5 Element Energy Healing

The deepest levels of mind-body healing

Energy Awareness—Your 7th Sense

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Getting Rainbow

We have spoken about the biophysical and conceptual aspects of Rainbow Body formation from various angles. But how do we proceed in the actual process? Of course, the whole of the Vajrayana moves in that direction, but certain crucial pieces are missing from the description and application of tantric methods. This may explain why, after some 50 years of Dharma centers and initiations, deity practices and long-term retreats, Western students are not dissolving into evanescent rainbows at any great rate. I believe that the chief reason for this failing is a lack of attention to the very matrix of transformation, the very fuel that makes all the promises of Tibetan Buddhism possible—energy awareness and energy manipulation.

Missing sense

While we talk about five senses, or a psychic “sixth sense,” and science tells us they are really 10 sense fields, there is yet another that is crucial to our spiritual development. I call this the energy sense or, simply, energy awareness. It is indeed a strange artifact of the human condition that although we use this sense constantly, probably second only to sight, it usually lies below the level of conscious awareness. It functions in the background, but remains unconscious until we decide to make ourselves aware of its presence. We are energy beings, living in an energy world. Ancient wisdom and modern physics both describe the sea of quantum energy in which we exist, and our body is composed of oscillating fields within a liquid crystal structure. Consciousness itself is captured within the brain’s matrix of holonomic photons. So why wouldn’t we have the sensory ability to perceive these energies?

When we walk into a room, meet a new person, catch up with an old friend, go into any public space, we have an immediate sense of the “vibes” that are going on. This is quite apart from visual or verbal cues, past experience, inference, neurological processing, or any other concept that dogma-bound reductionist science may have told you. Your energetic awareness is giving you information (because energy and information are inseparable) about another person’s feelings, the negative energy in a particular store or restaurant, or even about the quality of the food you choose in the supermarket. Bringing this natural sensing ability into conscious purview is not only essential, but enriches life in the broadest possible way. Enhancing your life with a whole new sensory capacity is like gaining a different set of eyes, and for that alone it is worth the effort. But beyond the mundane, it is essential to making any spiritual path work, be it Buddhist, Shaivite, Kabbalistic, Gnostic, or what have you. Let’s see how energy awareness can be enlivened and brought back online from its latent, unconscious position.

Close but not quite

Although the practice we are about to describe may seem very similar to “progressive relaxation,” there is only a superficial resemblance. Progressive muscular relaxation (PMR) established itself as a recognized therapeutic tool way back in 1929, with Dr. Edmund Jacobson’s book of the same name. While this is certainly a useful and beneficial methodology (and is perfect for falling asleep), the end goal is quite different. Also, within Vajrayana itself, the first stage of tsa-lung, of working with the body’s channels and energy streams, is empty-body practice. Experiencing or visualizing the body as an empty balloon, spacious and open, is an important preliminary. Similarly, in deity practice we see ourselves as a tent of gossamer light, rather than a solid entity. But other than this straightforward dictum, no details are given, and it may not be so simple to directly experience one’s entire form as an open dimension. What we are about to describe could be a way to allow this to develop.

Body awareness

The method we are about to describe is a sensing of body areas, in sequence, and in as detailed a manner as possible. But it is not merely a practice of body awareness. Developing sensitivity to the sensory experience of our earthly existence has tremendous psychological value and is an important part of body-centered psychotherapy. It is a staple of the acting profession, dance, and other arts, where full embodiment is essential to developing excellence. Meanwhile, the rest of us, the majority of people, spend most of our time “in our heads,” in our computer’s virtual space, or in a state of reverie or identification with our task, where our body sense disappears entirely. Staying grounded in our physical presence is worthwhile in every way, yet our goal is still different from this.

Energy, the missing link

When we focus our thoughts, our imaging, our awareness, on a particular part of the body, it is known that there are immediate changes in the biochemistry, cellular function, circulation, and even photonic activity of that area. But it is also true that when we fully engage with our hand, our face, or the areas of our liver or kidney, we are sensing an actual energy. We are directly bringing consciousness to the experience of prana, chi, lung, our human bio-field. At this point, it is not necessary or even useful to distinguish this matrix of energies as electric (ionic transfer), magnetic, photonic (light particles), or as neurological impulses involved with pressure, touch, fluid dynamics, and so on. The effort is to simply be able to experience our body area in as vivid (and relaxed) a way as possible. The reason for this is simple. Light body creation requires one to work with monitoring the internal shifts and changes in our energies over a long period of time. We thus need to learn to pack bioenergy into certain areas, condensing, storing, and distributing these finer forces. The alchemical refinement of our subtle energy systems and purification of the five elements demands these same skills. The entire enterprise is predicated on being able to let our awareness move within our body field with ease. Skipping over this step makes the practice of advanced inner work less successful and eventually frustrating.

The process

Starting with the feet, we sense this part of our anatomy in a gentle but focused way. Progressively, we move up the body, area by area, finally reaching the head and face. How detailed and thorough you make this process depends on you. The best plan is usually to start in a more generalized way: feet, ankles, lower legs, knees, thighs, and so on. After a while, it is good to do both sides individually: right foot, left foot, right ankle, left ankle. The fun really begins when we become more and more detail-oriented, which requires of course a better sensing and focusing ability. This comes naturally with practice. So in this more precise way, we sense the sole of the right foot, then the sole of the left, the top of the right foot, then the top of the left and so on, upward. We are trying to feel “inside” the area, or the entire part, not just the skin or outer surface. As it feels right, we can begin to explore the deeper recesses of our form. For this it is essential to pick up a textbook of anatomy. Get to know the location and feel of the liver, stomach, spleen, bladder, lungs, the orientation of the physical heart, and so on. It is fascinating to focus in on areas of the brain: frontal lobes, lower brain, and to become as conversant with neuroanatomy as you wish.

Activating awareness

But we haven’t yet talked about what we do in each of these locations, or for how long. A good starting point is to name the part and give it some direction, such as: right foot, relax, relax, relax. As noted, the purpose is not mere relaxation, but by this recitation, energy can stream into the area, while allowing us to hone our skill.  This also gives us about 10 seconds in each area. Later we can use mantric sounds, such as Om Ah Hung or Om Ah Hung So Ha. One could even use the five colors that go along with these five syllables, expressive of the five elements. But keeping it simple is also good, as otherwise we lose the thread of simple energy awareness. It is also possible and useful to spend a longer time in any particular area, guided by our inclination, intuition, or inner wisdom. I, myself, having a very Air (vatta or lung) constitution, prefer to keep moving, as there is less opportunity for becoming distracted, “bored,” or restless. For those with lots of Water or Earth element in their make-up, moving also keeps one from falling asleep at the switch!

As with any meditation, when the mind has wandered, whether for a moment or 20 minutes, we gently return to the area where we left off. This practice is a good way to fall asleep and in fact is an excellent cure for insomnia. Also, as a three-year retreat graduate, several post-retreat teachers have advised me to use short bursts of meditation integrated into daily life and this is my modus operandi. Taking time out for 5 minutes or even 60 seconds is very useful in bringing this new faculty of energy awareness into everyday experience.

Laying the foundation

These efforts begin to pay off in a very short time. Both basic and higher practices such as pranayama or breathwork, mantra recitation, tumo, dream yoga, illusory body, or any form of healing work on oneself or others, demands this preparation. The greatest failure that occurs in Vajrayana in the West is simply not having learned to sense and contain our core energies, to get to know intimately what the energy flow feels like within us. Eventually we can begin to sense how emotions and thoughts also ride these energies. Through the practice, we will amass a storehouse of force within the bones, the abdominal plexus, the gonads, and other tissues. With energy awareness we may also begin to see, not just moral point of view but a practical one, how useless it is to waste precious and limited energies on hatred, ill-will, jealousy, frivolous speech, and meaningless engagement. With our tanks full we can propel the rocket ship of transformation. Without paying attention to this preparation, we have a priceless bioenergetic missile, possibly unique in our galaxy, ready to launch, but with no fuel to power it. Increasing our treasury of refined energy and containing it within our alchemical crucible is the essential groundwork. Only then can the flames of refinement and distillation ignite and illumination take place.

Rainbow Body 9: Dying into the (Elemental) Light

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Starry Sky with Light Body Mandala

The Road Beyond this Life

An individual who achieves a fully perfected Light Body or Rainbow Body in this very life is like a hologram, a gossamer web of photons, a powerful electromagnetic field that holds to human form until that allotted moment when it is time to leave the bubble of flesh behind. In the dying process, such a being can negotiate the after-death or bardo (in between) state with certainty. They may move on to another life consciously, or manifest in a luminous pure land in a far off star system. But what about the rest of us? How can we learn to navigate this uncertain territory with any kind of clarity or direction? The presence of highly developed gurus with masterful techniques would be nice. I have been fortunate to witness such beings literally pluck a lost soul out of the after-death state, or send off an ordinary mortal (even an animal) into a cloud of rainbows on a clear sky day, through the practice of transference or powa. But such people don’t grow on trees. For ourselves, we need a method, a road map and an instruction booklet of some sort. Fortunately these do exist, thanks to the fact that we are not the first to face that precipice! Through the last 1,400 years of Vajrayana Buddhism, many brilliant minds have done the transformational work and traveled the internal dimensions of mind to investigate the territory. Others have died and come back as delogs (literally “returners from the beyond”) and written about their journey. This amazing legacy is available to us, no matter the stage of our development nor the state of our busy lives.

The Traditions

Tibetan Buddhism is vast in its range and depth. But undoubtedly the most well known and popular corner of that landscape is the book collection known as the Tibetan Book of the Dead. First translated and published in the West by Walter Evans-Wentz in 1927, this text influenced a generation of thinkers. And in this century, Sogyal Rinpoche’s Book of Living and Dying was a pop sensation some 65 years later. Today we can find more than a dozen such books by Tibetan and Bhutanese masters and Western practitioners alike. They contain a wealth of valuable common-sense and Dharmic advice. Much of the content of these texts is based on Karma Lingpa’s collection of “revealed” texts from the 15th century. But regular readers will not be aware that this is just one of many systems of after-death teachings. Some 300 years earlier, the famed yogi and author Yonangpa relates knowing 16 different bardo traditions. The system of chöd of Tibet’s greatest female saint, MaChik Labdrön (1055–1149), also has a concise and powerful after-death guidance ritual that is quite distinct from the elaborate visions of Karma Lingpa’s Liberation Upon Hearing. Indeed, working with the transition states of living, dying, dreams, and the afterlife were well-established in the 1100s, originating with the teachings of the great 84 Mahasiddhas from 750 CE onward. Tilopa, Naropa, and Matripa were important adepts in the transition of these texts to the snowy fastness of the Tibetan plateau.

Stages of Bardo

The entire bardo process is generally divided into the dying stage, the intermediate or after-life stage, and the rebirth process. The various books of the dead represent very extensive and complex rituals with many moving parts, mostly concerned with the after-death process, extending from seven to 49 days. In this short article we are focusing on the dying process, particularly because it prominently involves a sequential dissolution of the Elements. It is notable that the Shangpa tradition (c. 1100), which came from two remarkable female mahasiddhas of India, Sukasiddhi and Niguma, has a practice focused solely on this dissolution process, a wonderful rehearsal for the act of dying. Compared with the more difficult after-death stage, conscious dying provides an opportunity for taking a massive spiritual leap forward. And it teaches us much about our ongoing investigation of both the Five Elements and the Light Body.

Dying well

The mindset of the dying process is a huge consideration and discussed widely in Western books on hospice and death caretaking (doola). The advice to be surrounded by smiling friends and well-wishers is not just based on sentiment and compassionate care. Yes, what we did in our life has great import, but there is also something within the Vajrayana tradition called “throwing karma.” This means that what we dwell on in the last days, hours, and minutes of life can propel us forward with either positive or hellish momentum. With regard to others, this is not the time for blame, shame, anger, hatred, jealousy, or a thousand other negative emotions. For ourselves, this is not the time for regret, self-admonition, self-pity, worrying, theorizing, fantasizing—or doubting. Letting go of all that, while appreciating the amazing life journey we have enjoyed, is a solid strategy. That is the karma (action) that throws us (propels the mind) past all kinds of obstacles and can even compensate for all manner of missteps that we have inevitably made in our lifetime. Love and compassion toward our loved ones, our helpers, and toward our spiritual teachers, is paramount. Now we are ready for the stages of Elemental dissolution.

Element transitions

When the Elements drop away, they do so in sequence. If we have practiced working with the Five Elements, learning to dissolve them one into the other on a daily basis, we will already have a familiarity with what is to come. But beyond anything we can train for, something very special is about to happen, something that we would be fortunate to have experienced even once during our lifetime. Because, as each Element appears on the stage of mindbody, a kind of purification happens. One of the great hidden mysteries of our human incarnation is that there are different strata of Elemental forces within us, from gross to fine. We do not yet have a proper nomenclature for this energetic layering, though the basic bones are there. There is the traditional Samkhya or Hindu system of the five koshas or fields. J. G. Bennett provides us with a powerful system of 12 energies in his book Energies: Vital, Material and Cosmic, ranging from the mechanical to the cosmic, based on the works of his teacher, the famed mystic G. I. Gurdjieff. Ken Wilbur in his A Brief History of Everything (1996) and other books has an enlarged schema of eight, 12, or 13 patterns of personal and universal development. These all closely follow our knowledge of the Elements and sub-elements. We can conceive of them in a numerical sense. For example Fire Element appears on different levels: Fire-1 (molecular); F-2 (cellular); F-3 (biological); F-4 (bioenergetic), F-5 (psychological), and so on. Clearly there could be many more divisions and subdivisions, especially on the level of tissues, organs, and mind processes. But for now, this schema provides a framework for the reality of these levels. The deepest gift in all this is that our body contains the highest possible level of these Elemental matrices. Let us call this ultimate cosmic level “Element zero” (Element-0). These finest formative forces are usually not available to us. In life they are inextricably mixed with our material, biological, molecular, and even atomic identity. Much of the work of physical yoga, mantra recitation, meditation, visualization, and other sacred methods are involved with freeing up these primordially pure Elements. Indeed, Light Body formation is not other than freeing, collecting, condensing, activating, and co-mingling these original Elements.

In the Elemental dissolution process as described in traditional Tibetan texts, those pure Elements are described as goddesses, buddhas or dakinis. For many millennia, these indescribable and unutterable phenomena have been personified as spiritual beings, as a kind of bridge to our way of perceiving mundane reality. Since these Elements do entail the highest levels of consciousness, this is quite appropriate. The entire universe is sentient and everything partakes of varying levels of consciousness, from photons to space-time itself, and each strata of the Elements also encompass those stages of awareness.

Signs: outer, inner, and secret

Various outer manifestations and inner experiences of the Elements dissolving are extensively discussed in Tibetan texts and their translations. Descriptions of these sensations, sounds and visions­ help an outside observer to monitor the situation for the dying individual. And they can be useful but these signs can be difficult to grasp in the rapidly evolving situation. More accessible are the major shifts in energy that are taking place. Through familiarity with our usual bio-energy states and with the Elements on a day-to-day basis, we have a better chance of monitoring our process with a dispassionate curiosity and happy expectation. After all, we only get to do this once per lifetime. Before we can outline the stages, however, we need to clarify an important technical detail about the process called “untying the knots.”

Knots that are Not

Symbolic and mythological language is used in describing how the channels in the body are transformed. During yogic practices, or during the death process, there is an unraveling of the so-called “knots” within the subtle channels, particularly those that encircle the chakras. These entwinements need to be straightened out, so it goes, so that the winds or bio-energies can flow freely. Texts show painstaking line drawings of these tangled skeins, as well as a version of straightened channels. We now know that the primo vascular system is an important part of the subtle energy pathways, but the model of a kinked rubber hose should be understood as figurative, not literal. So what is being pointed at? During normal life, energy fields around the chakras have been enmeshed with our biophysical processes. When they are suddenly released—either through inner work or at death—that forcefield is withdrawn. The ultimate atom of the Elements is then set free. Whether this lives at the heart of the DNA spiral or in a different molecular or atomic formation, we can only suspect. But once freed, the process of merging the pure five elements with our impure elements is possible. If the “untying of the knots” is done in our meditative lifetime, through tummo or other tsa-lung (channels and psychic energy) methods, we are helping create Light Body. When it happens at the point of death, it is called the bardo of dying.

Dissolution of the 5 Elements

Stages of Dissolution

Earth Element is the first element to let go. The forces which hold our structure together, the forces of constructive energy in Bennett’s schema, begin to withdraw from the entire body. Where does it go? According to the Buddhist tradition, it dissolves back into the outer Earth element. This is consistent with the famous “dust to dust” pronouncement of Christianity. It also conforms to the schema of different levels of our Elemental mandala, where a more elevated or sophisticated level of the element downgrades into a more primitive or impure form. Solidity, structure, and stability fall away. At the same time the navel chakra field collapses, releasing the pure Earth Element (E-0). This enters the central channel of the body, the uma, and it is possible directly glimpse the Wisdom form of the Element, as the color yellow, a square, a buddha, a goddess.

Water Element is next in sequence. Traditional texts and their translations talk about Earth dissolving into Water. This should be understood as strictly metaphor. No Element actually merges or slips into another, but rather assumes prominence as its denser counterpart slips away. Fluidity, cohesion, and the connectedness of our “universal solvent” of water slips away. This is Bennett’s sensitive energy. Now the heart chakra bio-field collapses. It is possible to experience pure Water Element (W-0) as the Wisdom Element as a white color, a circle, or a white buddha. Once this happens, Water gives way to Fire.

Fire Element begins to be released in its mundane form. The pilot light of cellular machinery, our internal combustion, begins to take flight. The throat bio-field or chakra plexus collapses. Heat dissipates from the head down to the feet and out (the reverse in experienced meditators) and the Wisdom Fire element is released and slips into the central channel. If our mind is lucid and calm enough, we may glimpse or meet directly, the primal Element of Fire (F-0) as a red color, a triangle, or a red buddha or goddess of the Western direction.

Air Element now takes center stage. The power that moves our tissues, nerve impulses, even the atomic vibration of our molecular structure, begins to lose momentum. The pelvic chakra bio-field collapses, releasing the primal Air Element. The four winds (upper, lower, digestive, pervading) all dissolve into the life-upholding wind, which then enters into the five-element life force channel at the heart. The outer breath stops at this point. And Air “dissolves” into Space. We may experience a green color, a semi-circle, or the form of the enlightened beings that personify this Element.

Space Element. The last step is described differently in various traditions. In the Karma Lingpa cycle, Space Element dissolves first, before Earth. In other lineages, Air is said to dissolve into consciousness directly, and only then into Space. This seems to be a conflation between local space and ultimate Space (i.e. S-1–5 with S-0). Here we follow with logical sequence in which Air finally dissolves into Space. The head chakra field collapses, releasing the pure Space element bindu, which enters the central channel. Finally Space gives way to pure consciousness. The bio-energetic field of our five mundane Elements have all dissipated, releasing the original matrix of the Pure Five, which now travel through the central channel to the heart. The accompanying diagram gives some visual sense to these transitions points, and the meditations which can be built around them.

Death is the beginning

After these stages, a new series of transformations begins, which brings the upper and lower polarities of our being together, as discussed in my previous essay on uniting above and below.* This is done during the practice of tummo, neidan, and other advanced tantric, alchemical, or yogic practices. This also happens during deep sleep. The descent of the white seed of the father from above—the mind of experience—and the red seed of the mother from below—the wisdom mind—and their merger at the heart, is a story for another day. And much more could also be said about the Elemental journey just described, especially in light of the psychological components that must fall away at each stage. The crucial understanding is that we have no less than five opportunities to step directly through the doorway of Elemental purity. And each of those thresholds leads to illumination, the chance to avoid any further illusory meandering in the after-life landscape. Instead, we can return home, merging into the luminous openness where our limited ego-self is neither useful nor needed.

Further reading

Anyen Rinpoche. 2010. Dying With Confidence: A Tibetan Buddhist Guide To Preparing For Death. Somerville: Wisdom Publications.

Bennett, J. G. 1964. Energies: Material, Vital, Cosmic. Coombe Springs. Coombe Springs Press.

Cuevas, B. J. 2005. The Hidden History of The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Santa Barbara: University of California.

Fremantle, F. 2001. Luminous Emptiness: Understanding the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Boston: Shambala.

Phuntsok Tashi, Khenpo. 2017. The Fine Art of Living & Manifesting a Peaceful Death. Thimpu.

Sogyal Rinpoche. 1992. Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. San Francisco: Harper.

Wilbur, K. 1996. A Brief History of Everything. Boston: Shambala.

Light Body 8: Phase Transformations

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To create a Light Body is not magic, nor the result of wishful thinking. It is science—transformational science. A new embodiment made of quarks and photons does not arise without cause, nor without the interaction of many moving parts. Like everything else in our manifest world, the process follows specific steps and stages. Just like a plant, it requires the equivalent of the right soil, moisture, atmosphere, solar energy, temperature, and much else. There must also be a seed in the first place, a lineage stretching back to ancient primal forests. But simple DNA is not enough, for the forces that create the actual shape of our liver, legs, arms, or that of a leaf, are unknown to contemporary science. All growth and development occurs in spirals, in geometric forms whose mathematical formula are written in the ether.

The morphogenic fields of which English author Alfred Rupert Sheldrake speaks are also the stuff of the visionary, the mystic, the meditating tantric, the illuminated yogi. An energetic scaffold already exists for living things, for the growing plant, the budding embryo. But in the case of the fully formed human being, trying to form a secondary body, a new spiritual embodiment, there is nothing ready-to-wear. The Light Body structure is present only as a potential, an incomplete outline waiting to be colored in. The fascial sheaths, primo vascular system, cell microtubules, and stabilized fourth state water are our latticework. And the whizzing universe of photons and electromagnetic forces within us are the stuff to be molded into a body of rainbows. These are the templates, as well as the raw material that will become “enlightened.” For, as we know, in some cases the entire body becomes nothing other than luminosity, while others leave a form shrunken down to a miniature version of its previous bulk.

Energy economy

For this creation, we need plentiful raw materials. But the daily allotment of energy we produce to maintain our existence is simply not enough. Some of the required subtle substances are not produced at all by the average person. Others, we make in quantities that are only enough for repair, cellular detoxification, and the millions of mundane operations the organism requires. Sacred traditions, Vajrayana Buddhism primary among them, are intensely involved with helping the aspirant create those special materials in adequate amounts. This process is not child’s play and is the underlying reason why students go into isolated retreat for prolonged periods. Normal life depletes energy. When it comes to our vitality, usually whatever we make, we spend. An enormous amount is also wasted with meaningless talk, scattered attention, ceaseless circular thoughts, and futile activity. While the renunciant may be fed up with the banality of life, this is a simple rejection of society and shunning of ordinary activity. It is about efficiency, energy preservation, and being able to retain the precious substances that come from intense, focused practice. However, raw materials do not a house make. We had better know how to build—and especially in what order.
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Stages of transformation

Knowing the working details of our energetic transformation is intellectually fascinating, but it is also highly practical. Understanding which levers to pull, what kind of energy we need, and how to fill in the missing pieces is the essence of tantric practice. But where to look for this information, this hidden manual of step-by-step biological transfiguration? As a spiritual practitioner, it is best to follow one tradition and follow it to its end. But if we want an in-depth understanding, it behooves us to look at the meanings contained within many different traditions, existing in different times and places. Every bona fide, well-established lineage holds substantial secrets that others do not. This cross-cultural investigation can only reinvigorate and strengthen our chosen path.

Tantric stages

Vajrayana literature is extremely rich in its description of the anatomy of the subtle body. The branch channels of the various chakras are cataloged and their functions outlined, such as the 64 sub-channels or “petals” of the pelvic chakra. Each has a visual syllable, a sound, and a specific function, described in both Vajrayana and ancient Shaivite texts. Such sounds are recited or folded into mantras for developing and maturing the luminous body. The energies and winds that move within the channels (tsa or nadi) are also laid out clearly. Yet there is very little information about the actual stages of going from a physical form to a light-based body. The exception concerns our old friends the five elements. It is only here that we see a sequential transformation, and then it is only at death. In the process of dying, the denser, coarser elements dissolve into the lighter, more refined. We see earth melt into water, water into fire, fire into air, and air into space. Space will ultimately merge with pure consciousness. This same sequence happens in a temporary way each night when we sleep, as our consciousness separates from the physical form. Or when we move our energies from the side channels into the central channel (uma) through various tantric meditations. But this elemental dissolution is not spoken of as the mechanism by which a Rainbow Body is achieved. And so we must glean clues from other traditions on how this proceeds.

Indian roots

We can start on familiar ground, in the knowledge of Buddhist Vajrayana, Ayurveda, and Hindu tantra. In Western physiology, we know that our digestion breaks food down into its component parts and then recombines these to form flesh, blood, nerve tissue, and the rest. We produce energy in our cells to do work, generating thermal, electrical, and photonic energy along the way. But in the Eastern concept, going back to the ancient Indian Vedas (1200 BCE) and Buddhist Abhidharma (300 BCE), there is the idea of progressive refinement, of producing ever more rarefied levels of substance. In both ancient and modern texts, a seven-step transformation cycle is described. Each phase or dhatu is represented by a particular body tissue, which then transforms into the next. Roughly translated into English these are: plasma, blood, muscle, fat, bone, marrow, and regenerative fluids. A final eighth stage is primal vitality or healing intelligence (ojas). This is mirrored in the Tibetan medical system, itself largely derived from Indian Ayurveda, but with a Chinese and local medicinal contribution. But one bodily organ turning into another makes no biological sense. Like the ancient Greeks who turned the five formative elemental forces into four liquid humors sloshing around inside the body, Ayurveda falls into a materialist trap. In fact, the sequence is actually describing an energetic shift. What is striking is that there is an octave of substances which corresponds to our traditional Western (and Eastern) system of musical notes. It is also echoed in the seven visible colors of the spectrum (although, in fact, there are infinite gradations, limited only by our vision). This shows up again in certain Indian and Tibetan seven-chakra systems. It also relates to the seven planets of ancient India, China, and Greece, which were understood as a hierarchy of energetic forces, not spinning globes.

Daoist transformation

The Chinese system of inner alchemy or neidan is an advanced level of Daoist thought that brings us an embarrassment of riches. Here lie some of the most extensive—and possibly the oldest—systems of bioenergy anatomy, function, and practice. Inner alchemy encompasses a vast array of lineages and methods geared toward creating an immortal Light Body or sacred embryo (shengtai). The stages, phases, levels, and subsets of this process are intricate and overwhelming, defying a simple overview. However, at its core, Daoist alchemy follows a familiar pattern. Our most physical substances (jing) are transformed into subtle energy (qi), which moves into spiritual or mind energy (shen), then into emptiness, and finally into the Dao itself. These same ideas are echoed in traditional Chinese medicine and in Qigong and Medical Qigong. Neigong and neidan are the epitome of these approaches, being analogous to the inner tantras of the Hindu and Tibetan traditions. Until recently, the lineages and methods of these approaches were extremely secret. Only in recent decades have they become available to the avid Western seeker.

Alchemical connections

Centuries and worlds away, Western alchemy thrived all over Europe over 700 years ago. Transforming the base metal of our being into the purest immortal gold, the alchemist creates a homunculus, a spiritual form within the crucible of the material body. This is identical to the Asian Light Body traditions from whence this knowledge came. But while its roots are Egyptian (al-kemi), Indian, and Arabic (by way of ancient Greece), by the time of its full blossoming it was couched in a hidden language of arcane symbolism. The Indian tantrics used a similar kind of “twilight language” in order to hide the nature of their culturally transgressive activity from the religious power structures. The alchemists were certainly in similar danger of persecution from the Christian authorities, and the whole idea of making material gold out of lead was a clever smokescreen for the real work of creating the inner golden child. What strikes us again is the seven-stages of transformation at the core of the alchemical process. Studying the obscure symbols of the phases of calcination, dissolution, separation, conjugation, fermentation, distillation, and coagulation offers a veiled view into the same stair-step path toward full illumination as we find elsewhere.

Gurdjieffian transformation

In the modern era, a detailed system of transformation comes to us through the system of the great mystic G. I. Gurdjieff. Variously identified with esoteric Christianity, Sufism, and Gnosticism, this Fourth Way school provides a detailed schema of how our three kinds of nourishment—food, air, and mental impressions—interact to generate ever more subtle energies. The Law of Octaves is portrayed in hydrogen diagrams that show what happens in the normal course of living, and how the entire process can shift when we engage in the right spiritual work. Demonstrating how to change from having just enough energy for life, to a transformative process where rarefied energetic “substances” are created, it echoes the hierarchical transformation of Chinese, Indian, Tibetan, and other traditions. In the Gurdjieffian path, the result is two “higher being bodies,” as we move from either a mental, emotional, or physical-centered type to a fully integrated human being. The diagram below shows the series of hydrogens that occur in a human body—seven normally, or eight if we are on a transformative path.

Musical scales

There are many other correlations that could be made in terms of sacred music and inner change. But unraveling the complex musical scales and mathematics of ancient Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, Islamic, and other traditional musical systems is far beyond our discussion or my expertise. However, the familiar Pythagorean octave (without discussing tunings or temperament) is a useful standard and an essential part of the mystical tradition of that ancient Greek master. The seven-part octave (eight if we arrive at the next beginning) perfectly expresses the movement from a lower vibration to a higher one—literally. This is more than just a theoretical scheme. This pattern of inner musical ascension is the basis of healing and transforming music, mantra, and seed syllables in traditions across every epoch.

A comparison of the seven stages as described by various lineages is shown in the table below:
Table of Energy Transformations

The Way of Light

In looking at the spiritual paths of very distinct cultures, surprisingly similar patterns emerge. Although usually hidden from superficial view, the magnificent path of the Light Body emerges as the center of the world’s great spiritual traditions. By its very nature, growing this interior radiant form progresses according to well-trodden stages. And it may be true that the entire natural world follows a similar vibrational octave in order to grow and reproduce. Understanding where we are in this process would be tremendously useful—even crucial—during inner development. But it also highlights another important spiritual truth. Even with a knowledge of spiritual sequence, it is difficult to impossible to see our own precise stumbling block or where our next inner opportunity lies. For that, an insightful and highly developed guru, a spiritual friend, is an essential ingredient. Such a one may be able to coax us, orally, silently, secretly, openly, or with any number of skillful means, to keep on track and jump to the next stage of our journey towards effulgence. Voyaging in the wilderness of our own mind, sailing within the oceans of our stormy karma, requires an accurate map—but also a skilled guide who knows well the territory.
While the octave sequence is not discussed in every tradition, it is certainly folded into the Vajrayana practices of deity meditation, mantra, visualization, and tsa-lung—inner energy manipulations. These practices generate spiritual energies that fuel a conflagration that will burn away our physicality, leaving only the body of energy. That fire begins with enthusiasm and continues through unwavering commitment and diligence.

References

Baker, Ian. 2019. Tibetan Yoga: Principles and Practices. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions.

Jinpa, Thupten. 2018. Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics. Volume 1: The Physical World. New York City. Simon & Schuster.

Ouspensky, P. 1949. In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching. New York City: Harcourt Brace.

Plummer, Tony. 2013. The Law of Vibration. Petersfield: Harriman House.

Roob, Alexander, 2001. Alchemy & Mysticism. Cologne: Taschen.

Wallis, Christopher. Tantra Illuminated: The Philosophy, History and Practice of a Timeless Tradition. San Rafael: Mattamayūra Press.

Yangöngpa, Gyalwa (trans. E. Guarisco). 2015. The Secret Map of the Body: Visions of the Human Energy Structure. Arcidosso: Shangshung Publications.

Rainbow Body 7 – Elements Become Luminous

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Rainbow Body. Image courtesy of the author

Back to purity

Within the great enterprise of Light Body creation is a great mystery that is rarely addressed: what is the relationship between the Five Elements and the transformation of a physical form into one of gossamer radiance? We purify the elements through the practice of visualization, mantric sound, concentration on body areas, manipulating energy streams, and yogic postures. We work with the chakras, circles, letters, and sounds within them, stream energy through a vast network of energy channels—the nadis or tsa. But how does this translate into the kind of shift we are seeking, from the material to the non-substantial? Indeed, all this purification activity has a purpose and an end goal other than purity for purity’s sake alone. It is part of the truly magical process of how flesh becomes spirit-like.

The essence of that wizardry might be surprising as it is the fusion of the Five Elements, the coming together of the trillions of “atoms” of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space, into something completely other, something that we might call “light atoms.” This is the core reason why those years and decades of purification are needed. Without this preparation, the impure Five Elements simply cannot come together. Think of a group of colored magnetic steel balls that need to unite, but their surfaces are too dirty, coated with some kind of gunk, some plastic layer. Their magnetic charges cannot pass through this useless layer. That kind of padding represents our accumulated karma, our patterns of biological, psychological, and especially spiritual distortion. Once this husk is removed, the extraordinary becomes possible.

Baking the elements

But there is also a secret sauce here—another ingredient necessary for the alchemical transformation of five into one. We are already familiar from previous articles in this column, or our own studies, with the necessary catalyst for Light Body gestation. When the white masculine polarity, the father seed residing in the head, meets the red feminine mother seed which rests in the belly, a cosmic forge is created. Enlisting the lower winds and pelvic or digestive fire, we ignite a blaze that can cook and congeal the entire elemental mix. This alchemical process is the tummo of the Tibetan Buddhists, the kundalini of the Hindus, the neidan of the Daoists, the sacred marriage of mystical Christianity, and the whole process of medieval alchemists. This final result, the unified light atom, may be analogous to, or even identical with, the recently discovered pentaquark—five quarks held together by some unknown matrix, a seemingly perfect vehicle for non-corporeal consciousness.


Chakra diagram from an old Hindu manuscript,. Image courtesy of the author

While the exact physics of this form is not yet understood, what we do know is that it co-exists with the physical form. Attaining a working Light Body does not supersede or somehow displace the physical form. But at death, when the organism built of proteins, fluids, fats, starches, and minerals becomes inert matter and is no longer a vehicle for life, the so-called Light Body or Rainbow Body bursts forth. Sometimes such fortunate beings dissolve into pure light, showing that the physical form was a mere holographic representation—light simulating solid matter. At other times the human form shrinks down to the size of a small child, as the existing percentage of pure five-element luminosity merges and pervades open space. And at other times, it is only when the body is cremated that signs of a major transformational event ripple through the whole fabric of reality, such that multiple rainbows pervade a clear sky, and other manifestations.

Living and dying into light

We can see that the process of dying and of the birth of the Light Body are, in many ways, opposite. The teachings of Vajrayana tell us that at death the elements dissolves into each other, one by one, in stages. Earth merges into Water. Water dissolves into Fire and Fire into Air. Air moves into Space and finally merges with consciousness itself. Of course there are simultaneous inner and outer experiences for the individual who is undergoing the dying process. But this about the departure of the enlivening elemental forces from the elemental shell; the break-up of the remarkable fusion of the elements and sub-elements into a vehicle of life.

For the Light Body, the process is reversed. Now they combine, fuse, merge, rather than dissolve or dissipate. The whole becomes much greater than the sum of its parts. This is echoed in the uniting of the sperm and ovum in the elemental creation of the human form. Science understands something about DNA, which dictates the making of proteins, but has no clue as to how the form or shape of a human being occurs. In the same way, there is no understanding of what force holds the pentad quark together. We can speculate that it is the famed “sixth buddha” (or sixth element of certain traditions such as Shingon and certain Shaivite lineages), which is none other than consciousness itself. This connotes a meaningful and intelligent design, a true coming together of wisdom (consciousness) and skillful means (the Five Elements) that is the basis of the Vajrayana path.

Back to the mandala

Now the well-known mandala of the Five Elements, central to the whole of Tibetan Buddhism and Hindu tantra, takes on quite a new and additional meaning. It is, in fact, not just a representation of the composition of the world, of the body, and of the mind. It is also a picture of a light atom, the final product of the extraordinary transformation that is our potential, our birthright. Detailed drawings and three-dimensional constructs of mandalas give an even deeper understanding of what the Rainbow Body particle might look like, symbolically and in terms of an as yet unknown biophysics.

In the next article we will tackle the tangled and tortuous story of the chakras as a necessary knowledge for Rainbow Body creation, and the strange fiction that pervades the Western concept of yogic energy centers.

Rainbow Body 6 – Elements High & Low

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The Missing Elemental Link

We have looked at some aspects of what modern biophysics, biophotonics, phonics (sound), and neurology can bring to our understanding of the Light Body. And the anatomical discovery of the microscopic primo vascular system and fascial tissue give us new perspectives on tsas, nadis, meridians, and the body’s energy channels in general. But at some point science is left in the dust. It cannot keep up with ancient esoteric knowledge, cooked for millennia in the crucible of direct inner experience, not intellectual theories. This particularly refers to the science of the Five Elements, and the loss and distortion of this knowledge in Western intellectual culture, medicine, and religion.

That massive misstep began long ago. While ancient Greece is taken to be the fount of our Western scientific tradition, it is also where materialism took hold fiercely, relegating scientists to the study of physical objects, functions, and ever smaller components. It’s only now, thousands of years later, that physics—and a good dose of Eastern spirituality—promise a revived view of a living, conscious universe. In nature, and in the realm of biology, it is grids of information-energy that rule supreme. Aristotle, Hippocrates, and Galen could not abide the idea of five intangible formative forces and downgraded the elements into gloppy fluids sloshing about in the spaces of the body. To be fair, this was in response to the Egyptian and Babylonian perspective, held for thousands of years, of the elements as deities. Empedocles famously called these deities “roots,” turning them into a proprietary system and establishing his place in history. But the notion of a space element, already an integral part of Pythagorean knowledge adopted from Egypt and Babylon a century before, was out in the cold. This left us with the fantasy of hydraulic fluids running the body (the humoral theory), which would pervade European and Middle Eastern thought right into the modern era—tainting astrology, alchemy, and reflected in the truncated four-part psychology of Jung, Keirsey, and Myers-Briggs. But while this artifact of materialistic thinking affected a hundred generations of beings, the true knowledge of elemental forces has remained intact, preserved in Tibetan Buddhism, Indian Shaivism, Sufic healing, and the Western gnostic lineages. That is a good thing, since they play a central role in the development of the Rainbow or Light Body. That is as it should be, since it is not myth that we are composed, mind and body, of five dynamic patterns of meaning and manifestation.

Elements, elements everywhere

In the process of creation, of manifestation, the higher is separated from the lower: gravity and levity, roots and fruits, sky and earth. Now, we reverse the process, climbing back toward union. But a simple reversion to the primordial state, to a pure unity of warm consciousness incomprehensible to our dull intellect would miss the point. Our journey as an embodied five-elemental being is not just a movement within an illusion of time and space where “nothing actually happens.” The return is everything, and in many ways the fulfillment of creation itself. It is the ouroboros, the snake that devours its own tail, the completion of the circle, which is itself empty and contains everything.

This elemental transformation process is commonly portrayed in Tibetan thangkas and repeated in almost every ritual. Within a human skull cup we visualize five kinds of meat (forbidden foods, according to Brahmanical literature) and five kinds of bodily fluids. Their specific names are not important for this discussion, but they represent the Five Elements in their female and male aspects. This mishmash is the sum of our physical existence. Here is biology; here is embodiment; here is incarnation—being in the flesh. But here is the possibility of the birth of a new, non-material form as a vehicle for a renewed consciousness. These elements will be cooked and transformed into wisdom nectar, due to the magical addition of Om Ah Hung. In Tibetan, these three syllables represent form, energy, and consciousness, although I prefer G. I. Gurdjieff’s more colorful nomenclature of “Holy Denying, Holy Affirming, and Holy Reconciling.”

Inherent fives

The reason for this transformative possibility in the first place is that the Five Elements exist within us in a multi-layered context. We contain the five material elements, but also the five original, pure Wisdom Elements, the cosmic spark as it were. The Hindu tradition describes five koshas or levels of existence, from gross to subtle, from bioenergetic to pure consciousness. The Buddhist world speaks of three bodies or kaya in a similar spectrum. The Kabbalah describes five worlds in a descending chain of existence. Whether we count in threes, fives, or beyond, the problem remains—how to unite the lower and the higher to create something altogether new. Traditionally, we perceive each of the Vajrayana chakras as the center of gravity of one of the elements—but containing an inner structure of five subelements. And so we have elements within elements waiting to be impregnated with divine radiance and to ascend to their true potential.

Cooking the elements

Back Camera

Down in the depths of our viscera, in the dark recess of the pelvic container, is a secret bindu, an energetic sphere, a “bubble” of immense import. The yogin or yogini will have long prepared, through visualization, mantra recitation, focused meditation, and the gathering of blessings, creative forces, and the richness of material, planetary, biological, and spiritual energies. Prolonged purifications have taken place, readying for this moment. Now, in this most secret of places, the alchemical process, the gestation of a new Light Body begins. Conception took place long ago, in different forms of initiations, meetings with the guru, or even a direct download from transcendent sources. Now the quickening begins, the “cooking” process. As in our visualized skull cup of animals and fluids, we ignite the fire in the belly and fan it with the reversed turbulence of our “downward descending wind.” The digestive and liver fire is harnessed, and winds are drawn down and held in the vase of the belly. The anus and lower doors are drawn up and sealed. As the sub-navel furnace blazes, the Earth mandala in the belly dissolves and is drawn upward by a natural osmosis, the force of levity, of ionic attraction, in the oldest dance in the universe.

Spiral dynamics

In this “mating” process, the flame rises up to melt the Wisdom Elements dwelling in the head. This inner heat or tummo process involves spiral energies. The heavenly father energies move clockwise, always. The earthly mother energies move in an anti-clockwise spiral, always. This is clearly seen in the way that a mantra circles within the heart, depending on whether one is self-visualized as a male or female yidam or deity form. The male mantra circles to the right and the female mantra always circles to the left (from the perspective of your own body’s orientation). Spiraling down, the flow moves through the chakras producing the “four joys.” But it spirally ascends to the head again, thrusting through the chakras with another more intense effulgence of innate bliss and the experience of pure awareness (or emptiness, as it is misleadingly called).

By this process, each element in its lower or biological state is transformed, united with and blended with its wisdom form. But what is very surprising here is that, in the Vajrayana tradition, the story somehow ends. We rest in this new state of unfabricated being-knowing, merging it with various aspects of mundane existence, including arising thoughts and feelings and experiences. All is painted with a new brush. The “doors of perception” are cleansed in a utopian brave new world of consciousness.

Beginning, not ending

But the journey is far from over. What has been described above in traditional terms involves a massive movement within the water-based electron grid of cells and interstitial tissue. It is a volcanic eruption and lava flow of the packets of massed biophotons from the cerebrospinal fluid and brain’s ventricles. We have every reason to understand that photons are the vehicles of consciousness—or that consciousness is an intrinsic quality of photons. And we have clear indications that the structured water in cells, tissues, and blood is the electron-source of prana or lūng itself. As a result of this co-mingling of side-to-side, front-to-back, and finally top-and-bottom, the Light Body begins to form in earnest. Each of the elemental chakras is now part of the Rainbow anatomy containing a mandala of subelements brimming with pristine Wisdom Element force. Channels, energy, and consciousness—tsa, lūng, and tiglé—are all benefactors of the primary template of all things: the Five Elements known as Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space.

In part seven, we will look more closely at the nature of prana, as well as the strangely overlooked reason why Vajrayana has two systems of chakras.

Rainbow Body 5 – Uniting Sky & Earth

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Colorful Buddha

Further Union

In our continued investigation of the process of inner union, we have looked at the meaning and practice of uniting our left and right sides. These could be expressed as our male-female polarity or rationality and intuition. We also began to examine the union of our upper and lower poles, the literal unity of heaven and earth, spirituality and embodiment, mind and body, depending on nomenclature or tradition. Thus we have spoken of two dimensions of top to bottom and side to side. But beyond the vertical and horizontal, our three dimensional being also has an “anterior-posterior” reality, a front to back. Our side to side polarity is fairly symmetrical and complementary. Our vertical polarity is about two radically different poles, but that are anatomical variations on the same theme. Our upper limbs and lower limbs, their bones and muscles, are different versions of a pattern, one designed for maximum stability and locomotion (our legs), the other made for flexibility and extremely fine motor skills.

There are many other correlations in internal organs, with the heart at the center of the upright span. Plants are quite different, with root and flowering tops not being at all analogies of each other. When it comes to our front-back polarity, the differences are not variations on a theme like either the right-left or up-down contrasts. They do not reflect each other, mirror-like. The back of the head really is the back, and the front the front. All sense organs face forward, even though we like to think that some people seem to have “eyes in the back of their heads.” The heel and the toe move in one direction and were designed for a single orientation. We may come to understand why this is so by looking at the union that is necessary between the two.

Back to Front

In the transformative methods of Chinese qi gong practice, the “back-to-front” union is accomplished through the important “microcosmic orbit.” Visualized energy is sent down through the front meridians of the body, and then up through the back meridian, through the brain, across the bridge formed by pressing the tongue against the palate—and down the front again. The benefits of this technique are enormous, both in terms of overall vitality and as a requirement for later transformations. In Vajrayana, this process takes place during the visualizations of karmamudra, where there is a real or imaged sexual union and energy flow between lovers. The circular motion is the same, though the location of the visualized “loop” moves forward six to ten inches. In karmamudra, the forward flow is in front of one, as a real or imagined partner. The returning backward flow is not up the back, but through the central channel within the spinal cord. In a number of deity and protector practices, as well as during empowerments, the flow of mantras makes a similar circuit. In this case, the deity is in the sky, far in front of our own form. Now the energy must fly through the air before re-entering oneself. Also, the direction of the flow can go either way, forward or reverse. Mantra chains enter our mouths and circulate down into our heart or navel during empowerments. In certain meditation practices they will travel to the navel plexus of the deity, up through their heart and back out of their mouth. It is an extraordinary process of spiritual transmission, exchange, and unification itself.

In all of these cases, this front-back integration is a profound process with many symbolic and actual meanings. Most commonly spoken of is the union of self and other, of inner and outer worlds. This really means the coming together of awareness (the self) with the experienced phenomena. This dual-worldly integration is also called the union of skillful means (Tib: thab) and wisdom (sherab). Vajrayana tells us that this is the most basic error of pure awareness: to split experience and experiencer into “it” and “I.” This turns pure knowingness (rigpa) into ignorance or mistaken, illusory experience (ma-rigpa). It is where all the trouble of experiencing oneself as an actor in the world, a “stranger in a strange land,” begins.

Past & Present

Our back is where we have been, not where we are going. It is the past, while our front is the future. In the middle, we are meant to be fully present. We actually lie on our backs to let go of our intellectual experience and sink into imaginal and pre-verbal realms. This union is the synchronizing of the unconscious and conscious, but also the coming in of life energy (up the back) and manifesting that energy into the world. This process helps one live in both those worlds, either of which alone can consume one, preventing true liberation.

Conscious and Unconscious

Another clear division between our front and back haves, is that in the person facing you “what you see is what you get.” Facial expressions, the depth and connection of the eyes, the forward gestures, all have to do with a full presentation of the person. Of course there is much unseen and unknown, and that is precisely what is “behind the eyes.” The back is tantamount to the interior, the unknown or unknowable, the subconscious (a theoretical construct) or the unconscious. Our back is what even we don’t know about ourselves, or what is creeping up on us. Integrating back and front is a reconnection of biology and psychology, of something primal and mechanical with something very advanced and aware. Small wonder that the practice of microcosmic orbit or karmamudra has a strong sexual connection. This too is the ultimate union of unconscious or preconscious being, pure awareness, with the mundane intellectual version of life.

Within the Central Channel

The yogic practitioner has gone to great efforts to guide the body’s energies toward the center, having corralled, controlled, and forced them to enter into the core pillar of the energetic pathway called the central or middle channel (Uma). This is where union can take place. It is possible to enter the central channel through other means, and specifically through other chakras. For example, meditation on symbols, sounds, or feelings of love and devotion in the heart charka have been used by Christian, Sufic, Hindu, and Buddhist meditators for millennia. However, meditators can get into trouble if energies become stuck in the head, heart, or throat charkas, or if they are too forcibly engaged. The abdomen tends to be the most robust and safe area to secure entry.

The Lower Gate

The Tradition

Every spiritual tradition, and many related health systems, recognize the navel area to be a special accumulator of energy, and indeed a source of the life force itself. In Japan, it is called the hara and is considered the source of vitality and physical prowess that is also central to the practice of martial arts. In Tibetan Buddhism, it is known as the emanation wheel or chakra (trulpai khorlo). It is taught that this is the place from which the whole of creation or phenomenal appearances arises. This is graphically portrayed in the Shangpa practice of illusory body, where one visualizes all beings of the six realms as emanating from that center.

The navel is the center of gravity of the upright human form, the balance point of posture and weight distribution. It is a hub of another magnificent polarity in the body—the two parts of the autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic is the “yang” or masculine functions of reaction, drive, defense, and attack. The opposing parasympathetic is the “yin,” passive, nutritive, nourishing, relaxing. These are constantly working in tandem to maintain the appropriate tone for whatever is going on in our body and mind, controlling respiration, digestion, cardiac function, blood flow, and so on. These nerves pervade the entire body, from the smallest of blood vessels to the contraction of the large muscles of the colon, bladder, and heart. We have already seen the sympathetic chain on the right and left sides of the spine. Here in the lower abdomen, the mesenteric plexus is part of the “second brain,” the massive neuronal matrix that lives in and around the gut.

The Missing Alchemy

Once at the threshold of the central channel, the journey toward the upper pole, the apex or nadir, must take place for ultimate union. But how can this be carried out, especially since Western science truly abandons us at this juncture. To understand the next phase, we rely instead on ancient science. And that leads us to the Five Elements—earth, water, fire, air, and space—the basic substrata from which all is created. It is in the crucible of their transformative powers that we can emulate death and have our poles give birth to a new cosmic self, where the word “self” losings its usual meaning. And this is what we undertake in next month’s article.

Rainbow Body 4 – Uniting Male & Female

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Top to Bottom

The final consummation of the human journey—the ultimate fulfillment of our possibility of finding this precious human birth—is the Light Body. Its birth and maturation requires many steps, but its final stage is a process of union, and that means the union of opposites. If we look at our inner and outer worlds, we see that we are a striking study in contrasts and polarities. It is small wonder that we suffer, caught between seemingly irreconcilable opposites. Male-female within the same body, gravity and levity, right and left paths, earth and air, fire and water, active and passive, advancing and retreating, falling down and rising up. Even the most casual observation of a life well-lived shows a dramatic flux in events, inner experiences, feelings, and thoughts. At times we go in one direction and a few years later our path impels us to make a 180-degree turn, forcing one to re-evaluate priorities, goals, and undertakings. This is the nature of samsara, of duality. This well known split is not simply brushed away by talk of “non-dual” states of mind. Until the duality in our body, in our energy fields, and in our cellular structure itself changes, it is all just smoke and mirrors. Here we look at some of the ways in which this union is achieved, while translating these traditional descriptions into a modern idiom that strikes closer to home.

Side by side

The Tradition

The first polarity that must be resolved is our right-left reality. Without a discussion of the often misrepresented idea of the right intuitive brain and the left logical brain, traditional tantric anatomy makes it clear that our right and left channels, branching from the nostrils down into the lower abdomen, represent a masculine and feminine energy system. This has nothing to do with “gender” as we define it socially or even medically. But just as it is a feature of plants, birds, and bees, it is an essential feature of esoteric anatomy. This hoped-for union is portrayed clearly in Buddhist iconography of the internal channels, as well as the yab-yum or male-female in orgasmic embrace that is present in various deity thangkas. But it is also overtly shown in Western alchemical writings, with a half male, half female figure, as well as the classic Indian representation of the Shiva-Shakti half-and-half body. Many other traditions, including the Christian demonstrate this in works of art, architecture and literature, where its real import is often hidden from the uninitiated. Right-handed and left-handed actions and connotations pervade every culture, even influencing our anatomical nomenclature, the right side being “dextra” as in dexterous, and the left “sinistre” as in passive, hidden.

While a right-left union could take place in many ways, in Vajrayana it is most clearly expressed in the practice of tsa-lung, of working with the energy channels and the vital energies that surge through them. Through visualization and breath control, as well as yogic “magical movements” or trul-kor, these energies are forced down through the side channels to meet below the navel. The right channel, in both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, is the solar (Skt: ida or Tib: roma). The left channel is considered lunar (Skt: pingala or Tib: kyangma). Here we have a strong male-female sense. The Sun energy is forever linked to the concept of the drive and focus of the male archetype. The cool and nurturing female archetype is forever lunar. In Vajrayana this split is also designated as skillful means (tab) and wisdom (sherab), or being in the world versus knowing what is beyond appearances. The union must take place somewhere neutral to these two, or even to the place that unites them. And that is the central channel (Skt: shushumna or Tib: uma), the region of undivided consciousness and luminosity.

This merging requires a number of steps, not only to prepare these three channels, but to bring the entire body on board with the transformation. Channels must be stretched, straightened, and purified, while energies must be condensed and accumulated. Physical yoga accomplishes a number of these, as do a variety of breath practices, such as alternate nostril breathing. The Light Body adept will have already spent years on visualizations, mantras, and work with chakras to bring the biological physical form and bioenergetic subtle body up to par.

Daoist practice has a virtually identical process, with its own unique nomenclature, and indeed a far more detailed and complex bioenergy theory and anatomy. Qigong is largely involved with the preliminary clearing and charging up process, as opposed to neigong or neidan, which is the actual alchemy of change or stage of union. The neidan tu is a complex diagram of the human body as a landscape, with waterwheel, rivers, and furnace, and other symbols, which mirrors more diagrammatic portrayals in the Tibetan and Shaivite systems of channels and chakras.

The two sides of our energy could be joined in the central channel through any chakra, and through various means. There are fast and slow, gentle and intense methods. The most rapid and forceful occurs in the navel area, emanation chakra of Buddhism or lower Dantien of Daoist nomenclature. When that union happens, we begin to unite and resolve our own male-female polarity and its inherently conflicted state.

The Science

Anatomically, the prime candidate for the central channel is a small fluid-filled tube at the very center of the bundle of nerve tracts known as the spinal cord. It may also be within the microscopic primo vascular system vessels that we know is all around the cord. The Shaivite system actually describes a number of parts of the central channel, corresponding to the sensory and motor tracks of the spinal cord, the choroid or circulatory layer, and the cerebrospinal canal itself. The linings of the channel and the sheaths around the cord also have conductive properties that contribute to this complex pathway. The cerebrospinal fluid flowing in the cord has extraordinary properties, as a carrier of biophotons and the assortment of neurotransmitters and hormones that it picks up and circulates in the four ventricles of the brain.

The right and left channels should be the anatomical equivalent of the right and left sympathetic chains. From a Western physiology perspective this is our “fight or flight” system that regulates all organs and opposes the parasympathetic system originating in the brain (vagus nerve) and sacrum. Even though there are intricate ways in which these systems interact with the nervous system and brain areas, there is no known division into right and left function in Western medicine as there is on the brain level. And the idea of breathing energies into these channels still faces a huge gap in our understanding of Eastern spiritual knowledge and Western anatomical and physiological knowledge. But certainly, where the mind is focused there is an increase in blood flow, metabolic activity and biophoton production.

But in Vajrayana, the side-to-side union moves directly into the next phase, which is the most profound of all—top and bottom. This process is analogous to the conjoining of the DNA from the male and female seed. In our current state, one could say that this body is in a perpetual state of meiosis. This is the kind of cell division that happens in our sex cells (sperm and egg). Generative cells split in such a way that each has half of the original DNA, so that half of a child’s chromosomes (23 pairs or a haploid) come from the father, and half (23 pairs) from the mother—making our full DNA complement of 46 pairs of chromosomes. In tantric science, this “father” principle or haploid resides in the head, while the “mother” principle dwells in the pelvis. They will only meet again at death—or if we become enlightened in this very life.

The top-bottom union (or re-union) is the essential process of the well known Vajrayana method of called tummo (literally, the fierce mother), and closely allied to both Hindu kundalini and Daoist neidan. Widely taught in the West and the subject of a number of English books, tummo’s origin is in the tantra of the motherland of India, mainly through the scholar-yogi Naropa and female adept Niguma. This is a remarkable “cooking” process that forces a meeting of our upper and lower poles prematurely, either creating a new self within us, or uncreating us, depending on your viewpoint. Here the white crystalline father seed in the head and the female red seed in the pelvis are easily confused with the elements of fire and water. But the symbology here points to something notably different. It is not merely a conjoining of hot and cold, or even male and female. Indeed, the female seed is not fiery, but considered our lifeblood. The heat comes from drawing in energies from other vital channels and forces.

The meaning of this uniting of polarities is best understood by another symbol, one that plays a part in tummo as well, visualized as a base for the pelvic fire. It is the double triangle or dharmadayo, the “origin of all phenomena,” also known as the Star of David in other traditions. It is of course prominent in Hindu traditions and indeed is extremely ancient. If we look at two merging triangles, the lower has a wide base that spreads out upon the earth, infinitely. However, its apex ends in a single point in the brain. The upper triangle is exactly the opposite. It holds a point in the pelvis, barely incarnated. But it then spreads upward to the infinite cosmos. So, this merging of creation and source, evolution and devolution.

This is the classic possible meeting of Heaven and Earth, the most basic symbol of humanity’s struggle to balance their tenuous existence on the physical plane. It appears in indigenous cultures of South America, in ancient Babylon, in the religion of Zoroaster, the pyramids of Egypt and Sumer, and in various motifs and art of the Christian West. But it is a union of the internal heaven and earth, not one of a utopia on earth. It is really the union of pure consciousness and phenomena, the appearance or experience of form.

Connecting More Dots

There is still more to unite. Less commonly talked about, the back and front must be brought into balance and resolved, that basic polarity that comes from standing upright, and moving in one direction in space—and in time. And there is the actual cataclysmic union within the central channel. To understand that process we need to expand on what goes on in the navel chakra, the hara, the lower dantien to allow entry into the holy mountain, the citadel, the tree of life, the paradise of myths and dreams. Next month we will look at how that atomic reaction might happen, and what tradition and science polarity between can tell us to make the union of heaven and earth more accessible.

Further reading

Baker, Ian. (2019). Tibetan Yoga: Principles and Practices. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions.

Chenagtsang, N. (2018). Karmamudra: The Yoga of Bliss. Portland, OR: Sky Press.

Dixon, J. (2008). The Biology of Kundalini: Exploring the Fire of Life. Lulu Publishing.

Dorje, Rangjung. 2014. Trans. by E. Callahan. The Profound Inner Principles. Boston: Snow Lion.

Mitchell, D. (2016). White Moon on the Mountain Peak: The Alchemical Firing Process of Nei Dan. London: Singing Dragon.

Mitchell, D. (2014). The Four Dragons: Clearing the Meridians and Awakening the Spine in Nei Gong. London: Singing Dragon.

Wallis, C. (2012). Tantra Illuminated: The Philosophy, History, and Practice of a Timeless Tradition. Second edition. San Rafael, CA: Matamuyura Press.

White, D. G. (1998). The Alchemical Body: Siddha Traditions in Medieval India. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Yeshe, L. T. 1998. The Bliss of Inner Fire: Heart Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa. Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications.

Rainbow Body 3 – Light Body Myths

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The possibility of developing a Rainbow or  Light Body from our physical organism is a profoundly important ancient truth that has come out of hiding in recent decades. This biophotonic structure can survive beyond the material organism, acting as a vehicle for a transformed consciousness—a luminous sphere of existence. But in the short time that it has come onto the radar, it has acquired a share of mistaken views. While there may not be any definitive cross-cultural compendium on the ins and outs of Light Body, some things can be stated clearly. And since modern biophysics is only now catching up with the reality of a luminous body, we must rely on the extensive historical evidence, written records, and teachings of past masters of Light Body technology. Based on that knowledge, we can look at seven current myths around the reality, development, and nurturing of Light Body.

1. It doesn’t exist

For reasons both mundane and profound, many people have never heard of a Light Body, or that it is part of our human potential. Others, faced with this remarkable new information for the first time, may experience an inner resistance coming from religious, logical, social, scientific, or cultural concerns. It is a radical piece of knowledge after all, and one that may threaten one’s entire worldview or alter the course of one’s life. We all know that fixed belief systems can can be an absolute barrier to new information, even in the face of convincing evidence. Within the Vajrayana tradition, for example, that evidence is clear. There a dozens of well-documented cases of Light Body development over the last 50 years, and thousands of stories of such attainment over a dozen centuries. The cross cultural and panglobal occurrence is further confirmation, as Rainbow Body tales fill the annals of Christian, Sufic, Daoist, Shaivite, and other spiritual traditions.

2. You already have one

Just open your browser. A search for Light Body reveals a confusing and often bizarre array of websites, videos, and associated persons who talk about “activating” an already present Light Body. It is there for the taking. All that is needed is the right method to “graduate from the human condition” to quote one front page YouTube video. Such teachings use all the appropriate buzzwords, including prana, breathing, high vibrations, bipohotons, and scores of others. Generally, the idea is based on “ascension,” an originally Christian concept that has been equally co-opted in the soup of ideas called New Age. Visualizations, sacred geometry, mantra, and various other forms of meditation are all valid in the right context. Creating a salad of many pieces taken from ancient Eastern, Shamanic, and Western traditions is an interesting exercise in eclecticism. The problem is that, from the practical perspective, it is a false promise.

But how to discriminate between well-meaning but impotent teachers and imaginary paths, versus real schools of inner development?  Knowledge is a good first defense. A good litmus test is simply a broad study of the philosophy, religion, and spiritual trainings that have persisted for millennia. It is clear that nowhere are there indications of a “quick fix” to the problem of the human condition or the possibility of illumination. On the contrary, according to meditative and contemplative traditions of India, China, Tibet, and the Christian West, it is a life-long, difficult climb. Indeed, according to reincarnational traditions, it is likely to take innumerable lifetimes to accomplish. Also, nowhere do we see “results” from these methods. On the contrary, most who claim to be teachers of Light Body are dimmer than a 25 watt light bulb! Nor are their students disappearing into luminous spheres at last count. This is not an entirely innocuous kind of misdirection. Misleading people from the doing work that will bring gradual, but real results is considered to be the most serious spiritual “crime” one can commit. But from our own part, abandoning naivety and gullibility, and learning discriminating wisdom is a huge task, but one that each of us must undertake.

3. Only (substitute your religion) can obtain this

During a recent conference at which I gave a presentation, I discussed the worldwide history of the Light Body. I was surprised when a well-known Tibetan teacher objected to this panglobal approach, intimating that this was an exclusive possibility of Tibetan Buddhist lamas. Like every other field of expertise, there tends to be bias. Whether it is a sports team, a lifestyle, a health regimen, or a fashion trend, our preferences color one’s perception. But when it comes to issues that affect the whole of humanity, clearly no one culture has an exclusive right to inner transformation. Again, the evidence is present in the literature, art, and living traditions of Rainbow Body formation in cultures around the world. Anyone, anywhere is a candidate, if they understand the goal and get to work on it. In Buddhism, recognizing this extraordinary possibility is what turns a mundane existence into a  “precious human birth.”

4. Light Body is “all or nothing”

This is a strange one. Spiritual traditions, such as the Tibetan Vajrayana, speak about and explain the necessary methods to progress along the path to Rainbow or Light body. But there is very little (if any) discussion about what happens along the road to that lofty goal. The point is that there is a progression, actually a growth and accumulation of change within the bio-energetic, cellular and atomic structure of the individual. This is one of the main reasons that it takes, at the best of times, several decades to complete the process. Some types of progress can be lost over time if they are not nurtured. Yet if a certain threshold of development is reached, permanent changes in an individual’s biofield structure can occur. Such changes will be accompanied by a variety of new functions and experiences. In Sanskrit these are called siddhis, and include what we normally call clairvoyance, astral projection, and fresh insights into the nature of life and mind itself. Perceiving one’s own or another’s stage or state, but the oral tradition and a living teacher can make such assessments. In other words, Light Body is like any other organic growth process. It is incremental, not like a light bulb being switched on.

5. Light Body is the answer to life’s problems

This important issue does not just relate to Light Body, but to spirituality altogether. A simple way to understand this is the profound statement: “Psychological and spiritual development are two parallel, non-intersecting lines.” Life’s problems, our stresses, anxieties, depressions, struggles, worries, weaknesses, and failings don’t magically dissolve with spiritual practices such as mantra and meditation. Spiritual development does not equal development of character or psychological health or maturity. The not uncommon occurrence of highly dysfunctional spiritual teachers (and students) should be clear enough evidence of this. Yes, mindfulness may come in handy as a form of psychological observation and insight. But it, too, can become a form of “spiritual bypassing” in which one avoids addressing the deeper issues, traumas, and behavioral patterns that have been programmed into us, or the maladaptive ways we have learned to cope. Fortunately, this problem was much greater in the East, where going into the mountains for 20 years was an option. Being in the nitty gritty of life is a more effective way to create Light Body, while simultaneously developing the character strengths, compassion, open heart, tolerance, and true grit that is required for a successful and fulfilling life.

6. Results are forthcoming . . .

Most practitioners learn the hard way that this process takes time. Not a weekend seminar, not an online summit, but prolonged and often difficult work. At the same time, this may be the easiest way to spot false paths to Light Body and misleading spiritual roads in general. To paraphrase the great Western mystic, G. I. Gurdjieff, it takes at least 10 years to truly master any language or to learn an art or skill fully, such as being a professional cook, designer, carpenter, and so on. And it requires at least double that to gain expertise in scientific or professional fields, such as a researcher, doctor, lawyer, financier, psychologist, and so on. Could gaining mastery over the energy body and achieving the highest goal attainable for a human being take any less than the devotion of a lifetime?

7. It’s impossible—not!

At this point we seem to have painted a picture of an arduous slog up a lonely mountain. But if we leave it there, we are in danger of perpetuating our own myth—that Light Body is only attainable by spending the rest of this century in a Himalayan cave. Not to worry. Although the signs and expression of progress toward Light Body may not always apparent, things do move along. In this natural progression, there is no rigid guidebook by which we can keep score. Moreover, there are many past stories of those who seems quite ordinary, humble, or inconsequential individuals who attained luminosity at death, leaving only their clothes, hair, and fingernails behind. Many others achieve their full fruition only after death, in the bardo state beyond this life. There is a point during one’s development when one crosses a point of no return, after which one’s light development is not lost, but carries over into the next life. But more than this, because of infallible karma, no sincere effort is lost during our time here. Slowly and steadily, with effort, our cellular structure changes, our brilliance accumulates and becomes a fit vehicle for a much greater consciousness. It is just a question of taking the next step, one day at a time . . .

Rainbow Body 2 – The Light Body Template

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Science & the Rainbow Body — Part 2


The human body-mind complex has many hidden secrets, some literally in plain view. While we are all subject to internal chatter and verbal “thinking,” about two-thirds of us experience images along with thoughts. And for about half of these folks, this is a dominant part of their thought process. When you say apple, they see an apple in that famous “mind’s eye.” Inner pictures can appear when we sleep, recall someone, feel love or fear or hope for a better future. Externally, we are bombarded with images and symbols that carry complex layers of meaning, values, and information. Images are typically central to cultural ideologies, norms, and belief systems. And there is no more powerful medium than visual symbols to influence or manipulate others, as modern advertisers and politicians are acutely aware. Beyond the imaginal pictures that hold people together and inspire them, they can also be a portal to greater vision and evolution. But what if this powerful picture-making ability could be harnessed toward one’s personal growth and spiritual transformation? Surprisingly, how or where we see things in our mind is not at all clear to neuroscientists, though the modern science of biophysics and biophotons begins to give new insights into both this process and our personal evolution.

Guided imagery and creative visualization

Those images that just pop up in our head, or are evoked in us, are appropriately called involuntary visualizations. On the other hand, we have voluntary visualizations, typically part of any creative or inventive process. Since time immemorial, healers, shamans, and mystics have made use of intentional images as part of coping, healing, and inner development. Modern practitioners of mind and body have also not missed the opportunity to use these readily available resources. Within the realm of psychology, visualization has been with us since Freud. Today guided imagery is a common therapeutic tool for health professionals or coaches who integrate mindfulness-based practices in their work. But it is also an important part of cognitive therapy—the backbone of modern psychological practice. Of course, it did not take long for these methods to break out of the therapy box and enter the vast marketplace of self-help books. Here it has taken on the user-friendly name of creative visualization. And so today you will find hundreds of imagery methods applied to every conceivable condition, including weight loss, depression, addiction, or getting rich quickly. Visualization is respected as a valuable tool in everything from cancer therapy to sports, the creative arts, optimizing performance, and improving relationships. However, the material world is notorious for not bending to our will. The belief that mere wishes can change everything outside ourselves is pure folly—as in the Law of Attraction or that perennial self-help bestseller, Think and Grow Rich.

The Yidam Paradigm

Turning to spiritual traditions, both East and West, we find that the gods, the higher powers, the objects of veneration and supplication, are often seen in the mind’s eye, but outside of oneself. The great masters of Vajrayana, arising out of the cosmic mist of northern India from 400–1200 CE, brought with them the promise of a vertical but strenuous path to enlightenment. Many of these great adepts and wandering ascetics, including the famed 84 mahasiddhas, are still revered as the pioneers of current lineages of Vajrayana Buddhism. At the core of their profound methods is a way of turning reality on its head, not just by seeing the world differently, but by perceiving oneself in a wholly new way. Suddenly the visualization includes oneself, not some outer paradise or ideal. In this method, one’s body, speech, mind, one’s very nature, is seen as an already enlightened, radiant being of light, along with a corresponding level of consciousness. This is Creation Phase practice, a dramatic approach in which one leaves behind ordinary appearances. That mundane personal reality that we escape is considered a hodgepodge of heredity, karma, happenstance, and the accumulated borrowings and leavings of thousands of years of cultural and historical values, beliefs, and mistaken views. Now, in a careful series of meditative steps, one is reborn anew, in a form, in a frequency, and in an identity that is perfected, is fully enlightened. Yet the student is continually reminded that this being is not solid, but a holographic being of translucent and radiant light.

Many deities can be used for our new “self,” each with their own very specific form, characteristics, dress, and “personality.” Collectively called yidam (literally a mind-bond), today there are many available books, both ancient and modern, that detail these meditation methods and the philosophy behind the process. On one hand we are just establishing a new habit, a habitual form and identity that can supersede our normal, ultimately false “me.” If practiced long enough, instead of myself playing at being the deity, I may become the deity who plays at being my old self. But we are also working on a physical transformation and the development of the Light or Rainbow Body, which transcends the physical form, both in life and after death. Can contemporary biophysics brings new understandings to this mysterious transformative approach?

The Light Body that Jack built

The Raw Materials of Transformation

Building a Light Body through the Creation Phase is analogous to any other form of growth. Think about building a house. We need raw materials, we need workers, but we also need a blueprint. And wait, we need one more thing: we need financing! As far as building materials, it is clear that our normal level of energy is inadequate for such a monumental undertaking. We normally manufacture enough biochemical, hormonal, electrical, photonic, and magnetic energies for our daily grind—but that’s about all. To begin to build a storehouse, we are advised to halt the tremendous dissipation of energy spent in excess body tension, restlessness, worry, unnecessary speech, sensory overload, and distractions of all kinds. Traditionally, a retreat situation is seen as a solution to some of these energy leaks. But just simplifying our debilitating lifestyles can go a long way toward inner “energy efficiency.” On an active level, mental focus and relaxation (they are not opposites) are powerful allies. The whole field of specialized breathing exercises (pranayama), physical yogas, and just sitting still on a cushion, also help accumulate the excess energy we need for inner transformation. Traditionally, this is packed into the abdomen, not only in Buddhism, but in Shaivite and Daoist spiritual training. Interestingly, the latter, in the form of qi gong and nei dan, has far more sophisticated methods of energy conservation than Buddhism, and would benefit any modern practitioner.

Workers

We also need workers to build our new Light Body structure. Here, Creation Stage methods specialize in three areas: creating images within our mind (photonic methods), mantra recitation (phonic methods), and working with channels and energies (tsa lung). While a fair bit of Western research has been done into the effects of meditation and mantras, this has focused on brain chemistry, plasticity, and other neurological shifts. Surprisingly little has been directed into seeing what happens to biophotons, bioelectricity, and biomagnetism, or within the subtle channels of the body, the primary vascular system (PVS). What we do know is that every time we visualize light, we create photons in the brain. Meditating on areas of the body further stimulates this kind of production, with higher levels of photon activity in the DNA of cells. Also, our microchannels (the PVS) are like fiber-optics, delivering packets of light (photons) to the brain, where it accumulates in the ventricles, filled with energized and micro-illuminated cerebrospinal fluid. The more we visualize our entire body as a luminous being, the more intense we can surmise that this light field becomes. Added to this is the tremendous impact of sacred sound and the intonation of mantra.

In the Generation Phase, mantras are visualized as spinning in a circle within the heart (clockwise for male deities and counterclockwise for female deities). This spiral dance of sound and light always rotates around a special symbol at the hub of this wheel. This seed syllable is a form which expresses a single sound, one that resonates in the very core of consciousness. As opposed to what we might have learned in school, sound does not travel as wiggly waves, but as spherical, conical, three-dimensional forms, or, as described by John Reid, in the form of holographic bubbles. These bubbles spread from the human voice at 700 miles per hour, causing molecules to rub against each other and exciting them to generate infrared light radiation. In this way, sound creates light. Sound or phonons also imprint cell membranes, transmitting information and qualia (the smallest bytes of consciousness). Of course, science is far behind in understanding the effects and meanings of different sounds, colors, forms, and the messages they carry. So that is where ancient tantric sciences takes over, since each deity, mantra, chakra, and associated elements, have tried and true impacts on body and mind. Gradually biophysics may come closer to differentiating these forces and adding new explanations of what is known to be effective.

The Blueprint

Having light photons whizzing through our cells, and sound vibrations and biomagnetic fields encompassing the space of our form does not comprise a Light Body. We normally generate what is called coherent (in phase) light, but it is amorphous light without any real structure. What is missing is organization, a true anatomy. Higher levels of integration, structure, and hierarchies go along with a more intelligent creation, like the difference between a pile of chemicals and a cell made of those same substances. To produce an organism of light, we need a blueprint, a framework. Again the yidam principles come to our rescue, acting as a veritable template for the weaving of a Rainbow Body. We are told that if we rehearse these meditations again and again, and for many years, we can expect to arise in the after-death state in precisely that form. Our meditation practice has also enabled us to step into the pure consciousness that a body of photons can support. Our created form, made of shimmering light, can engage in benevolent activity toward the pieces of consciousness still caught in the mesmerizing web of materiality. But wait, we did say something about “financing” our Light Body. Space and time dictate that we leave that essential discussion for another day.

References

Archterberg, J. 2002. Imagery in Healing: Shamanism and Modern Medicine. Boston: Shambala Publishing.

Amihai, I., & Kozhevnikov, M. 2014. “Arousal vs. Relaxation: A Comparison of the Neurophysiological and Cognitive Correlates of Vajrayāna and Theravāda Meditative Practices.” PLOS ONE, 9(7): https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0102990

Ashley-Farrand, T. 1999. Healing Mantras: Using Sound Affirmations for Personal Power, Creativity, and Healing. New York: Ballantine Books.

Castro-Sánchez, P. M. 2011. “The Indian Buddhist Dhāranī: An Introduction to its History, Meanings, and Functions.” (MA dissertation). Sunderland, England: University of Sunderland.

Coward, H., & Goa, D. 2004. Mantra: Hearing the Divine in India and America. New Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass.

Dilgo Khyentse. 1992. Pure Appearance: Development and Completion Stages in Vajrayāna Practice. A. J. Palmo, Trans. Boulder: Shambhala Publications.

Gawain, S. 1978. Creative Visualization: Use the Power of Your Imagination to Create What You Want in Your Life. Berkeley: Whatever Publishing.

Guided Imagery. 28 November 2017. Wikipedia. Retrieved 13 March 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guided_imagery

Highstein, M. 2016. The Healing Waterfall: 100 Guided Imagery Scripts for Counselors, Healers & Clergy. Santa Fe: Desert Heart Multimedia.

Hill, N. 1937. Think and Grow Rich. Shippensburg, PA: Sound Wisdom.

Jamgon Kongtrul. 2014. Creation and Completion: Essential Points of Tantric Meditation. Second ed. S. Harding, Trans.. Somerville MA: Wisdom Publications.

Kozhevnikov, M., Louchakova, O., Josipovic, Z., & Motes, M. A. 2009. The Enhancement of Visuospatial Processing Efficiency Through Buddhist Deity Meditation. Psychological Science. 20(5), 645–653.

Jigmé Lingpa, Patrul Rinpoche, & Getse Mahapandita. 2007. Deity Mantra and Wisdom: Development Stage Meditation in Vajrayāna and Healing Tibetan Buddhist Tantra. Ithica, NY: Snow Lion Publications.

Linton, R. 2008. “Sound Vision: Patterns of Vibration in Sound, Symbols, and the Body.” (Unpublished master’s thesis). Wellington, New Zealand: Massey University, Institute of Communication Design.

Reid, J. S. 19 February 2017. “Rediscovering the Art and Science of Sound Therapy”. Retrieved from: http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/rediscovering-artand-science-sound-therapy/

Reid, J. S. 8 February 2018. “The Therapeutic Power of Vocal Sound”. Retrieved from http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/therapeuticpower-vocal-sound

Singer, J. 2006. Imagery in Psychotherapy. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Rainbow Body 1-The Science of Light Body

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When Science meets spirit

When Fritz-Albert Popp first discovered that all living cells emit light—biophotons—he could not have anticipated the revolution this would create in the fields of both biology and physics. Since then, there has been a tidal wave of research and the emergence of the pioneering fields of biophotonic diagnosis,  biophysics, biofields and biomagnetism. Yet one of the greatest implications of this body of knowledge is a convergence of science and spirituality that was previously not possible. This directly impacts our understanding and practice of Vajrayana, and especially the enigmatic phenomena of the Light or Rainbow Body (Tibetan: ö-lu and ja-lu). Indeed, the  entire corpus of these ancient teachings moves towards LB creation, which we  define here as a separate, non-physical bioenergetic or photonic form. It is a light structure that can survive beyond the material organism, acting as a vehicle for a transformed consciousness—a luminous sphere of existence.

Light Body Gets Real

Recently this ultimate goal of the human state, long the “holy grail” for Western Vajrayanists, has received more attention in the public arena. A number of books have appeared validating the fact that the Rainbow Body is a real possibility, historically, and even into the modern era.  But it should be understood that this is a human potential, not restricted to any single culture or time period. Clearly it is a panglobal, transcultural reality, seen in Christian, Alchemical,  Japanese Shingon, Greek, Egyptian, Gnostic, Manichean, Kaballistic and Zoroastrian art and writings, that would fill many books to catalogue and compare. Some of these traditions are no longer extant, some have lost the key to their own meaning, while others have kept their secrets almost too well hidden. At this point, the most accessible and available LB teachings are held within the various schools of Buddhist Vajrayana. These living lineages, hermetically sealed in Tibet, Bhutan and the Himalayas for a millennia, have now been disseminated across the globe. Less well studied but equally effective are the Shaivite (Hindu) and Daoist systems that also provide unique missing pieces of the grand mosaic of LB creation.

Why Science?

Having these well-worn traditional practices, designed to lead  us towards ja-lu or ö-lu, why bring in science or physics? The fact is that in spite of some fifty years of concentrated activity in the West, including multi-year retreats and high level trainings, we have not seen exclusive clubs of Light Body adepts proliferating in the West. This absence could be blamed on the still infant state of Buddhadharma in the West, on a lack of monastic facilities, on our busy lifestyles, or any number of social, psychological or cultural factors. But as I realized when I emerged from my own three-year retreat, stuffing 11th century concepts into a 20th century mind is liking putting square pegs in round holes. Even my few years sheltered from the outside world demonstrated that it is not just the content of mind that changes over time, but its very architecture (relative mind of course, not unchanging Ultimate Mind).

It is possible that what is needed is a new paradigm. It has been shown time and again that when we understand why we are performing a task, we do it better on all levels. The introduction of hard science into our way of thinking and practicing visualization, mantric sound and internal energy manipulations may be the needed game-changer. It provides a rational framework for inner training, and promotes confidence in the reality of the mythological and symbolic instructions that we have learned to follow. Not to be confused with an intellectual, distanced approach, this knowledge can  help a practitioner make the all-important intuitive, living connection with their  meditation. The secrets that biophysics has made available to us are, in fact, messages of awakening.

In this and future articles we will touch on some of the incredible recent discoveries and how they might change and deepen our view and practice. A new paradigm may help resolve unanswered questions and ultimately aid in the creation of future Rainbows.

The Light of Life

Photons, the wave-particle nature of light, include all seven sections of the electromagnetic spectrum, including X-ray, gamma rays, radio waves and so on. In the body though, so called biophotons emitted by every cell are in the visible spectrum of light, though a thousand times too faint for our naked eye. For a photon, there is no time, and no distance, already making them enticing candidates for the properties of a Rainbow Body. Stored in the cell’s DNA, these messengers are the main communication network of body, connecting the cell parts, tissues and organs. Already they have been shown to regulate growth, differentiation and regeneration  of cells. Coherent biophoton fields could prove to be the basis of memory and even consciousness, as suggested many years ago by Karl Pribram, David Bohm and others.

The Light of the Brain

Biophotons are important carriers of information in the brain, along with well-known electrochemical signals—neurotransmitters and nerve impulses (waves of ionic depolarization). These biophotons cover the whole range of light, from near infrared to near ultraviolet, though we don’t yet know what different frequencies or colors of light mean for brain neurons. Remarkably though, the majority are towards the red end of the spectrum. In cross-species comparisons, we see that the more red-shift in biophoton emissions, the smarter the species. From rats to monkeys to humans, the more advanced animals produce more near infrared biophotons. The implications for meditation are profound, since major methods of light body formation in Tibetan, Daoist and Yogic traditions involves the Fire Element, solar energy and visualizing inner fire that arises from the gut and travel upwards and through the body’s energy channels.

It is also thought that quantum (atomic sized) information travels as coherent light along the fatty coatings of the nerves (the myelin sheath). This would make for a truly fiber-optic-like system of wiring within the brain. Photons also travel in the cerebrospinal fluid (CFS), that magic elixir that bathes the brain, and accumulates in its fluid-filled hollows, the ventricles. Here the fluid and photons connect to the pineal (third eye) and other nearby structures, where they interface with secretions like melatonin and DMT (the spirit molecule). This whole set-up is the perfect milieu for light-based consciousness, and a number of exciting models have evolved form this. The quantum hologram theory  is particularly enticing because is depicts as merely a local connection point linked to vast network of awareness that exists, simultaneous with light, outside the physical body. Naturally practitioners will reflect on the familiar human skull cup filled with nectar, so prominent in Vajrayana ritual.

Contagious Photons

A striking fact is that living things communicate with each other through photon emission. Plants can make other plants grow. Animals can induce sickness in others nearby, not through physical touch or contagion, but simply through photon radiation. Healers impact others through this same energy and information transfer.

Even more profound, it has been known for decades that there is something called “quantum entanglement” that applies to atomic particles, including photons. Once two or more photons are in resonance with each other, or “entangled,” they stay that way regardless of space or time. It is now shown that this applies to living beings as well. Imagine what this means in terms of the spiritual teacher-disciple relationship. One would also expect this phenomena to be implicit in empowerments and spiritual transmissions. It is also a biophysics explanation of why samaya—keeping these spiritual connections intact—is so important. A student who acts badly impacts the teacher in certain ways, as does the bad acting teacher. And both influence the entire intricate structure of the spiritual construct, for good or ill. Instead of the old “watch your P’s and Q’s” we need to mind our photons! This very much relates to the important Tibetan concept of “tendrel” or interdependent relationship in general.

An equally remarkable development is the re-discovery of the Primo Vascular System (PVS),  after being overlooked for 30 years. This system of microscopic channels, different than the lymph, blood and nervous tissues, qualifies as the actual tsa, nadi, or psychic channels utilized  within Vajrayana,  yogic and Daoist traditions of meditation. The microscopic PVS is everywhere, even following the course of nerves and the brain itself.

The Future of Photons

While we are endowed with a “free” physical form, a Light Body is not a given. It is only a potential, for those dedicated enough, and astute enough to realize its worth. Then it may truly become the “precious human birth” of Buddhist lore. Fortunately, we are equipped for this eventuality. Biophotonic research proves that if we simply visualize light, we create bursts of  photon emissions in the brain. We now have ways to measure the biophoton activity inside the body, but no studies have been done on someone in the very process of illumination and dissolution of their material body into ephemeral light. I invite you to be the first volunteer! For now, we can look at  the brilliant paths towards Rainbow that the great masters of the past have developed, and in what way biophysics can help us on this unique journey.

Coming Next....

In future articles we will talk about methods of Rainbow Body building and what biophysics can do to deepen our understanding. This will include:

  • Creation Stage: How yidam or deity meditation provides the structured template or framework for Light Body formation.
  • The extraordinary Completion Stage methods, especially Tummo, as a photonic implosion of the upper and lower poles of the body and subsequent cellular dissolution.
  • How biophotons may help unravel the mystery of consciousness—and awakening.
  • What pure realms mean as stellar realities and abodes of the Light Body beings
  • The crucial role of the five elements and their transition to the pure five wisdoms.