Light Body 11—The Law of Three

October 12, 2020 By Asa Hershoff

Five Becomes Three

I am obsessed with the five element model, certain at my core that it is a fundamental formative principle of body, mind, world, life. But it is not the only operant system that still alludes modern science. The Law of Three also pervades our experience, and knowledge of its workings is a feature of religious, spiritual and transformative systems throughout time and place. G. I. Gurdjieff propounded this principle lucidly, naming them Holy Affirming, Holy Denying, and Holy Reconciling. In simple terms these could be thought of as active or motive, passive or inertial, and mediating or harmonizing. The are the electron, proton and neutron of the unseen world, in actuality. Note that the third force, while neither active or passive, is not neutral. It has a catalytic or unifying effect, without which those opposing forces could never produce a reaction or result. Also, these are not hierarchical in a strict sense, so various series of three’s related to ever higher levels may be something altogether different. The Buddhist three sacred bodies—Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya or cosmic, energetic/etheric and material—are examples of these kinds of stages. Neither are they a temporal sequence, such as the Hindu Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the forces of creation, maintenance and destruction. And it really won’t help us to become entangled with the mathematical properties of three, as fascinating as they are. What we are interested in is the rarely studied knowledge of these world-creating dynamics, whose traces can be seen in all deeper, esoteric transformative practices. Traditionally, it was these inner spiritual traditions that were the keepers of these truths, at a time when science was still sacred science, and “how things work” was simply mechanics. But the fact remains that three archetypal forces are always involved with the processes of both material objects and living beings.

Traditions of the Three

In some spiritual paths of old, various forces and conscious energies were personified as deities or “gods,” while traditions used symbols and technical terms to point towards these formative energies. Medieval European alchemy, based on Arabic and Persian works, portrayed the three forces as three minerals: sulfur, mercury and salt (active, resistant, reconciling). In this same tradition, the marriage or unification of the three forces were seen as sun (male), moon (female) and spirit (a cosmic bird). They are also graphically portrayed in the familiar Christian Holy Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (or Mother-Sophia, Jesus-Sophia, Spirit-Sophia of Cynthia Bourgeault). Remember, we are not speaking of the exoteric, “Wikipedia” or theological meanings of these terms, but their inner, Essene or Gnostic meaning. The Egyptian priests recognized these forces as the Osiris, Isis and Horus—though this triplet of gods also existed in several other guises depending on the epoch and region of ancient Egypt. The Vedanta of ancient India maintains the concept of the three gunas: rajas, tamas and sattvic. These can be taken as purely psychological characteristics of desire, dullness and harmonious reason. But on a deeper level, they represent the law of three. Very prominently and well known is the Daoist concept of the opposing forces of Yin and Yang and their unifying context, the Dao. We must however, focus a particularly bright light on Buddhist Vajrayana, with its practice of the mixing of these three fundamental forces within the physical organism. However, nowhere is the movement, location and characteristics of biological energy more fully discussed than in Chinese Daoism. Yet sifting through the seemingly countless lineages and styles can seem chaotic because, unlike Buddhism, there was no strict codification of teachings, as different masters in the vast land of China developed a wide range of unique schools of thought and practice. To complicate matters, it was a standard ethos to keep the inner teachings of one’s lineage under a strict wall of secrecy. However, there is agreement within Qi Gong and inner alchemy (Nei Dan) that there are two main forms of chi or energy in the body. As we can expect, one is yang and the other is yin. But as the modern Western master, Damo Mitchell explains, they can accurately be described as electric and magnetic energy, respectively. Because electrical energy (ionic depolarization and field creation) is considered yang, it is associated with the nervous system. Magnetic energy is yin in nature and associated with the breath and circulation of fluids. Here we will avoid the muddle of the difference between magnetic and electrical fields, field oscillation, how they influence and create each other and the mathematical complexities of quantum theory. They are simply quite different energetic forces and contained meanings, as observed (but not understood) by physics. In doing various spiritual practices, we accumulate, condense and spread our electro- and magnetic energies. But what is the third force needed for this alchemy? It is biophotons—carriers of consciousness itself—that is the required reconciling force to cook our inner energy concoction. These three forces—electrical, magnetic and photonic—are the primal yin-yang-dao, the active-passive-reconciling, the sulphur-mercury-salt that we see in so many traditions.

Finding the Three

While every phenomena, small and vast, takes place because of the three forces, it helps our understanding to go beyond theory and discover how they are localized in the body. Indeed, three focal areas are present in different medical and spiritual anatomy systems around the globe. In Daoism, these are the three “dantiens,” or energetic spheres, denoting the lower body, chest field and head area. This is identical to Gurdjieff’s three centers: intellectual, emotional and moving. It also corresponds to the well-known 3-chakra or three-center system of Vajrayana that we have examined many times. The white father energy, the world of form and name, lives in the head. The red mother energy or life force, dwells in the pelvis. In the center, consciousness resides in the heart, beyond either form-formless and alive-inert. There is also the three chakra expression of Om-Ah-Hung, symbolic of the form-energy and consciousness that uses the short-hand of forehead, throat and heart. These are the great forces that need to be mixed, stored, circulated, and controlled within our human form. This is one of the major purposes of mantra recitation, pranayama, breath retention, body postures and body movements (tsa lung). But what we seek is the union of the three forces, not just a build-up of the electro and magnetic fields. The practice of Tumo in Vajrayana and various internal firings of Chinese inner alchemy or Neidan, are some of complex ways in which these three become a unitary force of change.

The Fourth and Final

And yet the union of these three is not the end of the story. It is only the means towards transformation. If the three are harmonized and truly reconciled, a fourth state is produced. “The interweaving of the three produces a fourth in a new dimension.” And here is the final product in the Light Body formation process. A new “something” arises, something we can barely name. This could be called the “rainbow body cell.” It is a cosmic molecule, one built of internal bioenergies, different forms of chi or prana, the different Hyrdogens in the Gurdjieffian scale of spiritual substances. And that is why the Light Body is not built in a day. These atoms, cells, or molecules of Light Body have to be accumulated over decades, over a lifetime of work, which may run the whole gamut of meditation, yoga, mantra-recitation and energy manipulation techniques that have been perfected over the millennia. This gives the lie to the “ascensionist” school of light body wishful-thinking, or those that believe “heaven” is the reward for a life well lived. It certainly helps, but much more is required for such a gargantuan step beyond our feeble human existence. How many light-cells does it take, and what degree of luminous structuring do we need in order to have a rainbow body framework that will assure an after-life continuity? This gets into Harry Potter territory, with the “muggles” or ordinary folk on one side, and the “wizards-in-training” on the other. But such categorization was already necessary long ago. Buddhists called those who went beyond the karmic wheel, “stream-winners.” Gurdjieff spoke of “person number 4” who had developed beyond those centered on intellect, emotions or physicality (person numbers 1, 2 and 3), having harmonized their three forces such that they were connected to higher internal centers. There are obviously numerous other titles for those with a little or a major amount of attainment, from rinpoche to shaman, magi or maestro. Mostly these are ceremonial, as outer distinctions are no guarantee of inner development. But according to a private teaching (whose source cannot be attributed) the average “good” person may develop about 10-15% light-form cells within their lifetime, while it requires some 30% of this kind of transmutation in order to assure that one can continue their Light Body development into future lives. This additional requirement is significant, as it simply does not happen by itself. It is not part of Gaia, of the natural or biological world. Nature does not need this, as it loves conformity, every blade of grass like every other. It is the spiritual seeker who shatters the natural order, breaking free of the mundane, the fatal path. They go against the downstream current of life, which takes tremendous force. This is the alchemical meaning of creating gold from lead, of creating the “second Kesdjan body” of Gurdjieff, the transubstantiation of Christianity, the Vajra Body of Tibetan Buddhism, the hong hua (rainbow body) of the Daoists, and the Lataif or subtle body of the Sufis. Wherever we are in our lives, if we clear negative karma, and try to accumulate positive force through thought, word and deed, practicing earnestly in a tradition in which we have confidence, the goal will inevitably arise.

Suggestive Bibliography

Baker, Ian. Tibetan Yoga: Principles and Practice. (2019). Rochester: Inner Traditions.
Bourgeault, C. The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three: Discovering the Radical Truth at the Heart of Christianity. (2013). Boston: Shambala.
Guinness, Lowel. Rainbow Body. (2018). Chicago: Serindia Publications.
Johnson, Jerry Alan. The Hidden Teachings of Christian Mysticism (Vol. 1): Spiritual Transformation & Divine Healing. (2017). Pacific Grove: International Institute of Qi Gong.
Mitchell, Damo. White Moon on the Mountain Peak: The Alchemical Firing Process of Nei Dan. (2016). London: Singing Dragon.

Light Body 10—Energy Awareness

September 13, 2020 By Asa Hershoff

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

August 8, 2020 By Asa Hershoff

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.

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.

Light Body 8: Phase Transformations

May 8, 2020 By Asa Hershoff

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:

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

May 2, 2020 By Asa Hershoff

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.