The Six Yogas of Naropa

Beginning Tuesday, 9/28/21 from Live 4 - 6pm PST / 7 - 9pm EST or Watch Later On Playback Recordings

The Six Yogas of Naropa Online Course, will be live on Zoom with video recordings for different time zones. The six yogas are a collection of tantric Buddhist completion stage practices drawn from the Buddhist tantras. They are intended to lead to Buddhahood in an accelerated manner. The primary instructor is Lama Michael Gregory with guest teachings and authors of course texts Lama Glenn Mullin, Dr. Ian Baker and Lama and Dzogchen translator Chris Wilkinson.

The Six Yogas or correctly the Six Dharmas of Nāropa, are a set of advanced Tibetan Buddhist tantric practices compiled by the Indian mahasiddhas Tilopa and Nāropa and passed on to the Tibetan translator-yogi Marpa Lotsawa. This course offers the rare and precious opportunity to discover compassionate and blissful awakening through the embodies practices of Tibetan Yoga.

These practices traditionally require tantric initiation and personal instruction through working with a tantric guru as well as various preliminary practices. This course will provide introduction to the practices, alongside these advanced teachings and the opportunity to go further with study, meditation and retreat.

The six dharmas work with the subtle body, particularly through the generation of inner heat energy.

The Outline of The Course:

• Tummo: The Yoga of Inner Fire

  This practice works with the subtle body (also known as the vajra-body) system of channels (nadis), winds (lung, vayu), drops (bindus) and chakras. Through inner heat, the vital winds are caused to enter into the central channel (avadhuti), causing the four blisses or joys which is then unified with the wisdom that understands emptiness.

• Gyulü: The Yoga of the Illusory Body

  This practice is a kind of contemplation on the illusory nature (maya) of phenomena.

• Ösel: The Yoga of Clear Light

  Luminosity, radiance or clear light refers to the clear radiant nature the mind, which is associated with buddha-nature. It is said to be experienced during various events in one's life, such as orgasm, sleep, dreaming and in the dying - rebirth process.

• Milam: The Yoga of the Dream State

  In the yoga of dreaming the yogi learns to remain aware during the states of dreaming (i.e. to lucid dream) and uses this skill to practice yoga in the dream.[3]

• Bardo: The Yoga of the Intermediate State

  These practices deal with navigating the bardo state in between death and rebirth.

• Phowa: The Yoga of the Transference of Consciousness at the time of death

  Transference is a practice meant to eject one's consciousness out of the body into a state of Awakening at the time of death (or into a Buddha's pure land).

• An introduction to the six physical yogic exercises of Tsalung Trulkhor will also be offered.
• An introduction to other dharmas, sometimes grouped with those above, or set as auxiliary practices, including:
  • Generation Stage practice. According to Thubten Yeshe, Milarepa lists Deity Yoga Generation Stage meditation as part of the dharmas.
  • Karmamudrā or "action seal" This is the tantric yoga involving sexual union with a physical partner, either real or visualized.Like all other yogas, it cannot be practiced without the basis of the tummo and generation stage practice.
  • Forceful Transference (drongjuk phowa) – a variation of phowa in which the sādhaka may transfer their mindstream into a recently deceased body.
  • Self-liberation – Nāropa himself, in the Vajra Verses of the Whispered Tradition, adds the practice of self-liberation in the wisdom of non-duality, which is the resolved view of Mahamudra. This is always considered as a distinct path.

Course Details:

An Intermediate to Advanced backgrounds in Dharma practice and study are necessary for participation.

The course will be offered live via our zoom classroom, where teaching, meditation and Q&A will be offered to all participants. The course includes our interactive online learning program.

The course can also be taken via our interactive online learning system and classes can be watched later if you are not able to watch live.

Pricing:

If you are not a MMC member, the suggested donation is $250 for the course. This will give you lifetime access to the course recordings. Current Path 2 Part 2, Path 3, and Path 4 members have been automatically enrolled.

Further Practices:

The classes will be supplemented by the Six Yogas of Naropa weekend retreat intensive and fundraiser for The Dalai Lama’s Secret Temple in Aspen October 8-10 with Lama Michael and Dr.Baker and for complete immersion there will be a month long Six Yogas of Naropa and Dzogchen Retreat beginning April 1st of next year with Lama Michael and Dr. Baker run by Himalayan High Treks in Bhutan.

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Materials for This Course

Texts for this course:

Dr. Ian Baker Tibetan Yoga: Principles and Practices

Chris Wilkinson: Vajra Sky

Glenn Mullin: Six Yogas of Naropa

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