Unraveling the Mystery of Tibetan Yoga Practices

Ancient Tibetan yoga practices are slowly being introduced in the West, but teachers remain cautious about revealing their secrets.

https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/history-of-yoga/mystic/

While the Chinese occupation of Tibet has stirred the outrage of the world’s spiritual community, it has also brought many of Tibet’s religious secrets into the light of day. Tibetan spiritual masters have carried their knowledge and traditions to the West, capturing the imaginations of mystics, seekers, and scholars everywhere. In fact, stories that began to trickle out of Tibet in the first half of the twentieth century were no less than fantastic—yogis who could generate immense inner heat, enough to survive unclothed in the harsh and freezing Tibetan landscape, who could literally open the tops of their heads and transfer consciousness to another, and who could transport themselves effortlessly across vast distances at superhuman speed.

A growing body of knowledge about Tibetan spiritual arts and beliefs, utterly magical and almost hallucinatory in their drama and complexity, has begun to articulate the meditation and visualization practices that helped generate these powers and, more importantly, the states of mind and spirit that made them possible. But there have been frustratingly few specifics about physical movement practices that are Tibetan in origin. Though tantalizing hints are woven into texts describing the meditation and Pranayama practices of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism and other Tibetan teachings, most of the references are general and vague, with reminders of the extremely clandestine nature of these practices. But movement practices do indeed exist, and in fact play an important role in the trinity of body, mind, and spirit that grounds Tibetan theology.

Until very recently, Westerners have had few clues in the search for knowledge of these Tibetan yogic paths. In the past few years, however, select teachers from two Tibetan spiritual communities now centered in the West have begun to share their long-secret, carefully guarded movement practices. Both of these practices are forms of what is called, in Tibetan, ‘phrul ‘khor, pronounced “trul-khor.” Trul-khor is the generic name for Tibetan movement practices, and today, two forms of trul-khor are being taught in the West.

The first form is called Yantra Yoga (not the yantra yoga of India, which is associated with geometric images).

The second form was brought to the West by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, a master of the Bon school of the Dzogchen meditative tradition. In 1992, he founded the Ligmincha Institute, based in Charlottesville, Virginia, with branches in Texas, California, Poland, and Mexico; its aim, according to Ligmincha literature, is to “introduce to the West the wisdom traditions of the Bonpo which are concerned with the harmonious integration of internal and external energies.” One part of these wisdom traditions is the Tibetan yoga practice that Ligmincha practitioners call Trul-Khor. (In this story, the capitalized term “Trul-Khor” refers to the movement practice taught by the Ligmincha Institute’s authorized teachers; the lowercase “trul-khor” is a generic term referring to Tibetan movement practices in general.)

Both Yantra Yoga and Trul-Khor are forms that have been kept intact through centuries, and that are designed to create a state of “natural mind” for the devoted disciple. With newly available workshops, classes, instructional videotapes, and soon-to-be-published books, Tibetan yoga is bound to attract the interest of Westerners. Those who know the practices say they hope these yogas will not be diluted or modified as hatha yog has been. Powerful and demanding when fully engaged in, these disciplines will probably never find their way into the class schedule of every health club in America. The serious seeker who finds this path, however, will discover the magic of an ancient tradition still intact.

The Magical Wheel

“Trul-khor” means “magical wheel”.

The form known as Yantra Yoga has 108 movements in all (a number considered auspicious because it echoes the 108 canonical texts of the Buddha). Yantra Yoga is one of the few trul-khor practices of the Buddhist tradition that authorized teachers will transmit, at least in part, to students who are not engaged in the traditional three-year retreat process, and who have not completed a lengthy series of prostrations, meditations, and mantras.

The Eight Movements of Yantra Yoga, a recently released videotape from Snow Lion Publications, represents a remarkable breakthrough in making Tibetan movement practice universally available. “It’s out now because Namkhai Norbu is willing for it to be made public,” says Jeff Cox, president of Snow Lion. “Norbu is concerned that people do these movements properly, and with the release of this video, I think he’s making a statement that he thinks enough people will be able to learn and benefit from it.” The eight movements demonstrated on the videotape can be considered a preparatory method for balancing one’s energy system, Cox says; a book with extensive instructions for the full system of Yantra Yoga is being translated from Tibetan by Adriano Clemente of Italy, a student of Norbu’s, and will be published by Snow Lion.

When asked to compare trul-khor to hatha yoga, Andrico notes that Tibetan yogas vary; just as there is a wide range of schools and traditions in hatha yoga, the same is true in the lineage-specific forms of trul-khor. “But to make a generalization,” Andrico says, “the principle difference is that in Yantra Yoga we have a continuous sequence of movement while in hatha yoga there is more emphasis on static forms. In Yantra Yoga, you do not stay in a position for a long time—the position is only a moment in the sequence of movement, ruled by the rhythm of the breathing and the application of one of the five kinds of breath retention.”

The Tang of Tibet

Another series of movements said to be Tibetan in origin is known as “The Five Rites of Rejuvenation” or “The Five Tibetans.” These unusual, rhythmic movements, which have circulated for decades among yogis but are finding new popularity today, have been credited with the ability to heal the body, balance the chakras, and reverse the aging process in just minutes a day. Legend says that a British explorer learned them in a Himalayan monastery from Tibetan monks who were living in good health far beyond normal lifespans. Skeptics say that no Tibetan has ever recognized these practices as authentically Tibetan, however beneficial they may be.

Is It Magic?

If it seems startling that any tradition could remain so mysterious and little-known today, when virtually every culture and every corner of the world has been explored, it may reflect the power that these practices are said to have. As mentioned above, early Western visitors to Tibet reported yogis with phenomenal, almost unbelievable, powers. While trul-khor practices may have been only a small part of the spiritual landscape—and lifetime devotion—that made these feats possible, the movements are nonetheless considered to be powerful. While holding unlimited potential for healing and balancing the body, mind, and spirit, these movements were and are also considered possibly dangerous to those who use them recklessly or without adequate instruction. In the West, however, the current level of teachings available will not take students to dangerous extremes.

Theoretically it’s possible to develop these powers through the practice of trul-khor and, in particular, the “unification of the sun and moon,” Katz says. “I’m not aware of any current Western practitioners who have taken it to that level…but I do believe these practices are profound. Someone who was to devote his life, in retreat, to these practices could develop these kinds of capacities,” Katz adds.

Most Westerners are, instead, at what Katz calls a “spiritual beginner” level, which limits our capacity for such extraordinary feats. Moreover, trul-khor can have negative consequences if performed improperly or with arrogance. “It’s been described as a ‘sharp path,’ meaning it can cause negative health problems if it’s done incorrectly,” Katz says. “It really can’t be done frivolously.”

Healing & Purifying

Done correctly, these movements can be equally powerful as agents of healing and balancing the body and mind, beyond the extremes of supernatural abilities or destructive forces.

In fact, the trul-khor systems are intricately designed to maximize positive effects on the body and mind. Ancient Tibetan medicine identifies five elements—space, air, fire, earth, and water—which correlate to organs in the body and to emotions, both positive and negative. 

Ultimately, the intention of both Yantra Yoga and Trul-Khor is to clear all of the qualities identified as unwanted obstructions, imbalances, distractions, or afflictions, including negative emotions. In this state of purification, the student can begin to experience “the natural mind.”

Buddhism, on the other hand, is often presented as a meditative and intellectual religious practice without a physical component. For this reason, says Katz, Westerners have been relatively slower to seek out traditional Tibetan yoga practices than to adopt Buddhism’s more ethereal components.

“Buddhism tends to be presented in a rather sedentary and intellectual manner in the United States,” Katz says. “It’s unbalanced, with an insufficient emphasis on the physical body. [Trul-khor] is a way to balance out that problem.” Although Tibetan yoga may have been somewhat overlooked, the fact remains that a cloak of secrecy has surrounded it.

For Namkhai Norbu and Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, releasing these teachings is a matter of necessity—to preserve the traditions—as well as one of generosity, in sharing what they believe can be a beneficial practice leading to spiritual awakening.

But it’s also an act of courage, as they send their ancient, closely guarded traditions into a modern world that is likely to change them.

Yet if these teachings can make a successful transition to Western culture in the eyes of Tibetan spiritual elders, it’s likely to propel even more of Tibet’s secrets into the open.