''Trul khor'' ('magical instrument' or 'magic circle;' Skt. ), in full ''tsa lung trul khor'' ( sa, vayv-adhisāra 'magical movement instrument, channels and inner breath currents'), also known as yantra yoga, is a

Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

discipline which includes

pranayama Pranayama is the yogic practice of focusing on breath. In Sanskrit, '' prana'' means "vital life force", and ''yama'' means to gain control. In yoga, breath is associated with ''prana'', thus, pranayama is a means to elevate the '' prana'' ''sha ...

(breath control) and body postures (

asana An asana is a body posture, originally and still a general term for a sitting meditation pose,Verse 46, chapter II, "Patanjali Yoga sutras" by Swami Prabhavananda, published by the Sri Ramakrishna Math p. 111 and later extended in hatha yoga ...

s). From the perspective of the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist traditions of

Dzogchen Dzogchen (, "Great Perfection" or "Great Completion"), also known as ''atiyoga'' ( utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. ...

, the mind is merely ''vāyu'' (breath) in the body. Thus working with ''vāyu'' and the body is paramount, while

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

, on the other hand, is considered contrived and conceptual. Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche (1938-2018), a proponent of trul khor, preferred to use the equivalent

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

-derived English term 'yantra yoga' when writing in English. Trul khor derives from the instructions of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

mahasiddha Mahasiddha (Sanskrit: ''mahāsiddha'' "great adept; ) is a term for someone who embodies and cultivates the " siddhi of perfection". A siddha is an individual who, through the practice of sādhanā, attains the realization of siddhis, psychic ...

s (great sages) who founded Vajrayana (3rd to 13th centuries CE). Trul khor traditionally consists of

108 108 may refer to: * 108 (number) * AD 108, a year * 108 BC, a year * 108 (artist) (born 1978), Italian street artist * 108 (band), an American hardcore band * 108 (emergency telephone number), an emergency telephone number in several states in Ind ...

movements, including bodily movements (or dynamic

s), incantations (or

mantra A mantra (Pali: ''manta'') or mantram (मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit, Pali and other languages believed by practitioners to have religious, ma ...

s),

and visualizations. The walls of the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

's summer temple of

Lukhang Lukhang (Tib. klu khang, residence of Nagas), formally Zongdag Lukhang (Tib. rdzong bdag klu khang /nowiki>, residence of Nagas, lords of the castle and administered territory /nowiki>) is the name of a secret temple of Lozang Gyatso, 5th Dala ...

depict trul khor asanas.

Lung

''Lung'' ( ''rlung'') means wind or breath. It is a key concept in the

traditions of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

and has a variety of meanings. ''Lung'' is a concept that is particularly important to understandings of the

illusory body Illusory body is term for one of the Six Yogas of Naropa, also called ''luminosity''. In his commentary, Pema Karpo says that the clear light is experienced briefly by all human beings at the very first moment of death, by advanced yogic practition ...

and the

trikaya The Trikāya doctrine ( sa, त्रिकाय, lit. "three bodies"; , ) is a Mahayana Buddhist teaching on both the nature of reality and the nature of Buddhahood. The doctrine says that Buddha has three ''kāyas'' or ''bodies'', the ''Dharma ...

(body, speech and mind). The '

', which is often referred to as the 'vajra body' in medieval Tibetan Buddhist discourse, is constituted by the flow of subtle energy currents: *'rlung' (Wylie) is equivalent to Sanskrit: prāna or vāyu. *'rtsa' (Wylie) is equivalent to Sanskrit: nāḍī, sirā, srota and dhamanī;

Channels

Yantra yoga

Namkhai Norbu Namkhai Norbu (; 8 December 1938 – 27 September 2018) was a Tibetan Buddhist master of Dzogchen and a professor of Tibetan and Mongolian language and literature at Naples Eastern University. He was a leading authority on Tibetan culture, part ...

was the first to discuss ''trul khor'' in his book on yantra yoga, essentially a commentary on a practical yoga manual by

Vairotsana Vairotsana () was a lotsawa or "translator" living during the reign of King Trisong Detsen, who ruled 755-97 CE. Vairotsana, one of the 25 main disciples of Padmasambhava, was recognized by the latter as a reincarnation of an Indian pandita. He ...

. Namkhai Norbu began dissemination of Yantra Yoga through his practical teaching and esoteric transmission of this discipline within the International Dzogchen Community, which he founded some time after 1975 in Italy, Merigar. Chaoul (2006) has begun discussion of Bon traditions of Trul Khor in English with his thesis from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

. In his work, Chaoul makes reference to a commentary by the famed Bonpo Dzogchen master,

Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen () (1859 - 1933 or 1935) was a great Dzogchen master of the Bon tradition of Tibet who took not only Bon disciples, but gathered students from all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. According to tradition, Shardza Tashi Gyelt ...

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche ( Tib. o thog bstan 'dzin dbang rgyal) is a teacher (lama) of the Bon Tibetan religious tradition. He is founder and director of the Ligmincha Institute and several centers named Chamma Ling, organizations dedicated to the ...

's text ''Awakening the Sacred Body'' presents some of the basic practices of trul khor according to the Tibetan

Bön ''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan culture, Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initiall ...

tradition.

Primary texts

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

References

Citations

Works cited

* Chaoul-Reich, Alejandro
Spinning the Magical Wheel
in ''The Snow Lion Newsletter''. Snow Lion Publications. Retrieved 1 December 2006. * Chaoul-Reich, Alejandro
Tibetan Yoga from the Bon Tradition
in ''Snow Lion Magazine''. Snow Lion Publications. * Lipson, Elaine
Into the Mystic
in ''

Yoga Journal ''Yoga Journal'' is a website and digital journal, formerly a print magazine, on yoga as exercise founded in California in 1975 with the goal of combining the essence of traditional yoga with scientific understanding. It has produced live events ...

''. * Norbu, Chögyal Namkhai (2000). Revision: Laura Evangelisti. Translation: Des Barry, Nina Robinson, Liz Granger, Carol Chaney. ''Yantra Yoga Manual''. Italy, Shang Shung Edizioni. (This booklet is published for those who have received the transmission of these practices from Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche.)
Yogic practices in the Bon tradition by M Alejandro Chaoul
* Ancient drawing from the Blue Beryl by Sangye Gyamtso (1653-1705) * Lipman, Kennard (1987).'The Dynamic Yoga of Tibet: combining asanas, breathing exercises, and flowing movements, Yantra Yoga aims to return us to our "natural state".' Cited in: ''Yoga Journal,'' May 1987, No. 74. Active Interest Media. . Source

(accessed: Friday April 9, 2010) p. 46-49 *

External links

Literature from the Tibetan Tradition Relevant to Six Yogas of Naropa Practitioners - An Annotated Bibliography and Selected Excerpts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trul Khor Dzogchen practices Tibetan Buddhist practices Tibetan words and phrases Vajrayana practices