Three Treatises on the Six Yogas of Naropa: Translation and Commentary

By: Laul Jadusingh

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

The three short treatises translated herein on the subject of the famous Six yogas of Naropa (Naro'i Chos Drug) are compositions by authors representing sub-schools of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. The first is a translation of the Instructions (gdams) portion of in the hagiography (rnam thar) or literally Life and Liberation Narrative of Naropa entitled Mhas grub mynam-med dpal-ldan Na-ro-pa'i rnam-par thar=pa dri-med legs-bsad bde-chen 'brug-sgra which may be rendered "The well-narrated immaculate biography of the peerless sage Naropa or the voice of thunder of the Great Bliss. The author, lHa'i bstun-pa Rin-chen rnam-rgyal is said to have been a contemporary of the renown Mahasiddha and author sMyon-He--ru-ka who was a disciple of dPal Phags-mo gru-pa, who was in turn a disciple of Gam-po-pa (1079-1153 C.E.). On the basis of these datings, the composition may be dated to the late 12th century.Since only the Instruction portion of the text is translated here it is entitled "The six Yogas of Naropa (Including the Original Instructions of Tiolpa).The second text, the Naro'i Chos Drug bsDud pa'i Zin 'Bris, rendered "An Original treatise on the Epitome of the Six Yogas of Naropa", is a composition of the scholar-adept Padma Karpo, alias Nga-dBang Nor-bu 1527-1592),renown as a scholar, poet and yogi,He belonged to the "Brug-pa (Druk-pa) subsect of the Kagyu lineage, famous for their supernatural power (siddhi) of flying.The third treatise translated in this volume is entitled in Tibetan Zab Mo Naro'i Chos Drug Drug gi Nyams-len Thun Chos bDUd rtsi Nyin Khu Zes Bya Ba sGrug brGyug Karrma Kam Tsang gi Don Khrid, rendered "The Nectar of the Essential Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa according to the Practical method of the Karma Kam Tsang (Karma Kagyu) was a composition of the Sixth Sharmapa of the Kagyu lineage, Chos kyi dBang Phyug, Zwa-dmar IV, 184-1635.All authors were themselves accomplished practitioners and masters of the Six Yogas of Naropa and composed their treatises from both erudition and experience and realization.The particular excellence of the Six yogas of Naropa is its distillation of Tantric practices from the Peerless Tantra (Anuttara Yoga) class into the six yogas of 1) Consuming Heat (gTum Mo), 2) Illusory Body (sGyu-lus), 3)Dream (rMi lam), 4) Clear Light ('Od gSal),, 5) Intermediate State (Bar-do) and 6) Consciousness Transference (Pho wa).Within the context of Vajrayana Buddhism, the practices of the Six Yogas are implemented with the precision of scientific method. They are intended to awaken the practitioner to the great sphere of non-duality, the one-taste (eka-rasa) of all apparent dualities, contraries and irreconciliables.. This vision, realization, of the non-duality of Samsara and Nirvana, common to both Sutra and Mantra Mahayana, is enhanced in the Vajrayana context by its emphasis on the role of body and vajra-body dimensions of experience. As the Six Yogas is a Vajrayana practice Tantric Initiation and oral instruction by a qualified guru (bla ma) are prerequisite for successful practice.As a Buddhist practice in general and paricularly a Mahayana buddhist practice, the motivation to become enlightened in order to benefit all sentient beings (bodhicitta)is the primary motivation, not the acquistion of occult powers , wealth, fame.or domination of others.,The Six Yogas are the pinnacle of Vajrayana Buddhist practice.and those who study them and practice them are deemed especially fortunate as they are deemed the fastest route to enlightenment for those qualified by temperament, motivation and diligence.