Tummo

"
they then went on to what could be translated as "(bodily) union"-exercises quickly afterwards, the fastest way to full enlightenment, not wasting any time.
the beginning exercise goes like this: maybe you have seen tibetan thangkas with 2 buddhas sitting in union. thats the position, perceive/visualise "her" as deity/dakini/female buddha or simply as perfect, put your mouths on each other like kissing and keep them sealed. when she exhales you inhale her breath, when you exhale she inhales your breath. keep on doing this. feels a bit like you don't have to breath anymore because she is moving your lungs, effortless, oceanic.
visualise both a stream of energy when you f.e. exhale, from your lips to her lips through her spine to the pelvis to your pelvis-spine to your lips. (i read in a text of the female translator of kalu rinpoche that he always tried to convince her to do this exercises with him, so it seems that motivation for practice comes by itself when one reaches the highest teachings )) at least for one)

but we are shortcutting now the shortcut of the shortcut "


Reminds my that my Indian yoga teacher thought that I was crazy when I reported him my experiences with vajroli sadhana. I found the practice with a human consort distracting (probably for lack of skill, or of an experienced bhairavi), but did experience a fair amount of success with Vajrayogini that I simply evoke with her mantra, while half-possessed by Heruka.

"Here comes the link for Tsa Lung/Tummo on vimeo:

vimeo.com/28258180

"


Thanks a lot. I will learn these.

"Thats quite interesting because I just read about the history of tantric practices (David Gordon White from Stanford) and how they kind of permeated all asian religions like lamaism, buddhism, hinduism, chinese and japanese systems. And I thought chinese? what could that be?"


Hehe, I happen to be a fan of David Gordon White. Early tantric Buddhism moved to China via the silk road during the Tang dynasty. It then became Shingon in Japan and merged with Taoism (the Kan and Li practice of the Shandong Taoist school is basically tummo). Then Lamaism became the official religion of China during the Mongolian Yuan dynasty. During the Ching dynasty, Gelugpa Vajrayana Buddhism also became very fashionable at the court. And nowadays, Vajrayana is one of the main Buddhist schools in China (especially in Sichuan and other West Chinese provinces, together with Pure Land and Zen/Ch'an.

Does anyone have suggestions of what to do with the lack of need for sleep that seems to come with these kind of practices? I would read, but I read and write intensively for work, and my eyes can't take much more. I meditate sometimes, just to kill time. I guess I could get back into drawing/art or something else beautiful but not too brain-intensive (and quiet, given I tend to be awake for several hours in the middle of the night). My need for sleep generally drops to about 5 hours from 8 when I do this kind of practice, and often in short segments, a few hours at a time, then wakeful again.

"
My strongest experience with it was more than a year ago, after a meeting with Kenneth at his place. Back in my hotel room in NYC, I felt a strong chakra activity and decided to integrate them in my field of awareness. I then decided to unite prana and apana in the navel, holding the breath with mulabandha. I then dropped the heat on muladhara chakra. With a short exhale, I then shot the energy along the spine above the crow chakra.

What happened then is the the energy came back to muladhara. I then felt a warm liquid rising up along the spine. When it reached the head space it felt like cosmic orgasm going on an on for 15 or 20 minutes. My body was shaking like a leaf. I then moved the energy to the heart and felt a sense of unconditional love. It then merged with emptiness and my body felt transparent, merging with the environment. The sense of self dissolved into this blissful all pervading stillness.

Last night, I experienced the same results (emptiness and bliss), integrating the awakreness of all chakras into the natural state (Mahamudra).
"

Yes, that seems to be it! In my case there is a feeling of something going down first (coming completely into reality), I don't experience the going up as strong as it is often described, I just feel the results in the head and crown and above and then the "warm rain" coming down again from somewhere in cosmos/sky above.

If you have already made the strong version of the experience, the art is now to prolong it.

I don't recommend the visualisations, because if people visualise a flame in their stomach all that happens is that the body releases acid into their stomach and creates a hot burning feeling there and that is the opposite of what should happen. But if one knows what is ment, it sometimes works. Better iseems to me to simply prolong the exercise and use the new energy to create even more with it (like a nuclear plant ).

..tbc...

I post them here just to complete the topic. In my case most of this advices didn't make a difference, don't think about them if you have no problems. Most of the people don't. I just post them, maybe for somebody there is a hint. Texts mention following Don'ts for tummo-practice:

Mind direct sun and heat, especially on the head, especially when you have no hair
Don't eat before practice
Protein rich diet, less carbohydrate (i read that the faces of europeans looked pretty stupid, when the first "vegetarian" tibetan lamas came to europe and conquered a chicken grill at the roadside)
Mind lifting heavy and carrying heavy weights
Mind wearing hot clothes
Mind sexual activity or too much sexual activity (i would say hyper excessive sexuality that you are suddenly capable of)

"
If you have already made the strong version of the experience, the art is now to prolong it.
"


This is what I am doing these days, amongst other things. What I do not it closer to Kriya Yoga, synchronizing the breath with the sense of energy moving along the spine. I sometimes inject some blissful [sexual] energy within the system with various yogic mudras to refresh the ecstatic sensations that tend to become stronger and stronger everyday. When I include all the chakras within my field of awareness with open eyes, the body feels empty and transparent and the sense of self tends to dissolve. This is actually what I am after.

What I note also is that lust, anger, fear and other passions/fetters that I used to see as obstacles are now experienced as fuel feeding the system through a kind of aldchemical process to generate more bliss. These passions and emotions are starting to be experienced as warm buzzing energy dissolving into the luminous emptiness of the Mind.

"Does anyone have suggestions of what to do with the lack of need for sleep that seems to come with these kind of practices? I would read, but I read and write intensively for work, and my eyes can't take much more. I meditate sometimes, just to kill time. I guess I could get back into drawing/art or something else beautiful but not too brain-intensive (and quiet, given I tend to be awake for several hours in the middle of the night). My need for sleep generally drops to about 5 hours from 8 when I do this kind of practice, and often in short segments, a few hours at a time, then wakeful again."


This is a "normal" side effect. According to the Chinese energy model, it is the outcome of a transformation of "Chi" energy (located in the heart) into "Shen" energy (in the head space), the latter being the energy of the mind that generate mental clarity (and psychic powers).

"I found the practice with a human consort distracting (probably for lack of skill, or of an experienced bhairavi), but did experience a fair amount of success with Vajrayogini that I simply evoke with her mantra, while half-possessed by Heruka.
"

Yes, the girls are not anymore what they have been in buddhas times ... (sigh)

(One of the advantages of practicing it with a real companion might be that the concentration of CO2 in the exhaled breath is much higher than in normal air. If one inhales it, it has more or less the effect of holding your own exhalation back. It changes the level of CO2 in your blood, which influences the PH-value in the blood, which affects the liquor in the spine (which seems to be the physical correlate of the Kundalini), which circulates through the brain.)

"Does anyone have suggestions of what to do with the lack of need for sleep that seems to come with these kind of practices? I would read, but I read and write intensively for work, and my eyes can't take much more. I meditate sometimes, just to kill time. I guess I could get back into drawing/art or something else beautiful but not too brain-intensive (and quiet, given I tend to be awake for several hours in the middle of the night). My need for sleep generally drops to about 5 hours from 8 when I do this kind of practice, and often in short segments, a few hours at a time, then wakeful again."

Practice only in the morning after waking up.
Yes it is common In my case after a week or two the sleep gets much better than it was before. If I practice in the morning I sleep perfect but still shorter than before. It is also a usual result of other meditations to change the sleep pattern. it just happens faster here.

If you sleep less than 5 hours a day I would slow down the practice a bit, because it could be a sign that you become a bit hypomanic and the change for your system is too fast. Keep practicing a bit shorter or even every 2nd day. Just slow down a bit.

Even more important: Work with your legs to get grounding again (running/crosstrainer is good) in the time that you have won. Get Grounding is the topic then. (A bit too much energy up because the lightning rod into earth/reality has not grown with the system yet. All kind of exercises that make the legs shake, shiver and vibrate for a longer period of time and give them endurance, will help)

Here is also a link for a wellknown grounding exercise: abel.hive.no/trumpet/warmup/grounding.html if you have a healthy spine

Yes, good reminders. I have other practice obligations during the day, so it seems best if I don't go too crazy with the yogic/energy stuff, until I find a useful way to spend three hours of wakefulness in the middle of the night. I do vigorous walking or light jogging every day and tend to eat meat and other proteins more than carbohydrates. It doesn't bother me like it used to when I first experimented with these things, where I had the pleasure of walking around with a pounding headache and dizziness some days. Now the only side effect is that lack of need to sleep as much; it's not a bad thing necessarily, just a bit inconvenient sometimes as it doesn't synch with the schedules of others in the house.

@Loco: I just tried tummo the way you describe it, but in the half-lotus posture. That stuff is mind-blowing!!

I felt the shaking two, three or four times, exactly like those Russian tummo yogis on YouTube, then the energy rising along the spine, the bliss, the pouring of cool water-like energy coming down from the heavens over my head, and then this emptiness and clarity where everything manifests as a magical display of the Mind.

And the Tsa Lung video tutorial is great. Much better than 30 min of boring asanas.

"Here comes the link for Tsa Lung/Tummo on vimeo:

vimeo.com/28258180

"

Sweet! I can't hold my breath long enough to do all those movements. Presuming I could simplify, such as doing one head rotation in each direction instead of five, until I am more practiced?

Great thread! Thanks so much for the wonderful, detailed instruction Loco. I may have practiced the belly breathing improperly for some time. I do however do core exercises which may have offset somewhat, but this should help put things on track. Not to mention I've long been interested in Tummo practices. Acquiring a good book on the Six Yogas of Naropa is on my todo list; any suggestions?

metta!

Justin

"
@Loco: I just tried tummo the way you describe it, but in the half-lotus posture. That stuff is mind-blowing!!

I felt the shaking two, three or four times, exactly like those Russian tummo yogis on YouTube, then the energy rising along the spine, the bliss, the pouring of cool water-like energy coming down from the heavens over my head, and then this emptiness and clarity where everything manifests as a magical display of the Mind.

"

Hi Alex! Yes, very good!! )
It could be that you are already in a place from where it becomes easier and easier. the worst part is usually the beginning. if you can keep the system warm, there could be a chance (it's difficult to say over the internet) that you can go all the way through without bigger problems.
- how long was the time between the contractions and how long did one last? how long can you old your breath?
- where in the body have you felt them? What was the movement that resulted? sidewards, forward/backward?
- could you describe the emptiness? was it a feeling like emptiness or was it bodily emptiness like when you pull the plug out of electric machine?
- i've found a russian video. it seems they are doing a hinduistic version. if you like try also the tibetan sitting posture, i will try to describe it later most people like it.

thank you.

"Great thread! Thanks so much for the wonderful, detailed instruction Loco. I may have practiced the belly breathing improperly for some time. I do however do core exercises which may have offset somewhat, but this should help put things on track. Not to mention I've long been interested in Tummo practices. Acquiring a good book on the Six Yogas of Naropa is on my todo list; any suggestions?

metta!

Justin"

Thank you Justin, I have more than 50 books on the 6 Yogas of Naropa and tummo but sadly there is not one with a description of the real practice of tummo that one could use like a manual. most of them use the name inner fire or tummo to sell the book, but are not delivering the product.

the problem is also that the teachers of the different sects sometimes have only parts of the knowledge and/or don't know how to handle sideeffects. it's incredible but they don't tell each other, sometimes because they are afraid that one could find out, that they have not been taught it. I mean we had wellknown lamas here who thought that it is a visualisation of vajrayogini and nothing else. some were also attacked by others if they taught the technique, because it is a kind of ace and they don't really want to be on the same level with their students. they want to stay the teacher, because they live from it.

i can recommend the book of tenzin wangyal rinpoche: "akawening the sacred body" (2010) with the dvd i posted as a video. tummo is not exactly described in it but together with this thread it will be a nearly complete and working package.

More historical is a relatively complete but theoretical description in the famous "tibetan yoga and secret doctrines" of evans-wentz from i think 1958. its complete but less practical and in one or two details mislead.

Thank you for your encouragement, Loco, as well as for your openness to share this. I can answer your questions as follows:
- I would say that the contractions lasted for about 5 to 10 seconds, with about 10 seconds between contractions.
- I haven't done much pranayama lately, but I can hold my breath for at least 90 seconds.
- The contractions were felt around the navel chakra, but involved the whole lower abdomen, forward and backward, like a spontaneous bhastrika.
- By emptiness, I mean the fading away of thr sense of self, while everything from the body to the world outside feels transparant, insubstantial and almost dreamlike, with a deep sense of silence and clarity.
- Since I was trained in Hatha Yoga by an Indian yogi of Swami Satyananda Sarasvati's Bihar Yoga Bharati, I am used to the Hindu version. I made the vajra fist mudra however and will learn the Tibetan sitting posture.

I started it in the evening last night and, the first time, exhaled the energy through the crown chakra. I felt a bit of pressure there afterward, but the first Tsa Lung exercise posted on your video cleared it. My sleep was shallow due to excessive energy. I therefore decided to rearrange my schedule to practice in the marning. Accordingly, I started at 6am this morning and feel great.

With a background in Western magick, Hindu Tantra and Afro-Cuban Palo Monte, I realize that I am able to contact Tibetan deities reciting their mantra with or without their yantra/mandala. As an example, I had an interesting experience with Green Tara this morning. I wonder if I could contact some of the lineage holders. What is your tradition/lineage? Karma Kagyu? Could I try to establish a contact with astral emanations of Milarepa and/or Gampopa?

It would be interesting to talk about the details of tummo practice on Skype if we are able to one day.

"Sweet! I can't hold my breath long enough to do all those movements. Presuming I could simplify, such as doing one head rotation in each direction instead of five, until I am more practiced?"

Hi giragirasol, yes there is this gentlle way, and it leads to the same success.

The headrotation: Let me just say that one should do this rotation less extreme than it is shown in the video.

Circle around the half of the diameter shown in the video or less. And avoid a bit the backward circling, stay more forward. Do it slow and careful.
The spiritual result will be the same or better. If one doesn't stay healthy one will be unable to do the exercise at all. The joints of the spine in this region are pretty fragile (because it has to carry only the weight of the head at this level, not the whole upper body. If one joint is a bit blocked the upper or lower has to take over and can be overused/damaged, you then can get problems with the nerves or a certain artery that provides blood to your brain) you can see it here: www.google.at/imgres?q=cervical+spine+ar...9&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0

especially the extrem backward circling is overdone in the video. If you want to do it more extreme and take the risks, wait if you have absolutely no problems after a few weeks of gentle circling. you have an unusual good spine then. but I wouldn't recommend it.

Gotcha. I think I'm actually going to start with the basic breathing for now. I've had a lot of spontaneous energy development over the past year when i was doing an intensive meditation practice, but I have only done a very small amount of actual training. It was largely a process of accidental discovery and stuf working itself out through strange spontaneous yoga postures and what not. Fun though! Now that things are running more smoothly, it's interesting to actually develop a practice around it.

Thank you, Loco, for the clarification regarding books. You have probably saved me a good deal of time and frustration with trying to find legit instruction in mainstream books. ^__^ Much Appreciated!

Energetic phenomena, Kundalini, have been a very interesting and noticeable aspect of my practice for some time now. I had an early experience of being able to see prana / nadis. And since then, I've felt a pull to explore practices that work more directly with prana. More recently, I found I had easy access to jhana, and when inclining the mind to jhana, I now reliably perceive prana / nadis. So while I continue with the 3-spd transmission approach, I still have a curiosity regarding practices centered around the subtle body / energy system.

metta!

Justin

"
With a background in Western magick, Hindu Tantra and Afro-Cuban Palo Monte, I realize that I am able to contact Tibetan deities reciting their mantra with or without their yantra/mandala. As an example, I had an interesting experience with Green Tara this morning. I wonder if I could contact some of the lineage holders. What is your tradition/lineage? Karma Kagyu? Could I try to establish a contact with astral emanations of Milarepa and/or Gampopa?
"

Hehe, thats quite a cool question with some implications.

I don't consider myself to be part of religious systems/traditions. But trying to answer the question and not to be a kill-joy, it would be fun to take Milarepa, because he is said to be in love with all kinds of magic and seemed to be a cool dude And the connection to him should be an autobahn (he's kind of the national hero of tibet). tibetan deities: Öpame/Amithaba (Om ami deva hri (spoken shri)) is said to be quite responsive

But I guess I am the worst on-ramp to this autobahn (I got my transmissions in a bar after work with the words "That's for you" beeing touched 3 times with a relic)

Great advice, Loco. I did contact Amithaba on a regular basis during my trip to China in late July this year. And, yes, he is quite responsive and benevolent. Milarepa will definitely be an interesting vajra guru to contact (if I succeed). His mantra seems to be: oṃ āḥ guru hasavajra sarvasiddhi hūṃ.

You will agree that a bar may be the ideal place to receive a Tantric transmission, next to the smashan (charnel ground) of Varanasi, lol. Love it!

I am coming late to this fascinating thread, and have really appreciated the detail provided by Loco. But as an outsider to all this Tibetan stuff, I am a little confused about the precise connection between Tsa Lung and Tummo, and how this video relates to the core instructions provided above. Could someone please clarify that a bit? Is Tummo just the breathing (or breath holding) part, and Tsa Lung the additional movements?

Thanks again for a great discussion.

-- tomo