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com - The Four T0gel Visions

?toe Faa: r EseeE Xi$g{t$"Details Category: Ezsgg!flr Published onWednesday, 31 August 2011 15:05

are known as the "four visiors oft<igel", these are:

the visionary experience of absolute realitythe increase and intensification of visionary experience

the ripening of rigpa awareness to its firllnessthe final corsummation and exhaustion of phenomena

The first of the four stages occurs when vision begins to arise and we have direct insight into the mture of reality' This

erperience correspondsio realization of the sutric path of accumulation. The second stage occurs when the aristng vision

approaches development andwe have more experience. This corresponds to the pathof endeavour. The thid stag€ is the

development and riperung to perfection of awareness ofvision and corresponds to the path of seeing and the path of

meditation Finally, ttre fo=urth vision, which corresponds to the path of no more training, is the stage of complete vision'

Here, on the dissolution of i|lusory phenomen4 we integrate completely with the vision of totaliS'

More specifically, during the first stage there are fitro liglrts, one internal and one ex1ernal When we start to practice, we

feel as if a light *"r" "oirirrg

out of us. Here the symbol of the light is the "tigle of the rigpa of the color of glass", which

means one feels as if one we"re looking through the bottom of a glass. The tigles are very luminous ard can vary in size:

the smallest can be the size of a pea, others can be much bigger. Also many tigle s can appear joined together in various

ways, horizontally, vertical ly , ete.,forming strands or chaim, in which case they are called the .thead of compassion" or

the ,,silver thread', as they are white and luminous and resemble silver. Therc are no limits to the possibilities of vision'

At times the colors appear separatell fint red, then blue, white, etc., at otkr times symbols appear with visions reflected

inside them. often these visions are fluctuating, like a lightning flash that disappears when we look at it. Sometinres we

can see a whole crq. ; sometimes an entire country complete with mountains can appear in a small tigle. But we should not

be surprised at thii since we can see many big things with our small eyes. At times when we look at the vision that arises,

it disappean immediately, or it can remain a very short time and then disappear, like in a video game. It is difficult to

define or explain, we can see many things in many different ways'

This first stage is the foundatio4 the basis, in which the rays, lights, tigles, and threads of tigles never remain still in one

place. They are like a waterfall pouring down from a very high mountain or like drops of quicksilver that are mnstantly

moving. Everything moves at this stage. When the inner movement manifests while we are practicing in the state of

presence, we nury very well begin bylooking in one direction and finish looking in another. This is not like gazing at a

ititt obiect with the eyes fixed on one point in space as in zhine practice It is described as being like a mirror and an

aflow; when the movement is very fast ana difrcult to stop, it is difficult to even undentand what is moving. At times it

seems it is the vision that is moving, at other times we might think it is our eyes, or that the movement is internal, the

inner energr of rigpa. In fact, in ttigel werything is cormected:external visiorl the eyes,and the internal energy, and in the

first stage &"rytriog moves together. But it is important to understand that once presence is adequately stable we can

stop the movement. This ls what is described as "catching the fish in the net of darkness," fixing the movement through

stable prcsence.

At this point tl6 presence colrcentrates in a single point and the irmer erperience becomes pure and clear, without

movement. we remain in the union of emptiness and the clear rigp4 the mother and the son are united and happy. lThis

gives rise to a particular joy, and at this pcint our consideration of having limited sessions of practice finishes so there is

io longer any gup U"me"" practice and nonpractice. The end of the first stage corresponds to the third or fourth day of

the lunar montlL when the moon is starting to wax'

At the second stage, vision begins to .develop. At first we might see clear light in all directions, see everything as light.

Then we start to distinguish the rigpa tigles, as now we have a closer and more precise experience of the elements, even

though they ars not yeiunder full control. In the second sage tlrs elements are balanced, so now what appears in the

visions is completely different: we see the five lights, tigles, round rainbows, and lights in the form of tents. The visions

are Yery pure and clear.

The best and easiest way to develop these visions is to do a dark retreat, or do practice looking at the rays of the sun { but

not directly at the sun ) at sunrise or surset, holding the hands so that the fingers filter the rays of light, to make a

corurection between the inner light and the outer light. When we observe the outer rays in this way while in the state of

presence, these rays act as secondary causes to produce the projectiors ofthe irmer lighl onto the palm ofthe hand' At the

ieginning we do not see muctq but then vision develops and in this way it becomes very easy to see the lighfs. Other

,iy, u."*to practice looking, at the rays of light coming through window shutters, or sitting on a mountain an looking at

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mountain and space meet. one advantage of the dalk{etreat is t'at we can practice without any

requirements ( such as *V, of ,it" sun ) or distractions fiom the outside world' so it is easier to integrate'

Whenthe movement stops, we must Ey to concentlate morc'

In the third stage the visions may be stable and sti[, or they mny move. Different syllables or parts of the body may

appe6 andvisions of B;dh* u"d mandalas arise' There is no longer any difference between external visions and

internal expriences, sJject ana oUject, nirvana ard samsara in this empty feahty'

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T6gel teachings inthe ztwrgzrnngNyan Gyud describe the clgl lisht and naturally arising visiors, as well as how these

arise and how these are brougtrt into the patlr- rhese visions, which are of luminous points or seeds of light and of webs of

light in configurations of Buidhas, *-autu* and so fortb re formed from the inherent strucfi,'e of light' the enerry

expression of the clarity of tln primordial ,rut". sp"rnc togel practices include the dark retreat in which we spend time

practicing in complete darkness, ot gazingat the-run, atlhe moon' or into the sky' All these techniques are used to

make it possible for visions spontaneousf to arise from the rccesses within our mind' we tlren work with these'

FIYE GAZES ARE USED TO ENHANCE ITSION IN T6GEL:

. the wrathfrrl gaze, with the eyes turr€d upwards, is usefrrl if we are feeling drowsy

. the peacefirl gaze" with the *y., tu*"d cownwards, is useful if our mind is too agitated

.thebodhisattvug*r,withtheeyeslookingstraightforward'isusedwhenthemindiscalm

. the gazeof metho4 with the eyes turned-to the right' develops method

, the late of wisdorrq with the eyes turned to the left' develops wisdom

Three firrther types of gaze rsed in ttigel practice are: &e wheel gaze, the lion gaze' the secret gaze'

4 Mandalas, tigles (points of luminous light), white points, circ'lar rainbows,images of Buddhas' deities' andBuddha

dimersions all may manifest. They are tlre natural manifestations of our sambho gak'ayaand arise through the wisdom

channel that liriks our heart with our eyes. when these arise the practice is intermittent' like the sun seen tlrough clouds:

at times we arc in the state of plesence, at other times we follow the ligtrts. At tim€s it seems we are practicrng, at other

timesno!Sollumydoubtscanarisethatwehavetoclearupwithourmaster.

In this way we come to experience directty and know the seeds that are the base or origin of pure visions, which are like

the srars in space. when we start to practice togel, the movement is more intense' It is like unveiling a multicolored

chinese silk: suddenly we see many colors ln space, like seeing rainbows everywhere'This is the mainvisio4 the base of

five colored lights, from which all visions arise. This is th€ importance of the five lights, which give rise to niwana and

sarnsafiL

Working with the movement of light in togel practice is easier tl,an working with the solid objects we see and sounds we

hear normally io "rr"ryauy

fife, things *lti *nicn *e are already familiar. The t6gel visicns arise as the outer

manifestation of irurer experiences'

Different names arc given to the different visions. For example, the 'fish of the rays in movement" refers to the

movsment of the visions and describes visions as moving in the same way a fish moYes in waves of water' The text

explains that we must t{y to ,,catch the fish of the rays in movement in the net of darkness" and describes the "dart" state

of presence that we must shoot at the ta€et, which in this case is the fish. Vision is the fish and the dart; the instrumerfi

- forcapturingitisPresence.

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- Trekchd and Togel h@:llwww.kuntuzangpo.com/index'php/en/dzogchen/63trekchoe-a"' \

Category: UEpgSlge Published onWe.dnesday, 31 August 20ll 10:37

This Great Completerress, distillation of the essence, is not ascertained as one, it is many. Notbeing many" it dwells as

one. The separation of one and marry does not exist. Even its nonexistence is beyond saying "nonexistence." and this

-u.ry *r,u"otion of saying "beyond" was never mentioned by shenrab.

Trekchii means ,,cutting loose". It is the practice of single pointed contemplation and consists in remaining in the natural

$ate.

Tiigel means ,'working', or exerting oneself for direct realization. We do not just remain in the state of contemplation but

wort on integration Jontemplation with the movement of energr in the form of light and vision Fundamentally

involves the contemplation of light.

Through such practice we can understand the differences and connection between the subfle dimension and its solid

physical representation, our karmic vision.

It is very important to make Trekchd stable before embarking on Togel practice because otherwise our contemplation

J will notbe strong enoughforus to be able to integrate it withvisionwhen it arises in orderto develop T<igel Many

masters say that tfre rogef practices are difiicult to apply, but certainly it is usefirl to receive teachings on Tdgel even if

we are not yet able to practice them.

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lof l 2013110102 04:21PM