The Great Perfection - Body Of Light ( Chapter 2 )

The way of true happiness is when we can free ourselves from all odds and to be able to liberate ourselves and others from the existence of birth, old age, sickness and death.  

Rainbow Body is a mysterious phenomenon of Tibetan Buddhism. A Lama who has acquired the highest forms of accomplishment can manifest what is called "the rainbow body" or "body of light". It is said that the physical body of those who studied Buddhism very deeply will turn into a rainbow.

The ultimate fruition of the practices is a body of pure light, called a rainbow body.  Rainbow body is a level of realization and a phenomenon that when the person died, his body is transformed partially, or totally into five pure lights.  

This means either the physical body become much smaller than before, and the skin quality become as freshness as a newborn baby, or even left nothing behind. This phenomenon is hard to understand according to modern science, but it has been well documented in the history of Tibet Buddhism. 

Lama Karma Rinpoche  

A Yogi or Lama who has acquired the highest forms of accomplishment can manifest "the rainbow body" or the body of light". It is a body made not of flesh but of pure light. The culmination of one’s life into the rainbow body is widely recognised as a sign of extreme sanctity. The process described in these traditions is generally considered to take approximately seven days, during which time the body progressively shrinks in size. This shrinking is proportional and may stop at approximately small child size.

Lama Karma Rinpoche rainbow body shrink into 20cm in size

The process described in these traditions is generally considered to take approximately seven days, during which time the body progressively shrinks in size. This shrinking is proportional and may stop at approximately small child size. The Body of Light is light without shadow; it is awareness without obscurations; it is omniscience; it is pure space. It is the ultimate fruit of spiritual cultivation. 

The Body of Light represents a complete, total, and radical transformation of one’s status of being, a rediscovery of what was primordially present, and this condition is permanent. It is Awareness itself and is dependent on nothing else.

A fully enlightened person who has the ability to liberate their body into light. There are 3 different levels or stages of transforming into the Rainbow body:

A brief introduction only

1) The normal rainbow body [Trekcho practise]

2) Rainbow body of light [Togal practise]

3) A rainbow body of great transference [Ja Lu Phowa Chenpo practise]

 

1: The normal Rainbow body that occurs only after body death There are no physical signs indicating the start of the process before death, and once physical death occurs, it takes on average 7 days for the body to shrink and dissolve into light. Most of the time, a small child-size body remains behind, and in more advanced yogis, only hair and nails remain. 

The process described in these traditions is generally considered to take approximately seven days, during which time the body progressively shrinks in size. This shrinking is proportional and may stop at approximately small child size. The Body of Light is light without shadow; it is awareness without obscurations; it is omniscience; it is pure space. It is the ultimate fruit of spiritual cultivation. 

The Body of Light represents a complete, total, and radical transformation of one’s status of being, a rediscovery of what was primordially present, and this condition is permanent. It is Awareness itself and is dependent on nothing else.

 Tasha Lhamo, the mother of Lokgar Rinpoche

Tasha Lhamo, rainbow body shrink into 40cm in size.

2 - The advanced level is known as the Rainbow body, in this level all the signs are showing up while the yogi or Lama is still alive. To dissolving into light might go really fast ,but in most cases it takes month to years to complete, all while remaining fully functional. It is also possible that the yogi or Lama who is in the middle of this process slows it down or is unable to continue the process and dies before the completion of the Rainbow body.  If the process is continued the body will start to shrink and shine real light over time until it reaches the size of a baby and then as a flash of bright rainbow light will disappear into emptiness forever. 

3 -The most advanced and extremely rare level is the attainment of the Rainbow body of great transference. In this level the yogi or Lama not only dissolves the body completely into light but remains functional and visible as light.

In Tibetan Buddhism it can be realized in three ways; through the practices of Anuttara tantra, the special practices of the Kalachakra Tantra , or through Dzogchen. When Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava left at the end of his time in physical form he dissolved his body completely back to their natural elements leaving nothing behind. This was the start of what has become the Nyingma tradition and is the foundation of Tibetan Buddhism as we have come to know it. At the heart of the Nyingma tradition is the practice of Dzogchen otherwise called Ati Yoga or the Great Perfection. 

The great Yogi Milarepa (1050–1123) dissolved entirely into light, leaving no relics behind at all. The culmination of one’s life into the rainbow body is widely recognised as a sign of extreme sanctity. The practise found In the Kagyu tradition, this is known as the Mahamudra. The Dzogchen from the Nyingma tradition and the Mahamudra from the Kagyu tradition are both identical in essence. You may follow one or the other; however, each has its own unique instructions. In each system, Mahamudra and Dzogchen, various methods are used to reveal the nature of bare awareness itself.

 Mahamudra in Sanskrit literally means "The Great Seal." The Tibetan word for mahamudra is "Chakgya Chenpo," which is often looked upon as the highest practise of meditation and most definitive path to enlightenment. This is a unique feature of the Tibetan Kagyu lineage. According to the Dzogchen of the Nyinma tradition, it is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of a human being, and the practise of Dzogchen is a body of teachings and meditations aimed at realising that condition. According to Dzogchen literature, Dzogchen is the highest and most definitive path to 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.

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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?

Having defeated the enemies wrongdoings

May we liberate migrants from the ocean of existence.

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

 

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