A Fast Track to Awakening?The new issue of Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Guide is here, offering a deep dive into the fascinating realm of the advanced tantric practices known as the Six Dharmas of Naropa. Dating back one thousand years, the Six Dharmas are considered a fast track to buddhahood, comprising famed practices like tummo (inner heat), yoga of the dream state, resting in luminosity, and more. Deepen your Buddhist education with features on each of the Six Dharmas, written by those who know and teach them: Judith Simmer-Brown, Lama Döndrup Drölma, Charlie Morley, Lama Karma Wall, Andrew Holecek, and Lama Glenn Mullin — as well as a helpful overview by Pema Khandro Rinpoche. Also included are an introduction to the issue by Ian A. Baker, a Forum discussion on the future of Vajrayana Buddhism, Constance Kassor’s roundup of the newest in dharma books this season, and excerpts from them all. This Weekend Reader shares three selections from Buddhadharma’s “Six Dharmas” issue. May they intrigue and awaken us all. Thank you for your practice! —Rod Meade Sperry, editor, Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Guide |
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Pema Khandro on the fascinating history, practice, and purpose of the Six Dharmas of Naropa.
There is a legend of a female master, Machik Jobum, who lived sometime in the eleventh to twelfth century. After experiencing severe illness, her father taught her the Six Dharmas (Tibetan: Naro Chodruk), a series of meditations for accomplishing swift awakening. Practicing these meditations, she became a great adept and attained mastery over her body and mind. Machik Jobum had accumulated a heavy burden of negative karma due to a difficult past in which she had committed murder using black magic. However, the Six Dharmas were a remedy for her, providing a path to healing and redemption. Jobum’s story is recounted in Tibetan histories such as The Blue Annals and in Tāranātha’s history of the Kalachakra. It is a reminder that although this system is composed of advanced esoteric practices, they can be performed even while feeble, sick, or dying. The great teacher, the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339), said one of these meditations can even be done by lazy people. Here, I will offer a glimpse into the history of these practices, their practice and purpose, and share notes on how you could apply this knowledge in your life.  |
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Judith Simmer-Brown on tummo, one of the most famous esoteric practices of Tibetan Vajrayana and the Six Dharmas. What is it, what are its benefits, and what role does it play in our journey to enlightenment?One of the most renowned yogis in Tibetan history, Milarepa (1040–1113), transformed his negative karma through deep practice on retreat, in time becoming a great inspiration for practitioners, who still sing his many “songs of realization” describing his path to realization and joy. His name derives from his clan name, “Mila,” with “repa” referring to the simple cotton robe that he wore, which marked him as an accomplished practitioner of tummo (Sanskrit: chandali), the practice of yogically generated “fierce inner heat.”
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Lama Karma Yeshe Chödrön, Lama Justin von Bujdoss, and Lama Drupgyu Tenzin (Anthony Chapman) join Lion’s Roar/Buddhadharma editor-in-chief Melvin McLeod to discuss how, or if, the very advanced practices of Tantric Buddhism can be introduced and promulgated in our modern society.
Melvin McLeod: Let’s start by looking at not even the most esoteric practices, but Vajrayana practice in general: Why is it considered risky and how do we mitigate its risks? Lama Drupgyu: My point of view is that Vajrayana is made for the modern world. In a certain sense, the vajra mind, the vajra attitude, the vajra approach is really adapted to the modern world. That having been said, there’s a lot about Vajrayana that can appear exotic, and living in a consumer society, inevitably, there’s a tendency for it to become consumerized, where there’s a sense of wanting to pursue the exotic aspect and to collect the teachings. Whereas what we’re talking about here is methodology for deep personal transformation. And that brings us back to the fact that the reason, or not, for secrecy is that there’s a logic to the development of the skill that is needed at different levels, which has to do with the ability and the skill and the nature of focus and attention |
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