yogas of Naropa are meant to be a comprehensive and holistic collection of the completion stage practices of Indian Buddhist tantra. In Kagyu and Gelug, initiation or empowerment into at least one Anuttarayogatantra system (generally Cakrasaṃvara and/or Vajrayogini/Vajravarāhi Tantras) and practice of its Generation Stage are the bases for practice of the six yogas.

The six yogas though variously classified (from just two to up to ten dharmas), the most widely used list of six yogas in the work of the Kagyu school figure Gampopa conforms to the following list: 

* Tummo: the yoga of inner heat (or mystic heat). In Tibetan Buddhism, Tummo is the fierce goddess of heat and passion. Tummo is found in the Mahasiddha Krishnacarya and the Hevajra Tantra texts. 

Tummo is also a Tantric practice for inner heat, developed around the concept of the female deity. It is found in the Six Yogas of Naropa, Lamdre, Kalachakra, and the Anuyoga teachings of Vajrayana. The purpose of tummo is to gain control over body processes during the completion stage of the Anuyoga or Anuttarayoga Tantra (the highest yoga tantra').

The practice begins by visualising the body's energy channels, winds, drops, and chakras. Inner heat, generated through specific breath-holding exercises, helps vital winds enter the central channel, leading to blissful experiences. The practice also involves focusing on seed syllables at the chakras and combining them with meditation on emptiness. Over time, practitioners aim to master this process, achieving heightened states of clarity, inner heat, and bliss.

Scientific studies have explored the effects of tummo, demonstrating notable increases in body temperature, metabolism, and thermal power output among expert meditators. While the practice's effects on body temperature have been investigated, its primary purpose within Tibetan Buddhism remains focused on spiritual development, combining visualization, breath, and meditation to harness the inner fire and achieve profound states of enlightenment.

* Footnote 
For those who have received the empowerment of this Tantric practise, you are reminded not to intentionally or unintentionally disclose the mantra to the public or anyone who may not have the empowerment or permission to practise, and disclosing the mantra intentionally or unintentionally is a form of breaking your Tantric Samaya vows to the lineage masters and Dharma protectors.
 
Please consult your Guru or a qualified lineage master for Vajrayana practise! Should a devotee even want to start studying and contemplating the Vajrayana practise, then it is truly necessary to first have completed the preliminaries and to be certain that Bodhicitta has arisen and developed in one’s mind.
 
Vajrayana features countless skillful and powerful methods that, if practised in the proper way, can make the process of accumulation and purification incredibly swift and direct. It is absolutely necessary to have pure motivation and to know that Vajrayana practise is not carried out to increase one’s own ego, power, or self-interest.

Donations for our Buddhist research and development

Do you earnestly cherish our devoted work? Assuming this is the case, we are delighted that you are finding our blog useful and valuable. Would you consider making a donation for our Buddhist research and development?

We need your help to secure the future of scholarly interaction with Buddhism. Since our very first publication of Dharma works and activities in 2008, we have been effortlessly providing free distribution of Dharma posts and articles throughout the previous 14 years. We have exceptionally constrained support and do not receive subsidies or funding from people in general.

 

Please help us develop our Dharma activities that will not only benefit you but all Dharma readers on the planet. Please consider showing your support. Your generosity will certainly help us enhance our work and accomplish more for a better and brighter future.

 

Thank you for reading. May you find peace and great bliss. With your support, it helps to spread the Buddha’s precious teachings and turn the Dharma wheels in the world.

 

Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease.

But increase further and further.

 

Dedication of Merit

By this merit, may we then obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrongdoings

May we liberate migratory from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death.

 

*Note

I do not own or infringe any copyright on the picture(s).

Picture(s) courtesy and credit to the rightful distributors and/or studios

The picture(s) are intended for editorial use only.

 

The Six Yogas of Naropa

The Six Yogas of Naropa (Sankirt. Saḍdharma, "Naro's six doctrines" or "six teachings") are a set of advanced Tibetan Buddhist tantric practices compiled by the Indian mahasiddhas Tilopa and Nāropa (1016–1100 CE) and passed on to the Tibetan translator-yogi Marpa Lotsawa (c. 1012).

Another name for the six Dharmas is "the oral instruction transmission for achieving liberation in the bardo," or "the Bardo Trang-dol system." Bardo here refers to the three bardos of waking, sleeping, and dying. They are also referred to as "the path of means" (thabs lam) in Kagyu literature. They are also sometimes called the Six Yogas of Nāropa (though not in the traditional literature, which never uses the term ṣaḍaṅga-yoga or sbyor-drug).

The six yogas are a collection of tantric Buddhist completion stage practices drawn from the Buddhist tantras. They are intended to lead to Buddhahood in an accelerated manner. They traditionally require tantric initiation and personal instruction through working with a tantric guru, as well as various preliminary practices. The six yogas work with the subtle body, particularly through the generation of inner heat (tummo) energy.

The six yogas are a main practice of the Kagyu school (and were originally unique to that school), and key Kagyu figures such as Milarepa, Gampopa, Phagmo Drugpa, and Jigten Sumgon taught and practiced these yogas. They taught in the Gelugpa lineage and were introduced by Je Tsongkhapa, who received the lineage through his Kagyu teachers.

Lineage 

Gampopa, who wrote various meditation manuals on the six yogas. 

The teachings of Tilopa (988–1069 CE) are the earliest known work on the six dharmas. He received these from various teachers. According to Glenn Mullin, Tilopa's lineage teachers were the mahasiddhas Nagarjuna (not to be confused with the Madhyamaka philosopher), Lawapa, Luipada, Shavari, and Krishnacharya. Furthermore, the sources for this compilation of tantric practices were said to be the Guhyasamaja Tantra, the Hevajra Tantra, and the Chaturpitha Tantra. 

Nāropa learned the six dharmas from Tilopa. Nāropa's student Marpa taught the Tibetan Milarepa, renowned for his yogic skills. Milarepa in turn taught Gampopa, who wrote various meditation manuals (khrid chos or khrid yig) on the six dharmas, which are collected in the Dakpö Kambum (The Manifold Sayings of Dakpo) in a section titled "Meditation manuals on the six dharmas of Naropa" (na ro 'i chos drug gi khrid yig). From Gampopa, these teachings were passed on to the various Kagyu sub-schools and lineages, where they remain a central practice.

Donations for our Buddhist research and development

Do you earnestly cherish our devoted work? Assuming this is the case, we are delighted that you are finding our blog useful and valuable. Would you consider making a donation for our Buddhist research and development?

We need your help to secure the future of scholarly interaction with Buddhism. Since our very first publication of Dharma works and activities in 2008, we have been effortlessly providing free distribution of Dharma posts and articles throughout the previous 14 years. We have exceptionally constrained support and do not receive subsidies or funding from people in general.

 

Please help us develop our Dharma activities that will not only benefit you but all Dharma readers on the planet. Please consider showing your support. Your generosity will certainly help us enhance our work and accomplish more for a better and brighter future.

 

Thank you for reading. May you find peace and great bliss. With your support, it helps to spread the Buddha’s precious teachings and turn the Dharma wheels in the world.

 

Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease.

But increase further and further.

 

Dedication of Merit

By this merit, may we then obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrongdoings

May we liberate migratory from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death.

 

*Note

I do not own or infringe any copyright on the picture(s).

Picture(s) courtesy and credit to the rightful distributors and/or studios

The picture(s) are intended for editorial use only.

The World of Jambudvipa

The world of Jambudvipa (Sanskrit:  Jambudvīpa; Tibetan: Dzambuling; English: (Rose-Apple Continent')) is one of the four continents, which is situated to the south of Mount Meru. Its shape is trapezoidal, resembling the shape of an axehead. It is the human world in which we live.

“Since this continent is adorned by [a jambu/Jambubriksha] tree, it is known as the 'Continent of Jambu', or Jambudvipa. The jambu tree is presumed by some to be the rose-apple tree (Eugenia jambolana). More recent scholarship suggests that it may be a variety of plum. However, legend says that only one jambu tree exists, which is not visible to ordinary people but only to enlightened beings. 

The Buddhist cosmology divides the bhūmaṇḍala (circle of the earth) into three separate levels: Kāmadhātu (Desire realm), Rūpadhātu (Form realm), and Ārūpyadhātu (Formless realm). In the Kāmadhātu is located Mount Meru (Sumeru), which is said to be surrounded by four island-continents. 

The southernmost island is called Jambudvipa. The other three continents of Buddhist accounts around Sumeru are not accessible to humans from Jambudvīpa. Jambudvīpa is shaped like a triangle with a blunted point facing south, somewhat like the Indian subcontinent. In its centre is a gigantic Jambu tree, from which the continent takes its name, meaning "Jambu Island." 

Jambudipa is one of the four Mahādīpas, or great continents, which are included in the Cakravāla "cosmos" and are ruled by a cakravartin. They are grouped around Mount Sumeru. In Jambudvīpa is Himavā with its eighty-four thousand peaks, its lakes, mountain ranges, etc.

This continent derives its name from the Jambu tree (also called Naga), which grows there; its trunk is fifteen yojanas in girth; its outspreading branches are fifty yojanas in length; its shade is one hundred yojanas in extent; and its height is one hundred yojanas (Vin.i.30; SNA.ii.443; Vsm.i.205f; Sp.i.119, etc.) On account of this tree, Jambudīpa is also known as Jambusanda (SN.vs.552; SNA.i.121). The continent is ten thousand yojanas in extent; of these ten thousand, four thousand are covered by the ocean, three thousand by the Himalayan mountains, and three thousand are inhabited by men (SNA.ii.437; UdA.300). 

Jambudvīpa is the region where humans live and is the only place where a being may become enlightened by being born as a human being. It is in Jambudvīpa that one may receive the gift of Dharma, come to understand the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and ultimately realise liberation from the cycle of life and death. Another reference is from the Buddhist text, the Mahāvaṃsa, where the emperor Ashoka's son Mahinda introduces himself to King Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura as from Jambudvipa, referring to what is now the Indian subcontinent. This is described in the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra in Mahayana Buddhism.

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Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease.

But increase further and further.

 

Dedication of Merit

By this merit, may we then obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrongdoings

May we liberate migratory from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death.

 

*Note

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The picture(s) are intended for editorial use only.

Meditative concentration ( Dhyana )

 

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Meditative concentration ( Dhyana ) - The fifth of the six paramitas is defined as the capacity to remain undistracted. It is the topic of the eighth chapter of the *Bodhicharyavatara.

* Bodhicharyavatara An Introduction to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life is Shantideva's classic guide to the Mahayana path.  Tsoknyi Rinpoche said:

The Bodhicharyavatara teaches the complete Mahayana path to enlightenment, including all necessary preliminary, main, and concluding practices. A perfect path in itself, it is also, at the same time, a perfect support for all practitioners of the Vajrayana teachings in general. Practitioners learn how to develop the motivation of Bodhichitta as well as how to carry out the application of the six paramitas, or transcendental perfections. They learn how to fuse their practice of bodhichitta and the five first perfections with the sixth perfection, wisdom.

Patrul Rinpoche explains that there are two preliminaries to developing meditative concentration.  

1. Giving up mundane concerns

As regards renouncing mundane concerns, our mind will never settle into a state of one-pointed absorption as long as it is under the sway of attachment to parents, relatives, and friends or attendants. So we must give up all our habitual preoccupations and busyness and remain alone in an isolated place suitable for meditation.

Being attached to rewards and honours, praise or good reputation, or trifling necessities and then pursuing them will only obstruct the authentic path, so we must cut through any expectations and anxieties about such things and train ourselves to be content with whatever comes our way. 

2. Letting Go of Discursive Thought 

Even though we may be in an isolated place, not seeking possessions and such like to any great extent, if our mind falls under the power of desire, a genuine state of meditative concentration will not arise in our being, and our mind will be unable to rest in a state of absorption.

Therefore, thoughts of desire must be given up. To turn our thoughts away from attachment to desirable things is particularly important for gaining the special higher levels of concentration, so we should certainly turn the mind away from craving after members of the opposite sex by reflecting on the cause, the fact that they are not easy to obtain; their nature, which is impure; and the result, which involves a lot of harm, and so on.  

Moreover, we must understand that the eight worldly concerns and all thoughts of the present life are our real enemies. We must therefore reflect at some length on the problems caused by negative thoughts of desire and, generating a sense of inner dignity, make heartfelt efforts to abandon them, no matter how many may arise. 

Subdivisions - The Two Types of Dhyana:

• the causal meditative dhyanas
• the resultant Dhyana levels at which one is reborn

The causal meditative dhyanas are the states of meditation that are realised while still here in this world of Jambudvipa. For example, we might reach the meditation of the first or second dhyana. If we can maintain that state of meditation, then when we die, we will be reborn in the corresponding first or second dhyana level of the form realm.

The Three Types of Meditative Concentration

Chökyi Drakpa says:

"Meditative concentration includes the childish concentration of those who practice isolation away from distractions and busyness but are attached to the experiences of bliss, clarity, and absence of thought. There is also the clearly discerning concentration in which emptiness is clung to as an antidote and the concept-free samadhi of intrinsic reality, which is known as 'the concentration delighting the Tathagatas'. These should be practiced successively, in stages." 

The Four Dhyanas - Khenpo Pema Vajra says:

• The first Dhyana level, which is accomplished in this way, has five features: conception, discernment, joy, physical wellbeing, and samadhi.

• The second Dhyana, which is even more peaceful, has four features: the perfect clarity in which conception and discernment have been relinquished; joy; physical wellbeing; and samadhi.

• The third Dhyana, which is more peaceful still, has five features: equanimity, in which the concept of joy has been abandoned; mindfulness; watchful awareness; physical wellbeing; and samadhi.

• The fourth dhyana, which is called the ultimate dhyana because it is yet more peaceful, has four features: the neutral sensation, in which the sensation of physical wellbeing has been abandoned; mindfulness; the mental formation of equanimity; and samadhi.

Donations for our Buddhist research and development

Do you earnestly cherish our devoted work? Assuming this is the case, we are delighted that you are finding our blog useful and valuable. Would you consider making a donation for our Buddhist research and development?

We need your help to secure the future of scholarly interaction with Buddhism. Since our very first publication of Dharma works and activities in 2008, we have been effortlessly providing free distribution of Dharma posts and articles throughout the previous 14 years. We have exceptionally constrained support and do not receive subsidies or funding from people in general.

 

Please help us develop our Dharma activities that will not only benefit you but all Dharma readers on the planet. Please consider showing your support. Your generosity will certainly help us enhance our work and accomplish more for a better and brighter future.

 

Thank you for reading. May you find peace and great bliss. With your support, it helps to spread the Buddha’s precious teachings and turn the Dharma wheels in the world.

 

Aspiration For Bodhichitta

For those in whom the precious Bodhichitta has not arisen

May it arise and not decrease.

But increase further and further.

 

Dedication of Merit

By this merit, may we then obtain omniscience then.

Having defeated the enemies wrongdoings

May we liberate migratory from the ocean of existence.

With its stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death.

 

*Note

I do not own or infringe any copyright on the picture(s).

Picture(s) courtesy and credit to the rightful distributors and/or studios

The picture(s) are intended for editorial use only.