H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III told us that Esoteric Buddhism was a form of yoga. This video gives a glimpse of the physical Dharma practice of the yogis and yoginis in Tibet known as Trulkhor. This tantric form of Buddhism is based on Indian Sanskrit texts known as yoga tantras, in which the word yoga refers to expedient methods for realizing one’s innate buddha-nature or enlightened awareness.
Ian Baker published a beautiful book Tibetan Yoga: Principles and Practices that also documents the various positions or poses used in this practice using the murals of a secret meditation chapel used by the Dali Lamas located on an island in a lake behind the Potola Palace in Lhasa, Tibet and other sources. CLICK for article on this book and more photos. This book is primarily based on the Six Yogas of Naropa as practiced by the Kagya Sect. Naropa’s elder sister, Niguma also has similar yoga postures and six similar yoga practices that are practiced by the Shangpa Sect: the heat generated practice of tummo, the illusory body and mind practice, the lucid dreaming yoga practice, lucid clarity, the phowa practice for transference of consciousness, and the intervening practices for the Bardo. The Naropa version uses the clear light practice instead of the illusory body and mind. CLICK for more in the Learning from Buddha College and Seminary course C-24 on her biography Niguma, Lady of Illusion.
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