Trul khor


Trul khor, in full tsa lung trul khor, also known as yantra yoga, is a Vajrayana discipline which includes pranayama and body postures. From the perspective of the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist traditions of Dzogchen, the mind is merely vāyu in the body. Thus working with vāyu and the body is paramount, while meditation, on the other hand, is considered contrived and conceptual.
Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, a proponent of trul khor, preferred to use the equivalent Sanskrit-derived English term 'yantra yoga' when writing in English. Trul khor derives from the instructions of the Indian mahasiddhas who founded Vajrayana.
Trul khor traditionally consists of 108 movements, including bodily movements, incantations, pranayama and visualizations.
The walls of the Dalai Lama's summer temple of Lukhang depict trul khor asanas.

Lung

Lung means wind or breath. It is a key concept in the Vajrayana traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and has a variety of meanings. Lung is a concept that is particularly important to understandings of the illusory body and the trikaya. The 'illusory body', which is often referred to as the 'vajra body' in medieval Tibetan Buddhist discourse, is constituted by the flow of subtle energy currents:
  • 'rlung' is equivalent to Sanskrit: prāna or vāyu.
  • 'rtsa' is equivalent to Sanskrit: nāḍī, sirā, srota and dhamanī;

    Channels

The channels are the energy pathways along which the prana flows. There are three main channels or nadis: ida, pingala, and sushumna.

Yantra yoga

was the first to discuss trul khor in his book on yantra yoga, essentially a commentary on a practical yoga manual by Vairotsana. Namkhai Norbu began dissemination of Yantra Yoga through his practical teaching and esoteric transmission of this discipline within the International Dzogchen Community, which he founded some time after 1975 in Italy, Merigar.
Chaoul has begun discussion of Bon traditions of Trul Khor in English with his thesis from Rice University. In his work, Chaoul makes reference to a commentary by the famed Bonpo Dzogchen master, Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen.
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche's text Awakening the Sacred Body presents some of the basic practices of trul khor according to the Tibetan Bön tradition.

Primary texts

  • Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen: byang zab nam mkha' mdzod chen las snyan rgyud rtsa rlung 'phrul 'khor

    Works cited

  • Chaoul-Reich, Alejandro. in The Snow Lion Newsletter. Snow Lion Publications. Retrieved 1 December 2006.
  • Chaoul-Reich, Alejandro. in Snow Lion Magazine. Snow Lion Publications.
  • Lipson, Elaine. in Yoga Journal.
  • Norbu, Chögyal Namkhai. Revision: Laura Evangelisti. Translation: Des Barry, Nina Robinson, Liz Granger, Carol Chaney. Yantra Yoga Manual. Italy, Shang Shung Edizioni.
  • Ancient drawing from the Blue Beryl by Sangye Gyamtso
  • Lipman, Kennard.'The Dynamic Yoga of Tibet: combining asanas, breathing exercises, and flowing movements, Yantra Yoga aims to return us to our "natural state".' Cited in: Yoga Journal, May 1987, No. 74. Active Interest Media.. Source: p. 46-49
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