In Shadow of Babel

Reality ultimately 
Singularity. 
Similitude 
Interpretations vary,
With multitude 
Vocabularies. 

“The Tower of Babel” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563.

On Arks

Diluvian Ark we never left,
And are carried by it yet. 
Ark of the Covenant, 
Who merciful convey it, 
And are never apart.
For it resides the Tabernacle
Of Compassionate Heart,
Blessed Vessel the Sacrament.  

“The Creation” by Jacques Joseph Tissot. (c. 1896-1902) 

The Bliss of Inner Fire (outline)

Dhamma wheel

“The Bliss of Inner Fire: Heart Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa” (1998, 2014)
A Commentary on Je Tsongkhapa’s
Having the Three Convictions: A Guide to the Stages of the Profound Path of the Six Yogas of Naropa
By Lama Yeshe
Outlines to full text and (editorial) guide to application of practice herein. 

Full Outline

Foreword by Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche
Editors’ Preface
Introduction by Jonathan Landaw

Prayer to the Lineage Lamas of the Six Yogas of Naropa 

PART ONE: THE SIX YOGAS OF NAROPA
1. Tantra and Inner Fire
2. The Six Yogas and the Mahasiddha Naropa
3. The Mahasiddha Je Tsongkhapa
PART TWO: PRELIMINARY PRACTICES
5. Preparing the Mind
i. Common Preliminaries
ii. Unommon Preliminaries
6. Receiving Initiation
7. Purifying Negativities
8. The Inspiration of the Guru
PART THREE: GOING BEYOND APPEARANCES
9. Transforming Death, Intermediate State, and Rebirth
i. Necessity to first practice Evolutionary Stage Yoga
ii. Bringing the three Kayas into the path
10 Arising as a Divine Being
11. The Characteristics of Body and Mind
i. Characteristics of the body
ii. Characteristics of the mind
12. Unifying Relative and Absolute
PART FOUR: AWAKENING THE VAJRA BODY
13. Hatha Yoga
14. Channels and Chakras
i. Sitting
ii. Empty body meditation
iii. Channels
iv. Chakaras
v. Training in the channels
15. Blissful Syllables
16. Vase Breathing Meditation
i. Dispelling impure airs
ii. Vase breathing
PART FIVE: DISCOVERING TOTALITY
17. Inner Fire Meditation
i. Preparing for Inner Fire
ii. Igniting the Fire
ii. Blazing the Inner Fire
iv. Blazing and Dripping
v. Extraordinary Blazing and Dripping
18. Good Things and Bad Things Can Happen
i. Don’t intellectualize
ii. Inner heat, outer heat
iii. Bliss and nonduality
iv. Uncontrolled kundalini
v. Telepathic experiences
v. Let Go
19. Simultaneously Born Great Blissful Wisdom
i. Causing the wind to enter, stabilize, absorb
ii. The four joys
iii. Simultaneously born great blissful wisdom
20. Becoming Vajradhara
i. Embracing a consort
ii. The other five yogas
PART SIX: LIVING WITH INNER FIRE
21. Your Pleasure Is Your Responsibility
i. Judging by your own experience
ii. Your Pleasure Is Your Responsibility
22. Never Forget Inner Fire
APPENDIX 1: Sanskrit Pronunciation Guide
APPENDIX 2: Table of Foreign Word Transliterations
APPENDIX 3: Outline of Having the Three Convictions

Editorial guide to application of practice

Setting Motivation Prayer pg.141
1) Preparing for Inner Fire pgs. 133-135
A. Sitting pgs. 103-104
B. Unifying with Emptiness pgs. 89-94
C. Arising Devine pgs. 75-82
i. The Channels pgs. 104-105
ii. The Chakras pgs. 106-109
iii. Blissful Syllables pgs. 113-117
2) Igniting the Fire pgs. 135-136
A. Vase Breathing pgs. 122-124
3) Blazing the Inner Fire pgs. 137-138
4) Blazing and Dripping pgs. 138-140
5) Extraordinary Blazing and Dripping pgs. 140-141
6) The Four Joys pgs 158-160
Dedication Prayer pg.141

Meditation On Mediative Mind

There are two aspects of mind:

  1. True nature of mind, which is pure awareness, clean and clear, luminous void.  (akin space)
  2. Dualistic mind, which perceives conceptions, subject and object. (akin field and charge)

The “I” is emergent  the mind-stream of dualistic mind’s consciousnesses.

Mediative meditation can be sustained by focusing the mind on an objective (a mental object: such as an image; a mandala; a mantra; etc…, a physical object, an activity: such as archery; hatha yoga; breathing; etc…, etc…).  Therein focusing, directing,  and thus gaining control of the mind and stream.

Meditative absorption begins to develop when the object of mind is on the subject, the mind itself, and a conceptual understanding of its nature emerges. Mind that aspires to awaken

Pure Awareness is attained on clearing the mind, and thus without effort sustained. Mind awaken.

On Chakras with emphasis on Manipura

Chakras

A chakra ( Sanskrit, romanized: cakra, lit. ’wheel, circle’; Pali: cakka) is one of the various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, part of the inner traditions of Hinduism (Vedic Traditions) and Buddhism.

Etymology

Lexically, chakra is the Indic reflex of an ancestral Indo-European form *kʷékʷlos, whence also “wheel” and “cycle” (Ancient Greek: κύκλος, romanized: kýklos) It has both literal and metaphorical uses, as in the “wheel of time” or “wheel of dharma”, pervasive in the earliest Vedic texts.

In Buddhism, especially in Theravada, the Pali noun cakka connotes “wheel”. Within the Buddhist scriptures referred to as the Tripitaka, Shakyamuni Buddha variously refers the “dhammacakka”, or “wheel of dharma”, connoting that this dharma, universal in its advocacy, should bear the marks characteristic of any temporal dispensation. Shakyamuni Buddha spoke of freedom from cycles in and of themselves, whether karmic, reincarnative, liberative, cognitive or emotional.

Overview

The Chakras are part of esoteric ideas and concepts about physiology and psychic centers that emerged across Indian traditions. The belief held that human life simultaneously exists in two parallel dimensions, one “physical body” (sthula sarira) and other “psychological, emotional, mind, non-physical” it is called the “subtle body” (sukshma sarira). This subtle body is energy, while the physical body is mass. The psyche or mind plane corresponds to and interacts with the body plane, and the belief holds that the body and the mind mutually affect each other. The subtle body consists of nadi (energy channels) connected by nodes of psychic energy called chakra.

Hindu Tantra

Esoteric traditions in Hinduism mention numerous numbers and arrangements of chakras, of which a classical system of six-plus-one, the last being the Sahasrara, is most prevalent

Hindu Tantra associates six Yoginis with six places in the subtle body, corresponding to the six chakras of the six-plus-one system.

Association of six yoginis with chakra locations in the Rudrayamala Tantra:

Place in subtle body

Yogini

1. Muladhara

Dakini

2. Svadhisthana

Rakini

3. Manipura

Lakini

4. Anahata

Kakini

5. Vishuddhi

Shakini

6. Ajna

Hakini

Buddhist Tantra 

The esoteric traditions in Buddhism generally teach four chakras. In some early Buddhist sources, these chakras are identified as: manipura (navel), anahata (heart), vishuddha (throat) and ushnisha kamala (crown).  In one development within the Nyingma lineage of the Mantrayana of Tibetan Buddhism a popular conceptualization of chakras in increasing subtlety and increasing order is as follows: Nirmanakaya (gross self), Sambhogakaya (subtle self), Dharmakaya (causal self), and Mahasukhakaya (non-dual self).

A system of five chakras is common among the Mother class of Tantras and these five chakras along with their correspondences are:

  • Basal chakra (Element: Earth, Buddha: Amoghasiddhi, Bija (S. ‘seed’) mantra: LAM)
  • Abdominal chakra (Element: Water, Buddha: Ratnasambhava, Bija mantra: VAM)
  • Heart chakra (Element: Fire, Buddha: Akshobhya, Bija mantra: RAM)
  • Throat chakra (Element: Wind, Buddha: Amitabha, Bija mantra: YAM)
  • Crown chakra (Element: Space, Buddha: Vairochana, Bija mantra: KHAM)

Chakras play a key role in Tibetan Buddhism, and are considered to be the pivotal providence of Tantric thinking.  The highest practices in Tibetan Buddhism point to the ability to bring the subtle pranas of an entity into alignment with the central channel, and to thus penetrate the realization of the ultimate unity, namely, the “organic harmony” of one’s individual consciousness of Wisdom with the co-attainment of All-embracing Love, thus synthesizing a direct cognition of absolute Buddhahood.

Manipura (focus of Inner Fire practice)

Located above the navel,  Manipura translates from Sanskrit as “city of jewels” alternatively translated as “resplendent gem” or “lustrous gem”.

Manipura is associated with fire and the power of transformation.

The energies of Prana Vayu and Apana Vayu (inward and outward flowing energy) meet at the point in a balanced system.

Manipura is represented with a downward-pointing red triangle, signifying the tattva of fire, within a bright yellow circle, with 10 dark-blue or black petals like heavily laden rain clouds.

Seed Mantra

The seed mantra is the syllable ‘रं’ (ram). Within the bindu, or dot, above this mantra resides the deity रुद्र Rudra. He is red or white, with three eyes, of ancient aspect with a silver beard, and is smeared with white ashes. Rudra makes the gestures of granting boons and dispelling fear and is seated either on a tiger skin or a bull.

Rudra’s Shakti is the goddess लाकिनी Lakini. She has a black or dark-blue vermilion color; has three faces, each with three eyes; and is four-armed. Lakini holds a thunderbolt, the arrow shot from the bow of काम Kama, and fire. She makes the gestures of granting boons and dispelling fear. Lakini is seated on a red lotus.

Petals 

The ten petals of Manipura are dark-blue or black, like heavily laden rain clouds, with the syllables डं, ढं, णं, तं, थं, दं, धं, नं, पं and फं (ḍaṁ, ḍhaṁ, ṇaṁ, taṁ, thaṁ, daṁ, dhaṁ, naṁ, paṁ, and phaṁ) upon them in a dark-blue color. These petals correspond to the vrittis (S. “streams of consciousness”) of spiritual ignorance, thirst, jealousy, treachery, shame, fear, disgust, delusion, foolishness and sadness.

The petals represent the ten Prānas (currents and energy vibrations) that are regulated by the Manipūra Chakra. The five Prāna Vayus are: Prāna, Apāna, Udāna, Samāna And Vyāna. The five Upa Prānas are: Nāga, Kūrma, Devadatta, Krikala and Dhananjaya.

In the Vajrayana

In Vajrayana traditions, the chakra is triangular, red and has 64 petals or channels that extend upwards. This chakra is important as the seat of the ‘red drop’. The short syllable ‘Ah’ is located inside the ‘red drop’.

Meditation on ‘Ah’ is the key component of the practice of tummo, or inner heat. In tummo, a practitioner’s ‘subtle winds’ are made to enter the central channel, and rise up to its top. This is sometimes compared to ‘Raising the kundalini’ in Hindu terminology, melting the subtle white drop in the crown, and causing an experience of great bliss. ‘Raising the kundalini’ is considered the first and most important of the six yogas of Naropa.

Manipura chakra is shown as having ten petals, bearing the Sanskrit letters ḍaḍhaṇatathadadhanapa, and pha. The seed sound in the centre is raṃ. The tattva for the element of Fire is shown (here in outline) as a red triangle.

source: wikipedia.org (excerpts from entries: Chakras, Mainpura)