Drubdra Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin

Tummo:
Practice of Self-Blazing
Blissful Wisdom
from The Compassionate Sun of the Mother Tantra

གཏུམ་མོའི་ཉམས་ལེན་བདེ་དྲོད་
ཡེ་ཤེས་རང་འབར།
མཁན་པོ་ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་བསྟན་འཛིན།

Tibetan-English Bilingual
བོད་དབྱིན་ཤན་སྦྱར།

Translated into English by

Drubdra Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin,
Carol Ermakova & Dmitry Ermakov
Illustrations by Yungdrung Rabten
 Tibetan text © Tsultrim Tenzin, 2023.
English Translation Copyright
© Tsultrim Tenzin, Carol Ermakova & Dmitry Ermakov, 2023.

Cover and layout © Dmitry Ermakov, 2023.

Illustrations © FPYB, 2023.

All rights reserved.

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To ensure the ongoing quality and authenticity of Yungdrung Bön practices and teachings,
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Thangka of Magyu Cycle on p. iii courtesy of Christophe Moulin,

additional computer graphics by Dmitry Ermakov
Photo of Drubdra Khenpo on p. xvii courtesy of Drubdra Khenpo
Thangka of Shenhla Wökar on p. xxiii courtesy of Christophe Moulin
Thangka of Sangchog Tharthug Gyalpo on p. xxiv courtesy of Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin
Gyalshen Milü Samleg thangka on p. xxv by Geshe Mönlam Wangyal; first published in
Tsadzin Lopön Geshe Mönlam Wangyal. The Eighty Mahasiddhas of the Mother Tantra:
The sacred Art of Tibetan Thangkas, (Vajra Books: Kathmandu, 2020), p. 25
Photos of mudras pp. 12-19 and photos of Drubdra Khenpo on pp. 87&145
by Carol Ermakova
Thangka of Drenpa Namkha Yab-Yum on p. 146 by Geshe Mӧnlam Wangyal

TIBETAN-ENGLISH BILINGUAL EDITION

Published by
Foundation for the Preservation of Yungdrung Bön
____
ISBN: 978-1-9169005-6-1

FPYB is a charitable non-profit

organization. Registered Charity
(England and Wales) № 1173639.
All proceeds from sales are
reinvested into ongoing projects.
 Contents
Foreword...................................................................................................x
Translators’ Note....................................................................................xiii
About the Author....................................................................................xiv
A Brief History of the Magyu Lineage.................................................xviii
མ་རྒྱུད་དགོོངས་སྤྱོོད་རྣམ་གོསུམ་བསྡུས་པ་བཞུགོས།།...................................................1
The Short Practice of the Threefold Active Contemplation from the
Mother Tantra............................................................................................1
མ་རྒྱུད་འབྱུང་བའི་ཐིིགོ་ལེེའ་ི རྣམ་བཤད་ལུང་གོི་གོཏེེར་མཛོོད་བཞུགོས།.........................21
Treasury of Quotations containing the Commentary on the Thigle of the
Elements according to Mother Tantra......................................................22
The explanation of the Four Thigles...........................................24
1. The Thigle of the Nature of Reality.............................24
2. The Unwaning Thigle..................................................38
I. Description of wind..........................................40
II. Enumeration of wind......................................40
A. Extensive enumeration.......................40
B. Medium enumeration..........................40
C. Condensed enumeration......................44
III. Categories of wind.........................................48
A. Root wind...........................................48
B. Branch wind...........................................62

iv
 Contents

C. Twig wind...........................................62
3. Immutable Thigle........................................................62
4. UnbornThigle...............................................................72
Syllables...........................................................................74
ཉིིན་རེའི་འཚོོ་བའི་ནང་དུ་ཉིེ་བར་མཁོོ་བའི་གོསང་སྔགོས་མ་རྒྱུད་ཀྱིི་རྩ་རླུང་གོཏུམ་མོའི་ལེགོ་
ལེེན་གོསལེ་བར་བཤད་པ་ནད་བརྒྱ་སེལེ་བའི་སྨན་མཆོོགོ་མཆོི་མེད་ཚོེ་ཡིི་བདུད་རྩི་ཞེེས་བྱ་བ་
བཞུགོས།..................................................................................................................77
Clear Explanations on the daily practice of Tsalung and Tummo in the
Mother Tantra, which is both an excellent medicine for healing hundreds
of diseases and the essential elixir of immortality...................................78
1. The key point of the body........................................................80
2. The key point of visualising the channels...............................82
3. The key point of meditating on the winds...............................86
4. The key point of expelling noxious breath..............................96
5. The key point of the fourfold wind practice............................96
6. The key point of developing blissful heat...............................98
7. The key point of the guiding sounds....................................102
8. The key point of the skilful path of tummo...........................104
9. The key point of generating the benefit of bliss....................112
How to practise Magyu tsalung and tummo on a daily basis......118
གོསང་སྔགོས་མ་རྒྱུད་རྩ་རླུང་གོཏུམ་མོའ་ི ལེགོ་ལེེན་གྱིི་མཆོན་འགྲེེལེ་བཞུགོས།.................125
ADDITIONAL NOTES to the Explanations on the daily practice of
Tsalung and Tummo from the Mother Tantra.......................................126
Practising the Key Point of the Body........................................126
Practising the Key Point of Visualising the Channels...............126

v
Contents

Practising the Key Point of Expelling Noxious Breath.............126

Performing the Fourfold Wind Practice....................................128
Increasing blissful heat by means of physical exercises with
the five root winds..................................................................128
1. Practising the upward-moving wind exercise...........128
2. Practising the life-supporting wind exercise.............130
3. Practising the fire-equalising wind exercise..............130
4. Practising the all-pervading wind exercise................132
5. Practising the downward-moving wind exercise........134
6. Practising tummo.......................................................134
Performing the trulkhor exercises in quick succession...136
མ་རྒྱུ་བདེ་སྟོོང་ཐིིགོ་ལེེའ་ི ཉིམས་ལེེན་དགོའ་བཞེིའ་ི ཡིེ་ཤེས་རང་འབར་བཞུགོས།................139
The Self-Blazing Wisdom of Four Joys, the practice of Thigles of Bliss
and Emptiness in the Mother Tantra......................................................140
1. The key point of the body posture.........................................142
2. The key point of visualising the channels.............................156
3. The key point of meditating on the thigles............................160
4. The key point of purifying the impure wind..........................162
5. The key point of practising with the winds...........................164
6. The key point of trulkhor which enhances.............................170
Remaining in the Natural State..................................................170
How to practise in retreat...........................................................174
How long to hold the breath......................................................176
Purpose and benefit...................................................................176
མ་རྒྱུད་ཐིབས་ལེམ་ཁྱེེར་གྱིི་འགྲེེལེ་དུ་བསྟོན་པའི་གོགོ་སེལེ་སྐོོར་གྱིི་མཆོན་འགྲེེལེ་བདུད་རྩིའི་
ཐིིགོས་པ།...................................................................................................185
vi
 Contents

Drop of Düdtsi: an annotated commentary on clearing obstacles, according

to the commentary on the Practical Application of the Path of Method in
the Mother Tantra..................................................................................186
I. Blockage.................................................................................188
a) Blockage of wind.......................................................188
Trulkhor 1..........................................................188
Trulkhor 2..........................................................190
b) Blockage of stools.....................................................190
Trulkhor 3..........................................................190
c) Blockage of urine.......................................................190
Trulkhor 4..........................................................190
Trulkhor 5..........................................................190
Trulkhor 6..........................................................190
II. Turbulence.............................................................................192
Trulkhor 7..........................................................192
Trulkhor 8..........................................................192
Trulkhor 9..........................................................192
Trulkhor 10........................................................192
Trulkhor 11....................................................................194
III. Imbalance.............................................................................194
Trulkhor 12....................................................................194
Trulkhor 13....................................................................194
IV. Incorrect inflow....................................................................194
Trulkhor 14....................................................................194
Trulkhor 15....................................................................196
Trulkhor 16....................................................................196
vii
Contents

V. Scattering...............................................................................198
Trulkhor 17....................................................................198
Trulkhor 18....................................................................198
Trulkhor 19....................................................................200
Trulkhor 20....................................................................202
Trulkhor 21....................................................................202
Trulkhor 22....................................................................202
Trulkhor 23....................................................................204
VI. Roughness............................................................................204
a. Secret, roughness of the five root winds....................204
Trulkhor 24........................................................204
Trulkhor 25........................................................204
Trulkhor 26........................................................206
Trulkhor 27........................................................206
Trulkhor 28........................................................206
b. Inner, roughness of the winds in the main organs......206
Trulkhor 29........................................................208
Trulkhor 30........................................................208
Trulkhor 31........................................................210
c. outer, roughness of the winds in the sense organs and
limbs..........................................................................210
Trulkhor 32........................................................210
Trulkhor 33........................................................210
Trulkhor 34........................................................212
Trulkhor 35........................................................212
Trulkhor 36........................................................212
viii
 Contents

Trulkhor 37........................................................212
Trulkhor 38........................................................212
Trulkhor 39........................................................214
Trulkhor 40........................................................214
Trlukhor 41........................................................214
Trulkhor 42........................................................214
Trulkhor 43........................................................214
Trulkhor 44........................................................216
Trulkhor 45........................................................216
Glossary.................................................................................................219
Further Reading....................................................................................234

ix
 Foreword
This book is the third volume of teachings given by Drubdra Khenpo
Tsultrim Tenzin on the Six Paths of Mother Tantra that Foundation for
the Preservation of Yungdrung Bön has published. While the first two
books contain oral teachings and explanations on tsalung, tummo and
Dream Yoga in English only, here we present English translations as well
as the original Tibetan texts for six works written by Drubdra Khenpo.
These six ‘chapters’ cover the First Path – The Path of Method – in its
entirety.

This project began over two years ago during the COVID pandemic,
just after the Tibetan New Year in February 2021. Following FPYB’s
initial publication on this subject Magyu Tsalung and Tummo (2018),1
Drubdra Khenpo suggested we translate another text from the Path of
Method, this time dealing with the practice of thigle. Carol and I agreed
enthusiastically. Finding ourselves stuck on different sides of the globe
due to lockdowns, three of us began working via Zoom. The translation
took several months to complete and while we were thinking how to best
publish it, Drubdra Khenpo suggested we include a second text, Clear
Explanations on the daily practice of Tsalung and Tummo in the Mother
Tantra, so as to render the book more comprehensive. And so it went on,
with Drubdra Khenpo adding text after text until in the end we translated
all six:

The Short Practice of the Threefold Active Contemplation from the Mother
Tantra – short practice of Magyu guru-yoga.

Treasury of Quotations containing the Commentary on the Thigle of

the Elements according to Mother Tantra – elaborate explanations on
channels, chakras, winds and thigle.

1
Drubdra Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin, trncr. & ed. C. Ermakova & D. Ermakov, Ill Yungdrung Rabten,
Magyu Tsalung and Tummo (FPYB: UK, 2018).
x
 Foreword

Clear Explanations on the daily practice of Tsalung and Tummo in the

Mother Tantra, which is both an excellent medicine for healing hundreds
of diseases and the essential elixir of immortality – detailed explanations
on how to practise tsalung and tummo.

Additional Notes to the Explanations on the daily practice of Tsalung

and Tummo from the Mother Tantra – additional clarifications and
explanations on how to practise tsalung and tummo in daily life.

The Self-Blazing Wisdom of Four Joys, the practice of Thigles of Bliss and
Emptiness in the Mother Tantra – detailed explanations on the practice
of thigle, including how to practise in daily life.

Drop of Düdtsi: an annotated commentary on clearing obstacles, according

to the commentary on the Practical Application of the Path of Method in
the Mother Tantra – explanations on how to correct deviations, remove
various obstacles to contemplation and self-heal various diseases.

While some topics have been touched upon elsewhere, the detailed
teachings on thigle practice as well as the invaluable chapter on clearing
obstacles are of great benefit to serious practitioners.

In November 2022, Drubdra Khenpo was finally able to visit us here in UK

and we spent a very intensive month re-editing all six chapters, checking
illustrations, filming videos and photographing Khenpo demonstrating
various body postures and hand mudras. We are deeply grateful to
Paola Malatesta and Zeyno Aygen, without whose generous financial
contributions we would not have been able to complete this project.

Since this book now runs into hundreds of pages and deals with complex
subjects, we have compiled a Glossary to facilitate understanding of
various terms and concepts. Entries are in English, Tibetan phonetic
transliteration, and Wylie transliteration with some Sanskrit equivalents
as well as brief explanations where applicable.

To further enrich this material, as well as creating an entirely new set

of illustrations for the practice of thigle according to Drubdra Khenpo’s
detailed instructions, we revised and remade several colour illustrations
used in the previous volume of Magyu Tsalung and Tummo. Many thanks
to our artist Yungdrung Rabten for his patience and skill in all aspects of
the artwork.

xi
Foreword

Other illustrations include photographs of hand mudras, body positions

and several thangkas. There are also links to videos of Drubdra Khenpo.
Special thanks to Geshe Mӧnlam Wangyal for his inspiring painting of
Drenpa Namkha in union with Wӧden Barma specially commissioned
for this publication. We are also grateful to Geshe Mӧnlam Wangyal for
kindly granting us permission to reprint his thangka of Gyalshen Milü
Samleg.

Although this book has been made public following Drubdra Khenpo’s
explicit wish, we should point out that anyone interested in seriously
applying the methods described here must seek an authentic master
so as to receive authorisation and transmission in person. This will not
only unlock a clear understanding of these instructions but also forge a
connection between the practitioner and the blessings of this lineage,
thereby ensuring that practice bears fruit.

We pray that this book may become a valuable aid to all those wishing to
study and practise Bӧnpo tantra and Dzogchen.

ཐ་ཚན་མུ་ཙུག་སྨར་རོ།། Thatsen Mutsug Marro! May it bring benefit!

Dmitry Ermakov
North Pennines, UK
9th April 2023

xii
 Translators’ Note
All the texts in this bilingual edition have been composed or complied
by Drubdra Khenpo himself, and he, Dmitry and myself have worked as a
close team at every stage of the translation process, from the first tentative
oral rendering through to the final proofread. Once sure of the full, correct
meaning, with Drubdra Khenpo’s encouragement we sought to produce a
flowing and fluent text in English that is faithful to the original, succinct
and literary. For this reason, we have not used the square brackets found
in some academic translations, reserving this for the more formal passages
cited directly from source texts. Similarly, we have avoided the use of too
many italics, giving Wylie transliteration and Tibetan in footnotes or the
Glossary.

The reader will find Sanskrit terms throughout this book. This is due in
part to many Sanskrit words being common parlance nowadays and
also because, since the language of Middle Zhang Zhung stemmed from
Sanskrit, many Sanskrit words and terms are found in Magyu and other
original Bönpo texts. As such, including them in the English translation is
not out of place.

The reader will also notice that some citations are repeated in more than
one chapter. Although this is unusual in Western books, we have retained
them all to remain faithful to the Tibetan original, especially since this is
a bilingual edition. Similarly, we have replicatd the Tibetan system of red
highlights.

We hope that, after over two years of intense work, the result is a book that
is both accurate and beneficial as well as a pleasure to read.

Carol Ermakova
North Pennines, UK
10th April, 2023

xiii
 Further Reading
Drubdra Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin, trnscr. & ed. C. Ermakova & D. Ermakov,
Ill. Yungdrung Rabten, Magyu Tsalung & Tummo (UK: Foundation for the
Preservation of Yungdrung Bön, 2018).

Drubdra Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin, trnscr. & ed. C. Ermakova & D.

Ermakov, How to Practise Dzogchen in Daily Life (UK: Foundation for the
Preservation of Yungdrung Bön, 2021).

Drubdra Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin, trnscr. & ed. C. Ermakova & D.

Ermakov, Ill. Yungdrung Rabten, Commentary on Bringing Dreams onto the
Path from The Compassionate Sun of the Mother Tantra (UK: Foundation
for the Preservation of Yungdrung Bön, 2022).

Menri Tridzin Lungtog Tenpai Nyima, trnscr. & ed. C. Ermakova &
D. Ermakov, Approaching Dzogchen according to the Athri Cycle (UK:
Foundation for the Preservation of Yungdrung Bön, 2016).

Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen. Commentary by Lopon Tenzin Namdak, Heart

Drops of Dharmakaya: Dzogchen Practice of the Bön Tradition (Ithaca:
Snow Lion Publications, 1993).

Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak, trnscr. & ed. Ermakova, C. & Ermakov,
D. Masters of the Zhang Zhung Nyengyud: Pith Instructions from the
Experiential Transmission of Bönpo Dzogchen, (New Delhi: Heritage
Publishers, 2010).

Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak, trnsl., trnscr. & ed. Nagru Geshe Gelek
Jinpa, C. Ermakova & D. Ermakov, The Heart Essence of the Khandro,
Experiential Instructions on Bönpo Dzogchen: Thirty Signs and Meanings
from Women Lineage-Holders (New Delhi: Heritage Publishers, 2012).

Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak, trnscr. & ed. C. Ermakova & D. Ermakov,
Pith Instructions on Dzogchen (UK: Foundation for the Preservation of
Yungdrung Bön, 2015).

233
 Further Reading

Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak, trnscr. & ed. C. Ermakova & D. Ermakov,
The Four Wheels of Bӧn །།བོན་འཁོོར་ཚིག་བཞི།། (UK: Foundation for the
Preservation of Yungdrung Bön, 2016).

Yongdzin Lopön Tenzin Namdak, trnscr. & ed. C. Ermakova & D. Ermakov,
Essential Instructions on the Innermost Essence of Kuntu Zangpo (UK:
Foundation for the Preservation of Yungdrung Bön, 2018).

For more books, videos etc. visit https://yungdrungbon.co.uk/

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