Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 47-minute teaching, Kyabje Rinpoche provides technical instruction on Tummo (inner heat), a core practice from the Six Yogas of Naropa. He opens with vase breathing meditation—specific hand and leg positions combined with breath work, progressing through three leaps that mark deepening proficiency. The main focus is how igniting Tummo gathers winds in the central channel, causing white bodhicitta to descend and ascend through the chakras, triggering four joys at each center. Rinpoche explains how the ascending joys are more powerful than descending ones, and how practitioners use the blissful consciousness to meditate on emptiness, developing nondual bliss-emptiness wisdom. He covers the ethical basis and signs of genuine progress, including indicators like equalized breath and specific inner appearances. For serious tantric practitioners with initiation and completed generation stage.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1993-12-06 – 4B – Inner Heat Retreat – KR.mp3
UUID: dca52d9a-bf15-4794-b4cb-d2b446e63182
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Six Yogas of Naropa
Date: 1993-12-06
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,059
For the sake of all living beings equal to space in order to free them from suffering and lead them to complete happiness, one is going to listen to the essence of the secret mantra, the practice of and with such a motivation, listen to and explain the present teaching. So, in terms of the Vase Breathing meditation, there are three levels of signs of proficiency. So this isn’t proficiency. This is the way to flying. So so placing the hands with as is with the thumbs in on the knees.
So sitting in the position and then taking one’s toes. Holding on to one’s toes. So meditating, breathing, bringing the upper ones downward and the lower ones upward. So jumping up, one flies in the air. So jumping.
Leaping leaping So into the air. Sitting in position then making fists. So that so that’s Catapult. So the first one is a is a slight leap, and then this is the the great the medium leap, which is like leaping like a cat. Into the sky?
Why you breathe why you’re doing the the breathing? So So And this the first leap was one one straight up. Here, one is leaping outward. And the feet in the position? So in the previous four leap, leap forward, the hands were held in front and and thrown forward and when they here, they’re they’re held straight up and one flies in the sky.
So you need a a thick a thick seat, a cushion, and soft, soft thick cushion. So there was there was six previous exercises, and there’s there’s three leaps. So, one can accomplish the purpose of the practice without any more either exercises or leaps, more than six exercises or three types of leaps, nor less. So one can involve oneself in the practice with or without the breathing, and also these leaps, they don’t necessarily have to be done with the breathing breathing. Alright.
Through the meditation on Tummo, igniting the Tummo, the coarse winds are brought to collect within the central channel. This causes the white bodhicitta to descend, bringing bringing an experience of bliss. The wisdom consciousness then focuses upon this bliss, upon a very subtle mind wind. This subtle mind wind in combination with this bliss, then focuses upon emptiness. Out of this arises the exalted wisdom of emptiness.
And this is the goal of the practice. So before one can induce the exalted wisdom of emptiness bliss, one must induce the four joys. There are four joys or blisses which are generated both in an ascending and descending manner, descending and ascending manner. In meditating on Tummo, bringing in the winds from external to within, collecting them internally, the question arises, well, doesn’t that ignite the Tummo, the collecting of the winds internally? Internally.
It is necessary to generate new winds in order to ignite the tummo, new fresh winds. So due to the flame extending upward when the Tummo is ignited, it rises to So the Tummo having been ignited, the flame extends upward to the crown of the head where the syllable which is the white bodhicitta begins to melt and begins to flow downward just like melted butter flowing downward. And this is the basis of bliss. As downward, it comes to the throat center and one experiences joy. Then moving downward, it comes to the heart center, one experiences supreme joy.
Then the white bodhicitta continues to flow downward coming to the navel center, and there one experiences special joy. Then it continues to flow onward until when it comes to the tip of the jewel, one experiences simultaneous great joy. So, as mentioned, tip of the jewel, this is though technically females don’t have what is referred to as a jewel, they do have a similar functioning genital whereby they upon the reaching of this by the white bodhicitta, they also experience simultaneous great bliss. These these blisses which are experienced on the downward movement of the of the white bodhicitta are the descending joys.
So, as the white bodhicitta is flowing down the central channel, it absorbs absorbs into each of the syllables as it moves down or otherwise it would just flow directly down. But here it remains at each of the centers for a space of time whilst it is being dissolved into each of the syllables. And this is when you experience this bliss. And this said this joy, it’s said to be like no other joy. It’s very it’s extremely, extremely wonderful joy.
So the white bodhicitta should not be allowed to flow out to the external, but should be blocked at the genital opening. So, when the Vajra reaches the tip of the jewel, one experiences this simultaneous great joy. It’s an extremely great joy. One remains in equipoise experiencing that joy and then uses that, this joyful consciousness to meditate on emptiness. So, is the means by one develops the wisdom of realizing emptiness and combination with joy.
So, then, so that was the descending joys. Now, ascending joys, white bodhicitta begins to move back up through the central channel from the tip of the jewel. When it reaches the navel, one experiences joy. Upon reaching the heart, one experiences supreme joy, and then at the throat, special joy, and then at the crown, one experiences simultaneous great joy. So, these four joys are termed the ascending four joys.
The bodhicitta is ascending. Of the two ascending and descending, the ascending joys are greater, are more blissful, more joyful. So, previously when we talked about the divisions or the sections in the explanation of the meditation on tummo, we said there was a preliminary and then the actual and within the actual there was means of inducing the four joys. So this is the means of inducing the four joys. So, it is at least two, the two points of experiencing simultaneous joy when at the tip of the jewel and the crown of the head in the ascending and descending joys that one while experiencing that simultaneous great joy uses that blissful consciousness rests in the view of emptiness and meditates on emptiness.
And, it is this blissful consciousness which realizes emptiness. So, this is the main subject of tantra. Trying to, as a method for generating exalted bliss, the exalted wisdom of bliss emptiness. So, as beginners, we what we are involved in is very much an imaginative practice. This, are meditating as imagining that we’re experiencing these happenings, and imprints, latencies.
And this is really excellent to do. In proportion to the strength of the blazing of the Tummo, we will experience a concordant bliss. To the degree of the bliss, that will facilitate proportionately our ability to realize emptiness. So, that blissful consciousness, which is a mental consciousness, takes emptiness as its object. So, this bliss, the simultaneous great bliss, takes as its object emptiness and gains a realization of emptiness.
Is thereby one generates the wisdom of non dual bliss emptiness. Non dual here means that the bliss bliss and emptiness are of the same nature. They’re not distinct. They’re not different. The bliss is emptiness and the emptiness is bliss.
Just like a product and impermanent.. Whatever is a product is impermanent and whatever is impermanent is a product. That there’s no distinguishment between the bliss and the emptiness and this is what this exalted wisdom is what we’re seeking to achieve. So there there are two methods that we can work with the internal method of Tummo whereby to generate the wisdom of bliss emptiness, and we can also work with an external mudra in order to generate the same wisdom. Once one has become proficient in the practice of Tummo, where the bodhicitta flows and one is able to develop the ability, the ability whereby not to allow the white bodhicitta to be emitted, one is able to block it, can act as the basis for making use of an action mudra.
That the basis for going on to make use of an action Mudra. So there’s there’s two types of mudras. There’s action mudra and wisdom mudra. An action mudra is an actual consort who is So, consort who arises through karma and afflictive emotions, an actual woman or consort. A wisdom Mudra is created through the power of meditative concentration.
One emanates the consort. Anyone can is qualified to to act as a an action Mudra. One self having meditated Tummo develops the ability to cause the bodhicitta to flow and but also having the ability whereby to block its emission. Then, the action Mudra must be a practitioner secret mantra having received the four empowerments observing their their words of honor well and have completed the generation stage and they too must have the ability to cause the to block the emission of the red bodhicitta. If once both have such proficiency then they are able to make use of each other as the mudra and thereby induce bliss.
That bliss is then used to realize emptiness whereby the all the afflictive emotions are able to be abandoned. So, these are the qualified basis for a consort practice in making use of a Mudra. As it says in the Samputa Tantra, that one is to refrain from making use of an unqualified consort. So, is what it means by qualified consort who can be used as a basis for one’s practice. Watching.
Block the emission of the white bodhicitta, that one is not qualified to make use of a Karma Mudra (action mudra), an action Mudra, and therefore one should rely upon the wisdom Mudra, generating internally the tummo and then the emanation of the external consort imaginatively. What is it? So now it speaks So, as a method to ensure our Tummo proceeds well as a method whereby to gain realizations of the path the nine mixings are now explained. Through the mixing at the time of sleep and waking one can achieve Buddhahood in this life in through the practice of mixing at the time of death, one can achieve Buddhahood in the intermediate state. So, it’s necessary to explain the way in which the qualities of the properties of the the entering into abiding and dissolution of the winds in the central channel. The sign of the initial entering of the winds into the central channel through the power of meditation on Tummo is there is an equal strength, the force of the breath in the two nostrils.
And when this occurs again and again, then when this equality that the breath is equal and the same strength within the two nostrils, and when this occurs again and again, then this is a sign of the initial entry of the wind in to the central channel. So, then the sign of the abiding of the wind within the central channel is that there is no wind passing through the nostrils. There’s no force of breath and the abdomen ceases to rise and fall. There’s no movement. It’s relaxed.
So then these signs of the dissolution of of the winds within the central channel is initially upon the earth element dissolving into the water element and there is the appearance of a mirage. That is like a place where there’s no water, like a desert. When the sun shines there appears there arises an appearance of water, a water mirage. Then when the water element dissolves in the fire, then there’s the appearance of smoke. When the fire dissolves into the wind, then there’s sparks.
You can take dry grasses and set them aflame and throwing them into the dark. There’s a sparks of light, sparks. Then when the wind energy dissolves internally, then there is the appearance of a butter lamp and this is explained two different ways. One is a butter lamp in a place where there’s no wind and it’s a sputtering butter lamp. The flame rises and dies, rises and dies.
Or another way which is explained is in a room where you cannot see the butter lamp, you cannot see the flame itself, but you see the glow cast. There’s a glow which is cast by the butter lamp. So that is those are the signs of the dissolution. The