Three Treatises On The Six Yogas Of Naropa

The Six Yogas of Naropa (11th century C.E.), the Indian scholar and Tantric adept (mahasiddha) are renowned in Indo-Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism as a swift path to enlightenment. Naropa extracted all the essential practices from the Peerless Yoga Tantra class to create the system consisting in the Yogas of Mystic Heat (gTum Mo), Illusory Body (sGyu lus), Dream (rMi Lam), Clear Light (Od gSal), Consciousness Transference (Pho Wa), and Intermediate State (Bardo). The Three Treatises translated herein from the original Tibetan are compositions of authors belonging to sub-sects of the Kagyu lineage, themselves renown as masters of the system of the Six Yogas. This second edition contains many improvements such as a detailed table of contents, sub-headings, Sanskrit (i.e. Devanagari syllables) and diacritical marks throughout.

The three treatises translated from Tibetan in this volume are on the subject of the Six Yogas of Naropa, a Buddhist Vajrayana adept who flourished in India in the 10th century C.E. Naropa, most likely a native of Kashmir, transmitted the esoteric doctrines of the Six Yogas to a number of Indian and Tibetan disciples, prominent among whom are the famous Marpa the Translator, guru of the celebrated yogi Milarepa. Although the teachings of the Six Yogas are central to all four Tibetan schools, they are most foundational to the Kagyu school. The three treaties translated herein are all native Tibetan compositions by prominent scholar-adepts of the Kagyu school. They form a particular genre of Six Yogas of Naropa compositions still cherished and practiced assiduously by Tibetan yogis. Among the six yogas, the most foundational is that of gTum Mo (Skt Candali), a Buddhist version of Kundalini Yoga, deriving from the Shaiva Tantric tradition. The Buddhist Vajrayana tradition and the Shaiva Tantra traditions evolved together and exchanged tenets and practices until the decimation of Buddhism in India in the 11th century C.E. Thereafter, the practice of the Six Yogas was continued and safeguarded in Tibet, Nepal and other Himalayan regions. With the Tibet diaspora in the wake of the Chinese invasion of Tibet and the exile of H.H, Dalai Lama and many prominent Lamas, the Six Yogas of Naropa (Tib. Naro'i Chos Drug) has gained renewed popularity. The Six Yogas of Naropa and the related Six Yogas of Niguma (Naropa's sister, perhaps), represent a distillation and systematization of practices drawn from the Highest Yoga Tantra (Anuttara Yoga Tantra) class of Vajrayana teachings, often recognized as the pinnacle of Vajrayana teachings. The three Tibetan texts translated in this volume are 1) the Tibetan text of the Instructions (gdams) portion of the hagiography (rnam thar) of Naropa edited by H.V.Guenther, included in his "Life and Teachings of Naropa" (1963) as an appendix. The Tibetan title is mKhas grub mnyams-meddpal-ldan Na-ro-pa'i rnam-par thar-pa dri-med legs bsad bde-chen 'brug-sgra which guenther renders "The well-narrated immaculate life story of the incomparable sage Naropa or the voice of thunder of the Great Bliss." Since only the Instructions portion of the text is translated in this volume, the translation of the first text is simply titled "The Six Yogas of Naropa (Including the Original Instructions of Tilopa).The author of this rnam-thar is lha'i bstun-pa Rin-chen rnam-rgyalof Brag--dkar, said to be a contemporary of the renowned Mahasiddha and author gTsan-pa sMyon-pa He-ru-ka who was a disciple of Dpal Phag-mo gru-pa (1110-1170 C.E.), who was in turn a disciple of Gam-po-pa (1079-1153). On the basis of this evidence, the composition may be dated to the late 12th century. 2) The second text translated herein is the Naro'i Chos drug bsDud pa'i Zin 'Bris of Padma dKar-po (1527-1592) which I've rendered "An Original Treatise on the Epitome of the Six Yogas of Naropa." This latter text is a re-translation of the one done by lama Kazi Samdup and edited by Evanz Wentz in the volume "Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines" (1935). 3) The third text of this volume is a translation of Zab Mo naro'i Chos Drug gi Nyams-len Thun Chos Bdud rtsi Nyin Khu Zes Bya Ba sGrug Karma Kam Tsang gi Don Khrid, which I've rendered "The Nectar of the Essential Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa According to the Practical Method of the Karma Kam Tsang by the sixth Sharmapa Chos kyi dBang Phhug, Zwa-dmarIV, 1584-1615. All authors were eminently qualified to write these treatises being themselves not only accomplished scholars but also realized adepts (siddhas), masters of the Six Yogas of Naropa.

Tsongkhapa's commentary entitled A Book of Three Inspirations: A Treatise on the Stages of Training in the Profound Path of Naro's Six Dharmas is commonly referred to as The Three Inspirations. Anyone who has read more than a few books on Tibetan Buddhism will have encountered references to the Six Yogas of Naropa, a preeminent yogic technology system. The six practices—inner heat, illusory body, clear light, consciousness transference, forceful projection, and bardo yoga—gradually came to pervade thousands of monasteries, nunneries, and hermitages throughout Central Asia over the past five and a half centuries.

Revised edition of: Readings on the Six Yogas of Naropa, 1997.

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