Healing with Form, Energy, and Light: The Five Elements in Tibetan Shamanism, Tantra, and Dzogchen
Healing with Form, Energy, and Light: The Five Elements in Tibetan Shamanism, Tantra, and Dzogchen
In the shamanic world-view of Tibet, the five elements of earth, water, fire, air, and space are accessed through the raw powers of nature and through non-physical beings associated with the natural world. In the Tibetan tantric view, the elements are recognized as five kinds of energy in the body and are balanced with a program of yogic movements, breathing exercises, and visualizations. In these Dzogchen teachings, the elements are understood to be the radiance of being and are accessed through pure awareness. Healing with Form, Energy, and Light offers the reader healing meditations and yogic practices on each of these levels. Tenzin Rinpoche’s purpose is to strengthen our connection to the sacred aspect of the natural world and to present a guide that explains why certain practices are necessary and in what situations practices are effective or a hindrance. This is a manual for replacing an anxious, narrow, uncomfortable identity with one that is expansive, peaceful, and capable. And the world too is transformed from dead matter and blind processes into a sacred landscape filled with an infinite variety of living forces and beings.
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Clear, user-friendly healing techniques,
This book really pleased several lamas I know, who were astonished to see these usually hidden healing techniques made so available and so user-friendly. These are simple but powerful visualizations for “soul retrieval” and physical and mental healing. They’re written by a Tibetan healing master who gives the authentic Tibetan material in terms that Westerners can easily grasp.
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|Best book on the subject available,
The title is not a put-down of books like “Rainbow of Liberated Energy” or “The Five Wisdom Energies”. They do particular justice to the subject of the five ‘elements’. The point that I want to make is that I liked this one best, not just because of the friendly and precise writing style, but because this one goes to the roots of the system – the primordial basis of Tibetan metaphysics.
Rinpoche, rather that relying on abstraction and theoretical discourse, covers the subject in a way that is so jam-packed with teaching I had to stop every few pages to make sure I hadn’t read a hundred. For me, that is real praise, because I tend to skim for the interesting points and ignore repitition and redundancy etc. I couldn’t find anything to ignore in this book.
This is not a treatment of the jungwa as a topic – it is a workbook; a training manual on approaching meditation/tantra/shamanic practice from the standpoint of balancing and harmonizing the workings of the five elements in the physical body. It’s a field guide to working with the Panchamahabhutas, or five great states, in a simple and practical way. I would recommend it to anyone interested in Tibetan mystical practices, Yoga, Asian spirituality, Tantra, or Alchemy – it’s a good way to get started on a path that will take you where you want to go.
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