Tibetan Monks Meditation
How can you heat your body through meditation?
You know those monks that go into the mountains wearing nothing but their robes and sit and meditate while melting the snow around them? How do you do that?
I’ve heard that in Ashtanga yoga it can be done through breathing. But that sounds differen’t than what I’ve heard about it through tibetan buddhism. I’ve heard that once begun, it is a process of heating that can get dangerously out of control, and thus must be done in a cold environment.
Does anyone know how to do this? Can you explain it to me please?
The practice to which you refer is called “tummo” in Tibetan Buddhism where the initiate has the ability to generate psychic body heat. The skill is actually tested by having the practitioner sit outside on a cold night. Wet sheets (approximately 3X6 feet) are dipped in cold water and placed on the meditator’s bare back. By concentration he generates enough body heat to dry the sheet. Those who are accomplished practitioners can dry out several sheets in this manner, one after the other.
As the Seventh Dalai Lama wrote: “Vital energies generated by inner or outer means are drawn into one’s central channel, causing the mystic fires to blaze……. The letters AH and HAM flare, fall and vibrate, transporting one to the end of the primordial path of insight and Great Bliss. Lights from the mystic fire flash into a hundred directions, summoning the blessings of Buddhas boundless as space.”
Shamara Ripoche’s website states: “Tummo is a very powerful practice. The word, tummo, means very powerful. It is something that you can never reverse. You cannot back out of it, much like a vajra. There is a Tibetan saying: to practice tummo, you have to be a human tummo like Milarepa. It means that you have to be such a powerful person who can never be stopped by any obstacle. You have to be like Milarepa who only moved forward, nothing could make him turn back. A tummo person can then do tummo practice successfully. If the person is not tummo, or powerful like Milarepa, then he will never accomplish the Dharma practice of tummo. The practice is one of the Six Yogas of Naropa, which is related to the inner energies. The word tummo is not familiar to you. You might think that it is a flame, or a fire in the navel, but it is not that. What is your understanding of tummo?…
“Tummo means powerful in Tibetan. It has been translated as heat, but that is not really correct. Tummo means full of power.
“A German couple once came to Rumtek, and it was winter. Karmapa said in conversation, with them, ‘It’s very cold.’ The man responded by saying, ‘You should do tummo, then you will be warm!’ His understanding of tummo was heat, or a heater. He was only half right because tummo does produce heat.”
(from http://www.shamarpa.org/teachings/maha-curric28.php )
The procedures used in tummo are very complex but you may experiment on your own by trying the following method.
“Sit quietly for a moment. Begin by testing the temperature of your palm. Touch your palm to your upper arm. Notice how warm or cool your palm feels. Now, place your two palms together, fingers pointing outward from your lap. Close your eyes. Visualize warmth arising between your hands. You could visualize a fire in a fireplace, warmth from the sun. or even a space heater. Use an image that is vivid in your experience. Imagine the warmth spreading up your arms. When you are ready to stop, test your palm temperature again and compare it to how warm it felt when you started. With practice, you will be able to feel the difference.”
(from “Simple Tibetan Buddhism: A Guide to Tantric Living” by C. Alexander Simpkins, Ph.D. and Anneller Simpkins, Ph.D.)
For more information you may refer to http://www.experiencefestival.com/tummo and Pham’s blog at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-07mbN3Mlc6fS_v4sue._GHqh?p=207
I hope this is of some assistance.
May all be at peace.
John
Tibetan Buddhist Monks – Meditation and Science
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