Lung (Tibetan Buddhism)
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Lung (Standard Tibetan: རླུང rlung) means wind or breath. It is a key concept in the Vajrayana traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and has a variety of meanings. Lung is a concept that's particularly important to understandings of the Three Vajras (body, speech and mind). Tibetan medicine practitioner Dr Tamdin Sither Bradley provides a summary:
The general description of rLung is that it is a subtle flow of energy and out of the five elements (air, fire, water, earth and space) it is most closely connected with air. However it is not simply the air which we breathe or the wind in our stomachs, it goes much deeper than that. rLung is like a horse and the mind is the rider, if there is something wrong with the horse the rider will not be able to ride properly. Its description is that it is rough, light, cool, thin, hard, movable. The general function of rLung is to help growth, movement of the body, exhalation and inhalation and to aid the function of mind, speech and body. rLung helps to separate in our stomachs what we eat into nutrients and waste products. However its most important function is to carry the movements of mind, speech and body. The nature of rLung is both hot and cold.[1]
Usages
Some of the different usages of the term lung include:
- the winds (sanskrit: vāyus) that travel in the internal channels (sanskrit: nadis) of the body and are manipulated in certain Vajrayana practices.
- specifically the five winds that are a manifestation of the Mahabhuta. These five are the lifeforce that animate the bodymind (Sanskrit: namarupa) of all sentient beings and are key to certain tantric Buddhist and Bon sadhanas and Traditional Tibetan medicine.
- as a component of the term for a type of prayer flag, named after the allegorical Wind Horse (Tibet: lung ta).
- a type of tantric buddhist empowerment that involves the transference of spiritual power from master to augment or refine that of the disciple through the recitation of scripture or song. This oracular transmission received aurally defines Mantrayana and Ngagpa traditions and provides them with their nomenclature.
- the "reading transmission" of sutrayana texts, in which the entirety of the text is read aloud from teacher to student.
Tibetan medicine
Tibetan medicine identifies a system of 'The Five Lung' which help to regulate the human body:
- 'Life-grasping lung' (Tibetan:Srog 'dzin rlung' alt.: Strog Zin) is located in the brain. This lung regulates swallowing, inhalation, spitting, eructation, sneezing, and generally clearing the senses and steadying of the mind and concentration.
- 'Upward moving lung' (Tibetan:Gyen-rgyu rlung) is located in the chest and thorax. This lung regulates speech, energy to work, body weight, memory, the increase of bodily vigour and health, complexion and the skin lustre, mental endeavour and diligence.
- 'All pervading lung' (Tibetan:Khyab-byed rlung) is located is in the heart. This lung regulates lifting, walking, stretching and the contraction of muscles: opening and closing of the mouth, eyelids, anus etc.
- 'Fire accompanying lung' (Tibetan:Me-mnyam rlung') is located is in the stomach and abdomen area. This lung regulates digestion and the metabolism. This lung also ripens the Seven Bodily Sustainers (Tibetan: lus-zung dhun).
- 'Downward cleansing lung' (Tibetan:Thur-sel rlung) is located in the rectum, bowels and perineal region and its function is to expel faeces, urine, semen, menstruation, uterine contractions and the foetus.
Tantric body
The channels do not exist in the way they are visualized during Vajrayana practice. For example, during a deity visualization, the physical human body is visualized as completely hollow, made of light and has no internal organs. Furthermore different systems have different visualizations. In actuality, the "center channel" (dbu ma or avadhuti) is the whole arterial system, or more specifically the aorta.[2] The two "side channels" are the venous system (roma or rasanā) and the spinal column and nervous system (rkyang ma or lalanā).[3] A chakra is any place in the body where there are clusters of arteries, veins and nerves.
After familiarity in trul khor, there is the practice of tummo. In the practice of tummo, the visualization of lower ends to the three channels is primarily used to focus body awareness in the subnavel area.[4] Breath retention, mulabandha and uddiyana bandha force vāyu (wind, air) and ojas into the arterial system.[5] The heart rate slows, the karmic winds suspend and the venous blood returns less impurities into the blood stream. This leads to longevity. Ojas itself has two stores within the body -- the heart and brain.[6] Thus there is the visualization of blazing and dripping.[7] When the vāyu moves very little, that is considered subtle mind. This is because the mind is inexorably linked to the winds, or even considered synonymous with the winds. Sutrayana has no comparable methods to reduce the movement of vāyu to a significant extent.
Tsa Lung
Tsa Lung (Skt: nadi-vayu; Tib. rtsa rlung; where "rtsa" denotes an energetic channel) are special yogic exercises.[8] The exercises are used in the Tibetan Bon tradition and the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Tsa lung Trul khor employs the tsa lung and they constitute the internal yantra or sacred architecture of this yoga's alternate nomenclature, yantra yoga. Tsa lung are also employed in Kye-rim.
The exercises are used:
- to open major chakras and
- to bring the lung from the side channels into the central channel.[9]
That coincides with mind releasing dualistic misperceptions and abiding in non-dual awareness of rigpa (Tib. rig pa). Detailed instructions on the exercises describe 3 levels of rtsa rlung: external, internal and secret.
Each level contains 5 exercises corresponding to five elements.[10]
Tsa
Dr Arya (2006) defines "Tsa" in relation to shunyata, zero, bodymind and bindu:
Tsa, 'channel' means hollow tube where blood, wind and consciousness can pass freely, for example body cavities such as blood vessels, the mouth and hollow organs. Tsa is a symbol of space, and it gives space to the consciousness and other components of body/mind to manifest themselves under transcendental and dualistic forms and colors. It is like a house for the consciousness. The space is limitless and boundless therefore its symbolic sign is the zero. Everything manifests from this zero or space and also dissolves into it. For example, in mathematics, the zero keeps the first space for no. 1, which goes until 9 and returns back to the zero. It shows that all phenomena existence have the same space origin and ends at the same place. In fact, there is nothing which comes or goes to that state. Therefore Buddhism, as a symbolic language, calls Shunyata (voidness) what draws round zero. The space is a Thikle (round) in Tibetan, and Bindu in [S]anskrit. It is the cause of the particle as well as the unlimited space nature. It is the base for everything and the innate nature of emptiness. This is called space particles as well as symbol of the body channels.[11]
See also
References
- ^ Bradley, Tamdin Sither (2000). Tibetan Medicine - How and Why it Works (accessed: December 27, 2007)
- ^ Gyatso, Janet (2004). "The Authority of Empiricism and the Empiricism of Authority: Medicine and Buddhism in Tibet on the Eve of Modernity". Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Volume 24 (2).
{{cite journal}}:|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ Gyatso, Janet (2004). "The Authority of Empiricism and the Empiricism of Authority: Medicine and Buddhism in Tibet on the Eve of Modernity". Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Volume 24 (2).
{{cite journal}}:|volume=has extra text (help) - ^ Lama Yeshe. The Bliss of Inner Fire. Wisdom Publications. 1998, pg.135-141.
- ^ Lama Yeshe. The Bliss of Inner Fire. Wisdom Publications. 1998, pg.135-141.
- ^ Lama Yeshe. The Bliss of Inner Fire. Wisdom Publications. 1998, pg.135-141.
- ^ Lama Yeshe. The Bliss of Inner Fire. Wisdom Publications. 1998, pg.135-141.
- ^ Wangyal, Tenzin (2002) p.89 Healing with Form, Energy, and Light. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1-55939-176-6
- ^ Wangyal, Tenzin (2002) p.82 Healing with Form, Energy, and Light. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1-55939-176-6
- ^ Wangyal, Tenzin (2002) p.76-110 Healing with Form, Energy, and Light. Ithaca, New York: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1-55939-176-6
- ^ Arya, Pasang Yonten (2009). Tibetan Tantric Yoga (accessed: January 8, 2013)
