How the Haṭhayogic Mudrās of the Amṛtasiddhi Were Practised in Tibet
Introduction
This is a translation of a dzogrim (completion-stage) section from Tāranātha’s (16-17th century) Amṛtasiddhi yoga manual. The Amṛtasiddhi trulkhor practices presented here are associated with the Shangpa Kagyu tradition. While the Tibetan text follows the classical Tibetan scriptural style, for the reader’s convenience, I have reformatted it under clear headings with bullet points.
In both textual structure and translation, there are notable differences in the naming and number of the main practices compared to other versions of the Amṛtasiddhi. In the Shangpa transmission of the Amṛtasiddhi trulkhor, there are four principal yoga practices rather than the usual three (mahāmudrā, mahābandha, and mahāvedha). These are:
Am-grol, corresponding to the haṭhayogic mahāmudrā technique
Bandha, corresponding to mahābandha
Vedha, corresponding to mahāvedha
Mahāmudrā, practised in a meditative posture.
The four primary trulkhors—am-grol, bandha, vedha, and mahāmudrā—each have three levels of practice: outer, inner, and secret.
There is also a strong possibility of a textual reversal in the naming of bandha and vedha. At the end of the text, the sequence of mudrās is listed as: am-grol, bandha, vedha, and mahāmudrā, and the actual yogic movements described suggest this inversion.
Tāranātha does not provide a detailed explanation of Jita Karma, though the term appears in nearly all Tibetan Amṛtasiddhi texts. A fuller explanation of this practice can be found in the Amṛtasiddhi 32 Trulkhor text by Vīryasiṃha, which I have previously translated. It remains unclear whether this practice is present in the extant Sanskrit Amṛtasiddhi. Although the Sanskrit term Jita Karma is transliterated into Tibetan, its precise meaning has not yet been conclusively identified.
Of particular interest is Tāranātha’s mention of the term ཧ་སྲང་ཡོ་ག་ (ha-srang yoga) in this text. It raises the question of whether this could be a scribal or phonetic error for ཧ་ཋྲ་ཡོ་ག་ (haṭha yoga).
Note: This is a draft translation of Tāranātha’s Amṛtasiddhi trulkhor section and may be subject to further revision.
Translation
Preliminary
Trulkhor (haṭhayogic mudrās) should not be practised at the outset.
Before beginning trulkhor, the practitioner should first:
take refuge
generate bodhicitta
engage in guru yoga
Posture (lus gnad)
Sit in a posture consistent with the standard yogic position, focusing both the gaze and the mind on the tip of the nose.
Breathing Practice (རླུང་སྦྱོར་)
Breathing out:
Begin by learning to exhale slowly. Practice this for seven days.
Breathing in:
Then, setting aside the breathing out practice, train in drawing the breath in slowly for another seven days.
Restraining the air:
Afterward, restrain the breath at its natural resting place—do not draw it downward. Gently bring the upper air downward and press it down.
Avoid the gzhil ba breathing technique.
If any discomfort arises, release the breath completely and rest the gaze either at the tip of the nose or between the eyebrows, whichever is more comfortable.
Continue this practice for about half a month.
Lengthening the breath-hold:
Even if discomfort arises while holding the breath at the navel region, gradually increase the retention time each day.
Practice this for another half a month.
Cleansing with Substances (རྫས་སྦྱངས་)
At this stage, since regions such as Tibet rely on sunlight for warmth, the practitioner should begin cleansing the body in the following way:
Morning: Bathe using herbal water (sug chu) made from specific medicinal plants.
Afternoon: Apply grain oil or seed oil to the body.
→ Continue this routine for approximately one week.
Then:
Wash the body with consecrated bath water (dri chu), regarded as one of the five nectars, and follow it with a full-body massage.
→ Repeat this for a few days.
Next:
Extract the juice from the tips of white or black mang-thang grass.
Mix it with either wood ash or dung ash.
Rub this mixture thoroughly over the body, then rinse with clean water.
→ Continue the massage for several more days.
Throughout this cleansing phase, maintain the above breathing practice as diligently as possible—but without overexertion.
Jita Karma (ཛི་ཏ་ཀརྨ་)
Now begin the practice of Jita Karma trulkhor.
Using the breathing techniques previously described:
On the first day, perform Jita Karma five times per session, with three sessions per day (i.e., 15 repetitions in total).
On each following day, add one repetition per session.
This results in a gradual build-up:
Day 1: 5 reps/session → 15 total
Day 2: 6 reps/session → 18 total
Day 3: 7 reps/session → 21 total
...
Day 16: 20 reps/session → 60 total
Once you reach 60 repetitions per day, maintain that number for the second half of the month without further increase.
During the remaining time outside trulkhor sessions, focus primarily on cultivating non-conceptual mind.
According to the instruction, after one month, it is said that samādhi will arise effortlessly.
Summary of the Above Practices
1.5 months to learn the three breathing practices
0.5 month for cleansing with substances
1 month for Jita Karma trulkhor practice
These practices help make the body flexible and pliant.
Four Mudrās
1. Mahāmudrā
Practice kumbhaka, which consists of four breathing techniques, combined with any one of the outer, inner, or secret mahāmudrā yoga postures.
Between sessions, perform Jita Karma as appropriate.
Continue this practice for about one month.
2. Am-grol (Haṭhayogic Mahāmudrā)
First, perform Jita Karma three times at the beginning of the session.
Then assume the outer Am-grol (haṭhayogic mahāmudrā) posture:
With one heel, bind the space between the anus and the genitals.
Press the heel down from above (using the weight of the body), while remaining slightly bent forward.
(With the other leg extended) hold the tip of the foot with one hand, and with the other, grasp near the ankle region.
Breathing Yoga
Squeeze the anus to draw the lower air to the navel.
At the navel, unite the lower air with the upper air.
Then perform the inner yogic technique of pounding like a pestle—from the left, right, and middle.
Carry out this breathing yoga up to twenty-one times.
Afterward, perform any of the outer, inner, or secret Am-grol practices at least thirty-one times in a single session. At best, perform up to one hundred times per session.
At the end of the session, perform mahāmudrā as previously described.
Continue practicing in this way for half a month.
3. Vedha (བེ་ཏ་)
Next, begin the session by performing a few rounds of Jita Karma.
Then, practice Am-grol about seven times.
Afterward, while in kumbhaka in which the upper and lower airs are united, with the lower air drawn up to the navel. Then, with great force, hurl it downward to the lower abdomen and press the air down. This kills the vāyu.
Practice in this way no fewer than twenty times.
Afterward, perform any of the outer, inner, or secret Vedha practices thirty-six to hundred.
At the end of the session, perform mahāmudrā as previously described.
Continue practicing in this way for half a month.
4. Bandha (བྷན་དྷ་)
Begin the session by practicing Jita Karma five times, and Am-grol and Vedha seven times each.
Then, while in kumbhaka, as the breath reaches its latter phase, compress the waist and roll it inward toward the center. At that point, press the air forcefully upward.
Then perform a small yogic drop by lifting the buttocks, and release the air through the nose. This is the method of binding or capturing (bandha) the vāyu.
Practice in this way no fewer than twenty times.
After performing this practice twenty-one times, carry out any one of the outer, inner, or secret Vedha practices between thirty-six and one hundred eight times in each session.
Then, conclude the session again with mahāmudra.
Continue this practice for half a month.
Summary of the mudrās and concluding yoga
The four mudrās—am-grol, bandha, vedha, and mahāmudrā—each have three levels of practice: outer, inner, and secret.
It is acceptable to practise only the four outer mudrās, or only the four inner or four secret mudrās.
Alternatively, the practitioner may perform one of each:
one am-grol
one bandha
one vedha
one mahāmudrā
There is a traditional saying:
am-grol is effective for the outer
bandha is effective for the inner
vedha is effective for the secret
mahāmudrā is effective for all three
Thus, one may follow this method of combination practice.
Sangye Tönpa, the 12th-century Shangpa master and the first Tibetan holder of the amṛtasiddhi lineage, especially praised the vedha practice in his writings.
Concluding yogic technique
Begin with a few rounds of jita karma.
Extend both legs forward and plant both hands on the ground to your left and right sides.
Hold the union of upper and lower air briefly.
Draw the air forcefully upward from the anus.
Fully exhale it with the powerful sound hum, until the breath is completely emptied.
Then twist the upper and lower body strongly, shaking the body in a quivering motion.
→ This practice breaks or dismantles (bhindati) the vāyu.After performing this technique about twenty-one times, practise outer am-grol.
At the end of outer am-grol:
practise reversing the bindu and rāhu upward
and diffusing the bindu
practise this ten to thirty times
Conclude with mahāmudrā as before.
Practise this sequence for half a month.
Duration
The complete training is based on three sessions per day
for a total duration of six months.
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