The Five Elements

In Bon, the five elemental process of earth, fire, water, air, and space are the
essential elements of all existent elements of all phenomena
or skandhas (aggregates)*. The names of the elements are analogous to
categorised experiential sensations of the natural world. The names are
symbolic and key to their inherent qualities and/or modes of action by
analogy. In Bon, the elemental processes are fundamental metaphors for working
with external, internal, and secret energetic forces.
All five elemental processes in their essential purity are inherent in the mind
stream link the trikaya (three bodies: Dharmakaya (truth body which embodies
the very principle of enligthenment and knows no limits or
boundaries): Sambhogakaya (body of mutual enjoyment which is a body of bliss
or clear light manifestation); and Nirmanakaya (created body whih manifests in
time and space)), and are aspects of primordial energy. They are the most
subtle enumeration of which are known as the five pure lights. Tenzin Wangyal
Rinpoche explains it as follows:
[P]hysical properties are assigned to the elements: earth is solidity; water is
cohesion; fire is temperature; air is motion; and space is the spatial dimension
that accommodates the other four active elements. In addition, the elements are
correlated to different emotions, temperaments, directions, colors, tastes, body
types, illnesses, thinking styles, and character. From the five elements arise the
five senses and the five fields of sensual experience; the five negative emotions
and the five wisdoms; and the five extensions of the body. They are the five
primary pranas or vital energies. They are the constituents of every physical,
sensual, mental, and spiritual phenomenon.
The Healing Practice of The Five Elements Goddesses
(composed by Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche)
 Guru Yoga

Chi tsuk dé wa chen pö po drang du | Drin chen tsa wé la ma söl wa dep |

Sang gyé sem su tön pa rin po ché | Rang ngo rang gi shé par jin gyi lop
From the crown of my head, palace of great bliss, | I pray to you, benevolent
root lama. | O precious one, grant me the blessings | To recognize my own true
nature as a buddha.

Refuge Prayer (from the Ma Gyü)

Khyen den tse wé lama nam a kyap su chi | Top den ngak kyi yidam lha a
kyap su chi | Nü den sang wé khandro ma la kyap su chi | Lama Yidam
khandro sum la kyap su chi
I take refuge in my kind and knowledgeable lamas. | I take refuge in the
powerful tantric yidam. | I take refuge in the potent secret khandro. | I take
refuge in all three: lama, yidam, and kahndro.

Bodhicitta Prayer (from the Ma Gyü)

Sang wa Bõn chen Sangchok Tartuk Gyal | Sang chok yi zhin thuk kyi nor
bu la | Dak gi le juk dro kün dren par gyi | Ta yé sem chen dön chir sem kye
do
I am entering well into the practices of the great | Bön secret deity, Sangchok
Tartuk Gyal | Excellent Secret King of Complete Liberation), | The excellent
secret compassionate wish-fulfilling jewel, To benefit limitless sentient beings, |
I generate a compassionate mind intent on enlightenment.

The Space Element Khandro

I. Healing the Body
MA is the seed syllable for the Khandro; A is the seed syllable of the space
element.

Right Hand: Ornaments, jewels. Left Hand: Skull filled with red and white
seminal essence.

MA A, MA A, MA A
1. Sing the seed syllables MA A 3x. As you sing the seed syllables,
visualize the essence of the Space Element Khandro coming from
infinite space to enter your crown chakra in the form of white light.
2. Your body transforms into the Space Element Khandro.
3. Take time to feel the presence of the Khandro throughout your
body–in your flesh, bones, blood, and cells. Feel the heaviness,
dullness, and pain lighten and release into white light.
4. Pray to her to remove diseases and afflictions.
5. Feel her blessings as healing white light pervades your body,
especially those places where you experience pain or illness.
6. Completely merge with Her, dissolving all sense of separation by
becoming luminous and embody her energies and qualities
completely.
7. Rest deeply in the spacious, boundless, loving energy of the Space
Element Khandro.
RESTING DEEPLY IN THE SPACIOUS, BOUNDLESS, LOVING ENERGY OF
THE SPACE ELEMENT KHANDRO
  Begin reciting the seed-syllable mantra of the Five Elements 21 or
108 times or more.
A YANG RAM MANG KHANG DRUM DU
 Then reciding the Space Element Mantra 21 or 108 times or more.
A MU YE A KAR A NI A
 Then residing the Long-Life Mantra 21 or 108 times or more.
SO DRUM A KAR MU LA THING NAM Ö DU MU YE TSE NI DZA
Imagine all diseases and obstacles to your health that you currently experience,
as well as the karmic seeds for obstacles to manifest in the future, are removed
from your body through the power of the pervasive white healing light and the
vibration of the mantra. The qualities of the Khandro–here, spaciousness, and
openness–increase through the power of the mantra and the blessing of the
Khandro.

II. Healing on the Energy Level

MA A, MA A, MA A
1. Draw attention to the space within your heart. [Note: The organ is
the dwelling place of the Khandro, the qualities, and the color of
light.]
2. Recite the seed syllables of the Space Element Khandro 3x.
3. As you recite MA A…, a second Khandro manifests in your heart.
4. Pray to her to help you open fully. Ask her to remove and to help
you release your emotional and energetic blocks (including the
seeds or potential for energetic disturbances to manifest in the
future) and to bring the positive qualities of openness and love to
you.
5. Exhale deeply from your heart, feeling or imagining the breath
exists through your right nostril (left for females; (white channel)).
As you exhale, negative emotions, blockages, and karmic traces are
released and dissolve into space. As you exhale deeply, visualize
countless Khandros travel from your heart and gather positive
qualities from the raw natural elements and divinities and bring
these qualities back. The Khandros may also visit events of trauma
and injury in your ife and retrieve the vital energies that were lost.
6. As you inhale, through the left nostril (right for females; (red
channel)), welcome the positive qualities deeply into your heart in
the form of white light. This healing white light is stored in the
vessel held by a Goddess in your heart.
7. Repeat: With each deep exhalations, fully release negativities as
you send the Khandros out.
 8. Repeat: With each deep inhalation, receive the healing qualities the
Khandros receive. With each inhalation, the positive qualities
increase.
9. Feel the power of this deeply in your heart.
RESTING DEEPLY IN THE SPACIOUS, BOUNDLESS, LOVING ENERGY OF
THE SPACE ELEMENT KHANDRO
 Begin reciting the seed-syllable mantra of the Five Elements 21 or
108 times or more.
A YANG RAM MANG KHANG DRUM DU
 Then residing the Space Element Mantra 21 or 108 times or more.
A MU YE A KAR A NI A
 Then residing the Long-Life Mantra 21 or 108 times or more.

SO DRUM A KAR MU LA THING NAM Ö DU MU YE TSE NI DZA

Imagine all diseases and obstacles to your health that you currently experience,
as well as the karmic seeds for obstacles to manifest in the future, are removed
from your body through the power of the pervasive white healing light and the
vibration of the mantra. The qualities of the Khandro–here, spaciousness, and
openness–increase through the power of the mantra and the blessing of the
Khandro.

The nectar in the vessel of the Khandro becomes increasingly potent.

III. Healing the Mind

For healing on the subtlest level of the mind, sing the mantra of the seed syllables
of all the elements 3x.

A YANG RAM MANG KHANG DRUM DU

1. As you sing the mantra 3x, the Space Element Khandro in your
heart arises and pours the nectar of the essence of the five pure
elements into your central channel in the form of lights of the colors
of the five pure elements.
2. Receiving the light in your central channel supports you to maintain
presence and to abide in the nature of your mind, overcoming subtle
obscurations of self-doubt and lack of confidence and dissolving
subtle duality.
3. Allow all effort to dissolve and rest deeply in the experience of
clear, open awareness.
From a deep connection with the natural state of your meditation
(contemplation)–

1. recite the mantras of the elements as the self-arising sound of the

Five Elements Khandros–seven, 21. 108, or more times;
2. dissolve all subtle obstacles to being fully present as the power of
the mantras and the blessings of the Five Elements Khandros; and
3. imagine the five pure lights radiating to all beings in all dimensions,
bringing healing and blessings.

A MU YE A KAR A NI A | SPACE

Right Hand: Ornaments, jewels. Left Hand: Skull filled with red and white
seminal essence.

YANG YANG NI LI THUN DU | AIR

Right Hand: Waving wand flag; Wheel of air with syllable YANG. Left Hand:
Vase of healing air nectar.
RAM TSANG TANG NE RAM DU | FIRE

Right Hand: Lightning bolt; flame with syllable RAM. Left Hand: Skull cup;
vase of healing fire nectar.
 MANG DANG RA MANG THING DU | WATER

Right Hand: Victory banner with crocodile; wish-fulfilling jewel. Left Hand:
Vase of healing water nectar
KHANG LA ZHI KYE LE DU | EARTH

Right Hand: Swastika. Left Hand: Vase of healing earth nectar.

DRUM DRUNG DZE MU YE DU | FIVE ELEMENT MANDALA
MANTRA

Sing the Long Life Mantra to reinforce the power of the meditation:
 SO DRUM A KAR MU LA THING NAM Ö DU MU YE TSE NI DZA

DEDICATION

Go sum dak bé gé wa gang gyi pa

Kham sum sem chen nam kyi dön du ngo
Duk sum sak bé lé drip kün jang né
Ku sum dzok bé sang gyé nyur thop shok
All pure virtue done through the three doors,

I dedicate to the welfare of all sentient beings of the three realms.

Having purified all afflictions and obscurations of the three poisons,

May we swiftly achieve the complete buddhahood of the three bodies.

________________________

* The five skandhas (aggregates)as described in the sutras:

1. “form” or “matter” (Skt., Pāli rūpa; Tib. gzugs): external and
internal matter. Externally, rupa is the physical world.
Internally, rupa includes the material body and the physical sense
organs.
2. “sensation” or “feeling” (Skt., Pāli vedanā; Tib. tshor-ba): sensing
an object as either pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.
3. “perception”, “conception”, “apperception”, “cognition”,
or “discrimination” (Skt. samjñā, Pāli saññā, Tib. ‘du-shes):
registers whether an object is recognized or not (for instance, the
sound of a bell or the shape of a tree).
4. “mental formations”, “impulses”, “volition”, or “compositional
factors” (Skt. samskāra, Pāli saṅkhāra, Tib. ‘du-byed): all types of
mental habits, thoughts, ideas, opinions, prejudices, compulsions,
and decisions triggered by an object.
5. “consciousness” or “discernment” (Skt. vijñāna,
Pāli viññāṇa, Tib. rnam-par-shes-pa):
1. In the Nikayas/Āgamas: cognizance, that which discerns
2. In the Abhidhamma: a series of rapidly changing
interconnected discrete acts of cognizance.
 3. In some Mahayana sources: the base that supports all
experience.
The Buddhist literature describes the aggregates as arising in a linear or
progressive fashion, from form to feeling to perception to mental formations to
consciousness. In the early texts, the scheme of the five aggregates is not meant
to be an exhaustive classification of the sentient being. Rather it describes
various aspects of the way an individual manifests.