The Proper Motivation for Study and Practice  We should set the proper motivation for listening to these teachings on the six practices of Naropa (Na-ro chos-drug), popularly known as the “six yogas of Naropa.” Namely, we should dedicate our hearts to others and to...

Required Initiations The text continues with the actual subject matter, which is divided into the discussion of the generation stage and the complete stage. These are the ways to meditate so as to build up these various practices as beneficial habits of the mind. For these six...

The Salutation The text begins with the verse of salutation in which a distinction must be made between the eight qualities of Ishvara (dbang-phyug), the king of the gods, and the eight king-of-the-god types of qualities. The former are the qualities of the king of the gods,...

Three Divisions of the Complete Stage After the generation stage, we go on to the complete stage practices. This is explained in three divisions: The basis, or basic situation that we are dealing with The path to follow The result that is manifest. The Basis The first of...

Making Offerings Now, we’re up to making offerings. I present you with an ocean of clouds of assorted outer, inner, and hidden offerings: these I possess and those that nobody owns, both actually arrayed and mentally created. This fulfills the Amoghasiddhi bond to make...

Review  The six-session yoga practice is a way of helping us to fulfill our commitments from the anuttarayoga tantra initiation, by reminding us of the vows that we’ve taken and also the 19 closely bonding practices, or damtsig (dam-tshig), to make a close connection with...

Visualizing the Spiritual Master When it comes to visualizing the objects of safe direction, of refuge, then we visualize the spiritual master in the form of the yidam (the Buddha-figure) or in the form of Shakyamuni Buddha. However, more comfortable here would be in the form...

The Blissful Understanding of Voidness  Now, we go on to the second half of the six-session guru practice:  Requested like this, my supreme guru alights on the crown of my head. We merge – samaja. Samaja is the Sanskrit word meaning “to unite.” It’s the same word “to...

Visualizing the Closely Bonding Being After having dissolved the objects of refuge, we now want to build up the two enlightenment-building networks – the two collections – because that was one of the five trainings of pledged bodhichitta. We again visualize our guru-yidam. Are...

The six-session yoga is a practice that helps us to keep the commitments from receiving an initiation or empowerment in the anuttarayoga class of tantra. This evening what I’d like to do is give a little bit of introduction and background to what’s going on with this practice...