[HU] Gtummo (Tibetan, gtum-mo; Skt., ca??ali)

Herman Adriansyah Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:59:38 -0700

Gtummo

(Tibetan, gtum-mo; Skt., ca??ali). The energy channel that is thought to extend
upwards from the heart centre in some forms of tantric practice. The term is
also used derivatively for the yogic practice of the completion-phase which
results in the generation of inner heat as practised by Milarepa.

gTummo (Tibetan: gtum-mo; Sanskrit: ca??ali) is a practice associated with the
subtle body of energy-channels, energy-winds and energy-drops. The practices
are taught in a suite of advanced sadhana, such as the Six yogas of Naropa,
which are contemplative practices, spiritual energetic work or meditations in
the Himalayan traditions of Vajrayana and Bön. This discipline is key to a
suite of advanced sadhana or spiritual disciplines in Tibetan Buddhism.
Himalayan disciplines like Yantra Yoga work with this "inner heat": where
yantra is the synonym for asana .

In common currency, gTummo is related to the description of intense sensations
of body heat, that are held to be a partial effect of the practice of
gTummo-meditation. gTummo is taught as one part of the six yogas of Naropa.
Stories and eyewitness accounts abound of yogi practitioners being able to
generate sufficient heat to dry wet sheets draped around their naked bodies
while sitting outside in the freezing cold, not just once, but multiple times.
These observations have also been discussed in medical articles (Ding-E Young
and Taylor, 1998).

Contents :

1 Nomenclature, orthography and etymology

1.1 Orthography

2 Kundalini and tummo

3 Overview

3.1 Scientific investigation

4 Present day information

5 See also

6 Notes

7 References

8 Further reading

9 External links

Nomenclature, orthography and etymology

Tummo (gTum mo in Wylie transliteration, also spelled Tumo, or Tum-mo; Sanskrit
ca??ali) is a Tibetan word, literally meaning fierce [woman]. Tummo is a
Tibetan word for inner fire.[1] The terms drod and tummo are synonymous though
the former is used in Traditional Tibetan medicine, whilst the latter is
employed in tantric spiritual disciplines. The Sanskrit terms ca??ali and
ku??alini are clearly etymologically related.

Orthography

Tummo may also be orthographically rendered in English as 'Dumo'[2] which
approximates its phonemic enunciation for a standard speaker of English.

Kundalini and tummo

Kundalini is etymologically linked to candali, the Sanskrit term for tummo, or
inner fire. The two practices are also related. Miranda Shaw clarifies:

Ku??alini-yoga offered a range of techniques to harness the powerful
psycho-physical energy coursing through the body... Most people simply allow
the energy to churn in a cauldron of chaotic thoughts and emotions or dissipate
the energy in a superficial pursuit of pleasure, but a yogi or yogini
consciously accumulates and then directs it for specified purposes. This energy
generates warmth as it accumulates and becomes an inner fire or inner heat
(candali) that [potentially] burns away the dross of ignorance and
ego-clinging.[3]

Kundalini, therefore, is the energy that when accumulated and directed can
become tummo. The two are essentially similar in nature but applied in somewhat
different ways in the Hindu Kundalini Yoga practice and the Vajrayana Buddhist
tummo practices, such as the Six Yogas of Naropa.

Numerous non-buddhist tantras of the Shakta and Shaiva traditions (generally
termed Hindu by westerners) speak of Kundalini, which is generally described as
a coiled energy at the base of the spine[4][5][6], at the first chakra. The
image of celestial partnership is common within the Shiva-Shakti treatment of
Kundalini union. As the serpent energy, or "shakti", ascends to the Crown
chakra, Shiva, the cosmic consciousness permeates the body-mind of the sadhaka.
It is important to remember that the language of directionality encoded within
this process is only metaphorical and that the 'higher' awareness states are
typically nonlocal, unbounded and uncontained.

Whereas tummo is generally described within the context of various Buddhist
tantric systems, particularly the 'Mother tantras' (Wylie: ma rgyud), and most
widely taught within the Kagyu lineages, although a popular manual was written
by Tsongkhapa, founder of the strictly monastic Gelug sect. The context for the
practice is rooted in the Mahayana precepts of universal compassion and the
experience of the transcendental wisdom of Sunyata (Emptiness). The Buddhist
tantric systems present several different models of the chakras, and for tummo
the 'energetic winds' (prana, rlung) are being accumulated at the navel chakra,
four fingers below the navel.[7][8] In Tibetan Buddhism the primary purpose of
tummo is to gain control over subtle body processes as a foundation for very
advanced mystical practices analogous to Completion stages of 'highest yoga
tantra' (Anuttarayoga Tantra). Such refined internalized yogas are practices to
support entry into the highest contemplative systems, for example the Dzogchen
or Mahamudra systems.[9]

Overview

Kurt Keutzer (2002) discusses the Kundalini yoga, Vajrayana, Nath Sampradaya,
Mahasiddha and Milarepa:

Kundalini yoga in the Natha Sampradaya and Vajrayana in Tibetan Buddhism both
take their origin from the Mahasiddhas who were active in India from the 8th
century to the 12th century. Kundalini yoga practices formed the core of the
teachings of a number of these Mahasiddhas and are strongly represented in both
Tibetan Buddhist practices and contemporary kundalini yoga practices. Kundalini
yoga was spoken of as ``Candali yoga by these Mahasiddhas and became known as
gTummo rnal 'byor in Tibet. Candali yoga was a key practice of the famous
Tibetan yogin Milarepa.[10]

The Tummo practices were first described in writing by the Indian yogi and
Buddhist scholar Naropa, although the Tibetan Buddhist tradition holds that the
practice was actually taught by Shakyamuni Buddha and passed down orally until
the time of Naropa. The Tummo practice is also found in the Tibetan Bön
lineage. One of the most famous practitioners of Tummo according to the Tibetan
tradition was held to be Milarepa. The biography of Milarepa is one of the most
popular among the Tibetan people (Evans-Wentz, 2001). Modern western witnesses
of this practice include the adventurer Alexandra David-Néel (David-Néel,
1971), Lama Anagarika Govinda (Govinda, 1988), and anthropologist Dr. John
Crook.

Dr Arya (2006) in discussing the "life airs" (Tibetan: rLung) states that
historically: "The rLung practitioner (yogi) uses special colors of clothes to
improve the power of the Tummo fire."[11]

Dr Arya (2006) describes the raising of drod or tummo through the tsa lung
vortices (Tibetan: khorlo; Sanskrit: chakra) in a manner comparable to the
"serpent fire" (Sanskrit: ku??alini; ca??ali) and mentions Vajrayogini and
bodymind making reference to English renderings of marigpa, sahasrara and
Traditional Tibetan medicine:

The psychic heat Drod is produced by the space particles and the heat
manifested from the friction of the wind element. This is another fundamental
element as it supports and gives power to the consciousness, like the power of
the fire that can launch rockets to space. The power is called medrod or
'digestion fire' in medicine and gTummo in yoga tantra. The heat (fire)
sustains life and protects the body/mind. The psychic fire increases the
wisdom, burns the ignorant mind of the brain and gives realization and
liberation from the darkness of unawareness. That is why yoga describes gTummo
as the aggressive fire which ignites from below navel, pierces the chakras one
by one and reaches the sky of the crown chakra. The gtummo burning arrow
married with the celestial bride leads to enjoy the life of transformation of
samsara. They give birth to the son of awareness from the blissful garden of
Vajrayogini.[11]

gTummo is taught currently in both Asia and the West by a few qualified Tibetan
lamas, typically to students who have mastered other 'preliminary meditation
practices' (ngondro). There are also several books published in English in the
20th century that described the practices with appalling mistakes of
translation.[citation needed] Current texts such as those by Lama Yeshe or
Glenn Mullin are highly accurate and go into some detail.

However. Intensive spiritual practices, associated with Asian traditions, are
not unproblematic. Psychiatric literature [12] notes that "Since the influx of
eastern spiritual practices and the rising popularity of meditation starting in
the 1960s, many people have experienced a variety of psychological
difficulties, either while engaged in intensive spiritual practice or
spontaneously". Among the psychological difficulties associated with intensive
spiritual practice the authors mention kundalini awakening,"a complex
physio-psychospiritual transformative process described in the yogic
tradition". (For more on this, see article on Kundalini Syndrome.)

Scientific investigation

An attempt to study the physiological effects of Tummo has been made by Benson
and colleagues (Benson et al., 1982; Cromie, 2002) who studied Indo-Tibetan
Yogis in the Himalayas and in India in the 1980s. In the first experiment, in
Upper Dharamsala (India), Benson et al. (1982) found that these subjects
exhibited the capacity to increase the temperature of their fingers and toes by
as much as 8.3°C. In the most recent experiment, which was conducted in
Normandy (France), two monks from the Buddhist tradition wore sensors that
recorded changes in heat production and metabolism (Cromie, 2002).

While the physiological effects of Tummo are well known, they are not the
primary purpose of the meditation practice. Tummo is a tantric meditation
practice that transforms and evolves the consciousness of the practitioner so
that 'wisdom' (prajna) and 'compassion' (karuna) are manifested in the
individual[citation needed].

Present day information

In January, 2008, Wim Hof of Holland set a world record[13] for exposure to
ice. Wim Hof is a self-described Tummo master who set a world record by
spending one hour and 13 minutes in a tub of ice wearing minimal clothing. He
hopes to beat his own record, and is training to do so currently.[14]

[HU] Gtummo (Tibetan, gtum-mo; Skt., ca??ali)

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