Practice

The Five Warrior Syllables

The voice can be a tool for healing and transformation. By singing or chanting sacred syllables and mantras, we purify and restore harmony to our physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual dimensions. Guided by the mind and carried by the breath through subtle channels, the power of sound opens the potential to heal illness and dissolve energetic disturbances.

In this practice we use five sacred syllables from the Tibetan language to awaken our creativity, compassion, courage and wisdom. This helps us to find the fullest possible expression of our humanity.

You can learn more about this practice with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s book: Tibetan Sound Healing .
And you can follow a guided practice and teaching with Rinpoche HERE

The Seven Mirrors of Dzogchen

The Seven Mirrors of Dzogchen is a heart-essence teaching from the Tibetan Bön Buddhist tradition. The practices from this text offer us entry into a direct introduction to the clear, open awareness of the dzogchen view as well as methods for maintaining this state.

The seven mirrors are:

1. The heart mirror of the view.
2. The heart mirror of the meditation.
3. The heart mirror of the result.
4. The heart mirror of conduct.
5. The heart mirror that explains the pure realms and lands of samsara.
6. The heart mirror of six-fold consummation.
7. The heart mirror that explains the benefit of meeting with this teaching.

The Six Lamps

Lamps light our way in the dark, and they illuminate themselves at the same time. The Instructions on the Six Lamps is an important dzogchen work, and is one of the root texts of the Zhang Zhung Nyengyü. This teaching describes the principals of recognizing the natural state and outlines how they may be experienced by the practitioner. This text describes Trekchö and Thögal practices as revealed by Tapihritsa to Gyerpung Nangzher Löpo. are described.

According to Bön dzogchen teachings, the suffering of sentient beings can be traced to a single cause: our failure to comprehend that internal and external appearances are only a manifestation of innate awareness. The teachings of the Six Lamps guide us to experience pure vision by recognizing the clear light of self-awareness in all levels of our being:

The lamps include: The Lamp of the Abiding Base, The Lamp of the Fleshy Heart, The Lamp of the Smooth White Channel, The Water-Lamp of the Far Reaching Lasso, The Lamp of the Direct Introduction to the Pure Realms, and The Lam of the Bardo.

Heart Essence of the Khandros

These dzogchen teachings are the pith instructions from a lineage of thirty female Bön khandro (enlightened women). These short instructions summarize what each khandro recognized and experienced on her path to full enlightenment. These dzogchen practitioners of the ancient land of Zhang Zhung (now a part of Tibet) all achieved complete self-realization and the rainbow body, the final result of dzogchen practice. They did this through constant dedicated practice and the support of a spiritual master, or teacher, who had already realized her own buddhanature. These wisdom teachings, the essence of each khandro’s direct experience, were originally transmitted orally from one to another. They each describe the empty, luminous nature of mind in short, poetic, and individualistic ways.

Eventually this wisdom was put into writing and made more broadly available. These penultimate expressions of self-realization, along with our teacher’s guidance and support, facilitate recognizing our own natural state. Through practicing in accord with these instructions, it is possible to achieve Buddhahood in a single lifetime.

The Masters of Zhang Zhung Nyengud

These dzogchen teachings are the pith instructions from twenty-four Bön masters. summarizinge what each one recognized and experienced on his path to enlightenment. These yogis masters of the ancient land of Zhang Zhung (now a part of Tibet) all achieved complete self-realization and the rainbow body, the final result of dzogchen practice. They did this by constant dedicated practice and the support of a spiritual master, or teacher, who had realized his own buddhanature. These wisdom teachings, the essence of each master’s direct experience, were originally transmitted orally from one to another. They each describe the empty, luminous nature of mind in short, poetic, and individualistic ways.

Eventually put into writing and made more broadly available. These penultimate expressions of self-realization, along with our teacher’s guidance and support, facilitate recognizing our own natural state. Through practicing in accord with these instructions, it is possible to achieve Buddhahood in a single lifetime.

Heart Drops of Dharmakaya

The Heart Drops of Dharmakaya is a text composed by Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen. Shardza Rinpoche was a Tibetan master who achieved the rainbow body (his physical body dissolved into light) upon his death in 1935, a sign of complete self-realization.

Students will learn methods to help invoke direct perception of the nature of mind. Unlike methods that involve watching the breath or otherwise calming the thoughts, these practices rely on body postures, sounding of sacred syllables, and simple visualizations to draw one to an experience of one’s essence.

These essential teachings are presented in the book Heart Drops of Dharmakaya, with commentary by Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, widely revered as the greatest living dzogchen master of the Bön tradition.

Dzogchen Teachings

The Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung

Dzogchen, or the “great perfection,” is the highest form of teaching and practice in the Bön tradition, meaning that it is complete in itself and nothing else is required for enlightenment. For dedicated practitioners dzogchen offers the potential for liberation in a single lifetime. Until the late 20th century the dzogchen teachings were kept secret and offered to very few students of any generation.

The Experiential Transmission draws from a text known as the Chag Tri (Nyam Gyu Dru Gyal wa’i Chag Tri). The Chag Tri has 11 chapters, taught as a five-year cycle of teachings. These teachings prepare the practitioner to recognize and abide in the nature of mind. First one purifies obscurations and tames one’s ego. Then one trains the mind in single pointed concentration. With the mind settled, further practices lead us toward recognizing the sky-like nature of the mind – empty, clear and radiant. Finally we rest, leaving everything just as it is.
Details regarding each year of this cycle of teachings are below:

“The Experiential Transmission is the centerpiece of my teachings in the West. I’ve often said that if I could have only one text, the ChakTri manual provides all one needs to practice and accomplish the path of dzogchen.”

Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Part 1: Ngöndro, or the preliminary practices

Ngöndro is a doorway or entry to the Experiential Transmission teachings. Through it we receive the blessings of enlightened beings and masters. An integrated series of nine practices, ngöndro helps to tame the mind, turn us toward the path of dharma, and purify any illnesses, obstacles or mental obscurations that obscure the mind’s already perfect nature. These practices include prostrations, meditations, mandala offerings and mantra.

NOTE: It is essential to study and practice the chapters of the Experiential Transmission in sequence. Therefore, the ngöndro is a prerequisite for continuing the teachings of the Experiential Transmission.

Part 2: Introduction to the Nature of Mind

This retreat includes the practice of zhiné as a skillful means to develop a calm, focused mind. Other practices in this retreat may, includ instructions for sky gazing and sun gazing. This retreat is intended to facilitate experiences of innate awareness, or rigpa.

Part 3: The View, Meditation, Behavior, and Result of Dzogchen

Students further develop inner clarity and integrate awareness into meditation and life off the cushion. The teachings in this part emphasize understanding and directly experiencing the base, path, conduct and result of the dzogchen point of view.

Part 4: Removing Obstacles

The emphasis here is on overcoming obstacles to practice while sustaining and cultivating its results. Students will learn and engage in practices that work with the channels, prana and tigle, such as trul khor, tsa lung, and additional support practices.

Part 5: The Practice of Seven Cycles of Clear Light

During this final retreat, students receive final guidance in meditation and the dzogchen view. The dark-retreat, the traditional culmination of this cycle of teachings, is more fully explained at this time. Following this retreat, for students who have completed Parts 1 through 5 and are ready to engage in the 49-day dark retreat, personal instruction is available.

The Long Life Practice of Tsewang Rikdzin

Every sentient being wants to live and not to die. In this way, wanting a long lifespan is an ordinary wish. However, for the Yungdrung Bon practitioner, the desire to live to the full extent of one’s lifespan, without it becoming either shortened or damaged, has a much greater purpose. Because life as a human being provides a unique opportunity to practice and realize the teachings of Lord Tonpa Shenrap, the wish to continually protect and restore the lifespan is a direct extension of the practitioner’s intent to make the present, human lifespan meaningful by being of benefit both to oneself and to others. “Indestructible: The Longevity Practice of Tsewang Rikdzin” is an invaluable resource for those cultivating virtue, or bodhicitta, and who wish to protect and preserve their lifespan.

Healing Practice of Sipe Gyalmo

This ancient ritual draws on the compassion of the fully enlightened Bön protector Sipe Gyalmo. She is the chief protector of the Bön tradition and an embodiment of the same divine primordial wisdom energy that is Sherab Chamma and Yeshe Walmo.

The healing waters created during the practice are a powerful source of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual healing. When this practice is conveyed as a ritual, those present can benefit from its healing energy and from receiving the healing waters. During retreats, students additionally receive supplementary teachings and transmission for the practice, enable them to continue doing this healing practice on their own when they return home.

Soul Retrieval

The shamanic aspect of Bön includes different ways to think about health and well being based on an understanding of the elements of earth, water, fire, air, and space. The more balanced the elements, the greater one’s well being; the less balanced, the more dis-ease. This is true physically, emotionally, psychologically, energetically and spiritually. The ancient shamanic rites of soul retrieval (la gu) and life-force retrieval (tse gu) are methods of calling on the living essence of the elements — the elemental spirits — to balance and heal the individual.

Life force is the presence of the energetic forces within one’s self. It is believed that a traumatic event or other shock can cause an individual to loose connection with the elements and become dispirited. Through ritual and meditational practice, one can bring back the positive qualities that are missing or reinforce qualities that are weakened in oneself or others.

More about the natural elements and soul retrieval can be found in Tenzin Rinpoche’s books Healing With Form, Energy and Light: The Five Elements in Tibetan Shamanism, Tantra and Dzogchen (Snow Lion, 2002), and in the true source of healing, (Hay House, 2015).

The Six Lokas (Realms)

Negative emotions such as anger, greed, and pride cause suffering in our lives. According to the Tibetan spiritual traditions, these emotions trap us in the endless cycle of cyclic existence: samsara. The teachings of the six realms, or six lokas, give us the means to profoundly recognize the negative emotions, clear them, and transform them into positive qualities that can empower and enrich our lives.

According to these teachings, every sentient beings is born into one of six realms, each of which is associated with a given emotion:

1. The hell realms are characterized by anger
2. The hungry ghost realm, by greed
3. The animal realm, by ignorance
4. The human realm, by jealousy
5. The demi-god realm, by pride
6. The god realm, by lethargic pleasure

All six realms are part of the normal human experience and are contained within us, , and are expressed in the world we inhabit.

Six Lokas Meditation Course

Sherap Chamma: The Loving-Mother of Wisdom

In many cultures primordial female energy is recognized as the origin of existence. It is a source of wisdom, love, and compassion. The practice of Sherap Chamma is a method for retrieving and directly connecting to that divine feminine energy. This connection has the potential for profound healing at all levels of experience—physical, energetic, psychological and spiritual.

In this practice, which relies upon visualization, meditation, and mantra, students deeply connect with their own innate wisdom and with the love and compassion that radiate from that wisdom. We allow the presence of the sacred feminine to fill our bodies and our hearts, expand through time and space to retrieve our lost connections, and heal all that needs to be healed.

You can learn more about Sherap Chamma here. We also teach this practice at some of our centers and online.

Rinpoche guides the practice in this video

The Bardo: Guidance for Living & Dying

If we are not prepared for death, and the experience of dissolution that precedes it, we may feel fear, anguish, or doubt. It is important to learn about what happens in dying, and to prepare for it. Then we can meet our death with equanimity and composure.

This retreat describes the bardos of living, dying and the time in between. It offers practices and techniques for recognizing the stages of death, and the arising of experience after death as well as how to recognize and liberate one’s own being in the time of the bardo before rebrith.

Sleep Yoga

We spend one-third of our life, or an average of 20 to 25 years, asleep. Centuries ago, Tibetan yogis developed the practice of sleep yoga to transform these dark hours of ignorance into a path to enlightenment. A powerful tool for awakening, sleep yoga is more than a practice of the night. It helps us to integrate all moments — waking, sleeping, meditation, and even death — with the clear light of awareness.

The clear-light sleep practices are from the Mother Tantra an important cycle of Bön teachings. Students will learn the best positions for body and mind to prepare for and mantain sleep, visualization practices, and physical exercises that support meditative awareness by clearing obstacles of the body, energy and mind. The primary goal of sleep practice is to open the door to the pure experience of rigpa — the luminous, open awareness that is the true nature of the mind. Ultimately, sleep yoga can help the practitioner attain final liberation at the time of death.

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche provides details about sleep yoga in his book The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep (Snow Lion, 1998).

Powa: Transference of Consciousness at the Moment of Death

Powa means “transference of consciousness”, and it is a practice of dying consciously. As the elements of the body dissolve and death comes, we have an opportunity to liberate our mindstream. At the moment of death, we use the power of our concentration and our awareness to move the mind through the central channel of the energy body and out the crown of the skull.

If we are not prepared for death, and the experience of dissolution that precedes it, we may feel fear, anguish, or doubt. It is important to understand what happens in dying, and to prepare for it. Then we can meet our death with equanimity and composure. Because the circumstances of our death can determine our next life or existence, it is very important to know how to die and to be prepared.

This practice can include breathing techniques, visualizations, meditations, mantras, and prayers that support one to control the pathway of consciousness out from the body into a higher realm. By practicing regularly we can be prepared to migrate our consciousness when we die.

The Five Elements

Our planet is as alive as it is sacred. And, the five elements of earth, water, fire, air, and space are not just natural resources but are fundamental aspects of a living universe. In fact, every experience one can have, from the sensations of one’s physical body, to the emotions, to the most fleeting of thoughts, is composed of the interaction of these five elements. The elements exist not only at a gross, physical level, but in many increasingly subtle forms. And each level has distinct qualities and effects.

At a physical level, the ongoing destruction and pollution of our global environment creates massive imbalance and provokes the spirits of nature, which can cause wide-scale disease, energetic disturbances, and mental obstacles. Harmonizing the natural elements, we harmonize our relationship with these the world.

Energetically, the elements are a fundamental aspect of primordial energy. As such, the five elements play an essential role in spiritual, emotional, and psychological well being. For example, too much earth element can make us feel dull, drowsy, or lazy and too much wind can make us intellectually scattered or emotionally unstable; but when earth is balanced in us it supports us to feel connected, secure, and confident; and wind energy drives us forward along the right paths of our lives.

At the level of mind, retrieving and connecting with the elemental essences in their pure forms of light supports the practice of contemplative meditation. For example, the water element brings comfort and joy to experiences of open awareness; when fully developed in spiritual practice, it is mirror-like wisdom.

Dream Yoga

We spend one-third of our life, or an average of 20 to 25 years, asleep. Dream yoga is a way to discover in one’s sleep, a hidden space, in which to practice meditation —and further one’s spiritual development. Many people think, “I don’t have time to practice.” But if you use sleep and dream as a way of practicing, it is like discovering many more years of time in your life for practice.

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche writes: “If we cannot carry our practice into 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.” In the Tibetan tradition, the ability to dream lucidly is not an end in itself, rather, it provides additional context in which one can engage in advanced and effective practices to achieve liberation.
• Watch Rinpoche explain the practice of dream yoga

• In-depth information about dream yoga can be found in Tenzin Wangual Rinpoche’s book The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep (Snow Lion, 1998).

Chöd: Cutting Through Fear & Attachment

Chöd means “to cut.” In this ancient practice we learnt to cut our self-cherishing behaviors as they manifest through the five poisons of anger, attachment, jealousy, ignorance, and pride. We do this by symbolically and ritually offering ourselves as a veritable feast for others’ enjoyment.

In the chöd practice, the fearful provocation of spirits (real or imaginged) is recognized as a manifestation of one’s own internal fear and attachment. Traditionally, chöd practitioners (chödpas) go to environments harboring harmful energy from the spirits of nature and other beings. The chödpa would travel into mountains and charnel grounds, chanting with drum and bell, in order to conquer the spirits with a ‘sword of wisdom,’ harmonizing the energy between the two worlds.

This practice can also be done on one’s cushion, at home or in a retreat setting as well. In cutting through our negativities we transform our inner and outer worlds, heal ourselves, and open up toward our full creative potential and presence.

Dzogchen Teachings

The Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung

Dzogchen, or the “great perfection,” is the highest form of teaching and practice in the Bön tradition, meaning that it is complete in itself and nothing else is required for enlightenment. For dedicated practitioners dzogchen offers the potential for liberation in a single lifetime. Until the late 20th century the dzogchen teachings were kept secret and offered to very few students of any generation.

The Experiential Transmission draws from a text known as the Chag Tri (Nyam Gyu Dru Gyal wa’i Chag Tri). The Chag Tri has 11 chapters, taught as a five-year cycle of teachings. These teachings prepare the practitioner to recognize and abide in the nature of mind. First one purifies obscurations and tames one’s ego. Then one trains the mind in single pointed concentration. With the mind settled, further practices lead us toward recognizing the sky-like nature of the mind – empty, clear and radiant. Finally we rest, leaving everything just as it is.
Details regarding each year of this cycle of teachings are below:

“The Experiential Transmission is the centerpiece of my teachings in the West. I’ve often said that if I could have only one text, the ChakTri manual provides all one needs to practice and accomplish the path of dzogchen.”

Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

Part 1: Ngöndro, or the preliminary practices

Ngöndro is a doorway or entry to the Experiential Transmission teachings. Through it we receive the blessings of enlightened beings and masters. An integrated series of nine practices, ngöndro helps to tame the mind, turn us toward the path of dharma, and purify any illnesses, obstacles or mental obscurations that obscure the mind’s already perfect nature. These practices include prostrations, meditations, mandala offerings and mantra.

NOTE: It is essential to study and practice the chapters of the Experiential Transmission in sequence. Therefore, the ngöndro is a prerequisite for continuing the teachings of the Experiential Transmission.

Part 2: Introduction to the Nature of Mind

This retreat includes the practice of zhiné as a skillful means to develop a calm, focused mind. Other practices in this retreat may, includ instructions for sky gazing and sun gazing. This retreat is intended to facilitate experiences of innate awareness, or rigpa.

Part 3: The View, Meditation, Behavior, and Result of Dzogchen

Students further develop inner clarity and integrate awareness into meditation and life off the cushion. The teachings in this part emphasize understanding and directly experiencing the base, path, conduct and result of the dzogchen point of view.

Part 4: Removing Obstacles

The emphasis here is on overcoming obstacles to practice while sustaining and cultivating its results. Students will learn and engage in practices that work with the channels, prana and tigle, such as trul khor, tsa lung, and additional support practices.

Part 5: The Practice of Seven Cycles of Clear Light

During this final retreat, students receive final guidance in meditation and the dzogchen view. The dark-retreat, the traditional culmination of this cycle of teachings, is more fully explained at this time. Following this retreat, for students who have completed Parts 1 through 5 and are ready to engage in the 49-day dark retreat, personal instruction is available.

Heart Drops of Dharmakaya

The Heart Drops of Dharmakaya is a text composed by Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen. Shardza Rinpoche was a Tibetan master who achieved the rainbow body (his physical body dissolved into light) upon his death in 1935, a sign of complete self-realization.

Students will learn methods to help invoke direct perception of the nature of mind. Unlike methods that involve watching the breath or otherwise calming the thoughts, these practices rely on body postures, sounding of sacred syllables, and simple visualizations to draw one to an experience of one’s essence.

These essential teachings are presented in the book Heart Drops of Dharmakaya, with commentary by Yongdzin Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, widely revered as the greatest living dzogchen master of the Bön tradition.

The Masters of Zhang Zhung Nyengud

These dzogchen teachings are the pith instructions from twenty-four Bön masters. summarizinge what each one recognized and experienced on his path to enlightenment. These yogis masters of the ancient land of Zhang Zhung (now a part of Tibet) all achieved complete self-realization and the rainbow body, the final result of dzogchen practice. They did this by constant dedicated practice and the support of a spiritual master, or teacher, who had realized his own buddhanature. These wisdom teachings, the essence of each master’s direct experience, were originally transmitted orally from one to another. They each describe the empty, luminous nature of mind in short, poetic, and individualistic ways.

Eventually put into writing and made more broadly available. These penultimate expressions of self-realization, along with our teacher’s guidance and support, facilitate recognizing our own natural state. Through practicing in accord with these instructions, it is possible to achieve Buddhahood in a single lifetime.

Heart Essence of the Khandros

These dzogchen teachings are the pith instructions from a lineage of thirty female Bön khandro (enlightened women). These short instructions summarize what each khandro recognized and experienced on her path to full enlightenment. These dzogchen practitioners of the ancient land of Zhang Zhung (now a part of Tibet) all achieved complete self-realization and the rainbow body, the final result of dzogchen practice. They did this through constant dedicated practice and the support of a spiritual master, or teacher, who had already realized her own buddhanature. These wisdom teachings, the essence of each khandro’s direct experience, were originally transmitted orally from one to another. They each describe the empty, luminous nature of mind in short, poetic, and individualistic ways.

Eventually this wisdom was put into writing and made more broadly available. These penultimate expressions of self-realization, along with our teacher’s guidance and support, facilitate recognizing our own natural state. Through practicing in accord with these instructions, it is possible to achieve Buddhahood in a single lifetime.

The Six Lamps

Lamps light our way in the dark, and they illuminate themselves at the same time. The Instructions on the Six Lamps is an important dzogchen work, and is one of the root texts of the Zhang Zhung Nyengyü. This teaching describes the principals of recognizing the natural state and outlines how they may be experienced by the practitioner. This text describes Trekchö and Thögal practices as revealed by Tapihritsa to Gyerpung Nangzher Löpo. are described.

According to Bön dzogchen teachings, the suffering of sentient beings can be traced to a single cause: our failure to comprehend that internal and external appearances are only a manifestation of innate awareness. The teachings of the Six Lamps guide us to experience pure vision by recognizing the clear light of self-awareness in all levels of our being:

The lamps include: The Lamp of the Abiding Base, The Lamp of the Fleshy Heart, The Lamp of the Smooth White Channel, The Water-Lamp of the Far Reaching Lasso, The Lamp of the Direct Introduction to the Pure Realms, and The Lam of the Bardo.

The Seven Mirrors of Dzogchen

The Seven Mirrors of Dzogchen is a heart-essence teaching from the Tibetan Bön Buddhist tradition. The practices from this text offer us entry into a direct introduction to the clear, open awareness of the dzogchen view as well as methods for maintaining this state.

The seven mirrors are:

The heart mirror of the view
The heart mirror of the meditation
The heart mirror of the result
The heart mirror of conduct
The heart mirror that explains the pure realms and lands of samsara
The heart mirror of six-fold consummation
The heart mirror that explains the benefit of meeting with this teaching

Zhiné: Calm Abiding Meditation

Zhiné, or calm abiding, is a foundational meditative practice. It consists of fixing one’s attention on a single point or object until that concentration is becomes unwavering. Eventually one’s concentration no longer depends on having an object, and an open and expansive awareness comes into being. Zhiné not only enables you to live more fully in the present, it also cultivates spiritual awakening. This practice develops the strong, stable attention and stillness necessary to still the habitual movements of the mind. Zhiné affords an opportunity to step out of the distractions of everyday life and come home to your self. In coming home we dissolve obscurations and open up to the endless possibility of being.

Tummo (Bliss of Inner Heat)

Tummo, or the Fireball of Primordial Wisdom, is a practice that cultivates inner bliss while burning away subtle obscurations to abiding in our natural state of mind. Tummo refers to our inner fire, inner heat, and wisdom.

These practices cannot be taught in a book, or through videos. They require an in-depth understanding of the subtle channels in the body and the movement of prana, or energy, through those channels, and the support of a teacher well trained in the practice. To clarify this knowledge and to reinforce the clearing of obstacles and obscurations, students therefore also learn and engage in the practices of the nine breaths of purification and the physical yogas of tsa lung and trul khor.

Trul Khor (Tibetan Yoga)

Trul khor, or “magical movement,” is a distinctive Tibetan practice of yoga incorporating breath, awareness and physical movement. In contrast to Indian styles of yoga, in which one holds a pose while the breath flows, the trul khor practitioner holds the breath while moving the body. By harmonizing the vital breath and guiding its flow through both physical and energetic dimensions, Trul khor can clear long-held blocks in the practitioner’s body, energy, and mind. This clearing supports the spontaneous arising of awareness during formal meditation and in everyday life.

Ligmincha offers instruction in trul khor in many locations.

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche says of trul khor: “It is a wonderful daily practice, especially to control and handle the stress of our life in modern society. It has the power to balance the energies of mind and body, and it also helps enormously to support one’s meditation practices.”

You can find a very good explanation of these teachings in Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s book Healing with Form, Energy and Light. A detailed guide to trul khor can be found in Tibetan Yoga for Health & Well-Being, by Alejandro Chaoul, Ph.D. To see a demonstration of the movements, watch this video.

Tsa Lung (Channel and Wind Exercises)

The body has various energetic centers, known as khorlos or chakras, and many channels that carry subtle energies throughout the body. In this practice we utilize five movements done while holding the breath. These movements clear the five energy centers as well as the central channel. The movements are easily learned from a qualified teacher, and their benefits quickly felt. They are suitable for all levels of experience or physical ability. We practice them at many of our retreats around the world and teach them online.

A more complete account of the Nine Breaths and the Tsa Lung exercises can be found in Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s book: Awakening the Sacred Body. You can also learn more about these practices in our free online course: Starting a Meditation Practice.

While it is best to learn the complete practice fro a qualified teacher, the written instructions can be found here:

View PDF file

The Three Heart Mantras

The three heart mantras are among the core practices of the Bön tradition and are a cornerstone of the Ngondro. Mantras are sacred sounds. While they have meaning, it is their vibration or resonance that is most important. Each of the three heart mantras helps us with connect to and manifest different qualities of the Buddhas and our own inherent nature. They also connect us to the lineage of Bön and to the millions of practitioners who have sung them over many centuries.

As the mantras become familiar and we find our voice, they help us to release subtle obscurations of body, speech, and mind. We can start to feel the comfort and safety of resting in their stillness, inner silence, and warmth.

LISTEN TO THE SA LE Ö MANTRA

download audio

Nine Breaths of Purification

The body has energetic channels, known as tsa or nadi. Within the channels are winds, or forces, known as lung or prana. The Nine Breaths of Purification is a simple yet powerful practice for clearing our relationships to attachment, aversion and ignorance by regulating our breath and bringing awareness to the movement of the winds in the channels. We teach and use this technique at most of our retreats, and it can be found in our online courses as well as in Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s books.

A more complete account of the Nine Breaths of Purification can be found in Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche’s book: Awakening the Sacred Body. You can also learn more about these practices in our free online course: Starting a Meditation Practice.

While it is best to learn the complete practice from a qualified teacher, the written instructions can be found here:

View PDF file

Overview of Teaching Topics

Practices of Body & Breath

Nine Breathings of Purification

The Five Warrior Syllables

The Three Heart Mantras

Tsa Lung (channel and wind exercises)

Trul Khor (Tibetan yoga)

Tummo (Bliss of Inner Heat)

Practices of Mind

Zhiné: Calm Abiding Meditation

Dzogchen Teachings

The Experiential Transmission of Zhang Zhung

The Masters of Zhang Zhung

Heart Essence of the Khandros

The Six Lamps

The Seven Mirrors of Dzogchen

Practices From the BӦN Mother Tantra

Chöd: Cutting Through Fear & Attachment

Dream Yoga

The Five Elements

Powa: Transference of Consciousness at the Moment of Death

Sleep Yoga

The Bardo: Guidance for Living & Dying

Other Practices from the Bön Tradition

Sherap Chamma: Mother of Love and Wisdom

The Six Lokas (Realms)

Healing Practice of Sipe Gyalmo

Soul Retrieval

The Long Life Practice of Tsewang Rigdzin

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