In this section all info about the Yoga of Inner Light and a link to our vedicvibes channel and the playlist on this topic. We have discovered in our Youtube channel that this path of the inner light is the quickest and most profound way to recognize your divine nature. That is why this path is central in all our writings. Here something on its foundations.
We have a whole website and a youtube channel dedicated to special and secret forms of meditation and the path to the ultimate. We are grateful to all masters before us and the masters before them, such as Marpa, Naropa, Tilopa and the Vedic masters from India having created such a profound wisdom of our own nature. To get into touch with that wisdom is not complicated. Our whole action here and at the Vedicvibes channel is to lead you to your inner Guru.
Naropa’s Inner Light Yoga: A Journey into the Luminous Nature of Being
The first time I encountered the teachings of Naropa, it felt like being handed a key to a hidden door I had always known was there but had never opened. His Six Yogas, steeped in the wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism, seemed both mystical and practical, a bridge between the profound truths of the mind and the raw experiences of the body. Among these practices, the one that captivated me most was the Yoga of Inner Light, often intertwined with Tummo, or the Yoga of Inner Heat. It felt like a doorway into a radiant, boundless truth—a way of directly encountering the essence of who we are.
Discovering the Inner Light
The teachings describe the inner light not as something to be created but as something to be revealed. It is always present, a luminous awareness that underpins every thought, sensation, and moment. Yet, like a sun hidden behind clouds, it often goes unnoticed in the busyness of life.
I remember one evening, years after my initial explorations of meditation, sitting in deep stillness and following the instructions as I understood them from Naropa’s tradition. The practice involved visualizing a tiny flame at the navel, growing brighter with each breath, its warmth spreading through the body. It wasn’t long before the visualization gave way to something more organic: a palpable sense of light—not outside of me but within, radiating from a source I could not locate.
This light wasn’t “seen” in the ordinary sense; it was felt, known, and somehow self-luminous. It was as if the boundaries of my body dissolved into it, and what remained was pure presence, infinite and indivisible.
The Practice: Opening the Channels
The Inner Light Yoga of Naropa is deeply connected to the subtle body, particularly the channels (tsa) and winds (lung) that carry prana, or life force. These channels must be purified for the light to shine unobstructed, and the practice itself facilitates this process.
One begins by focusing on the central channel (uma), a luminous pathway running from the crown of the head to the base of the spine. Through breathwork and visualization, the winds are drawn into the central channel, where they dissolve the blockages that obscure the inner light. This is not a mechanical process but an intuitive one, guided by a deepening awareness of the body’s inner rhythms.
I found that as my focus on the central channel became more refined, the experience of light became more vivid. It wasn’t just a physical sensation but a profound shift in perception. The light seemed to illuminate not only the inner space of the body but also the mind itself, revealing its boundless, luminous nature.
The Union of Light and Emptiness
Naropa’s teachings emphasize that the inner light is inseparable from emptiness (shunyata). This was a truth I struggled with initially, caught as I was in the duality of perceiving the light as an “object” of meditation. Over time, I began to understand that the light and the awareness observing it were not two.
This realization struck me during a particularly deep session. The light at my navel expanded, filling the entire space of my inner vision, but instead of overwhelming, it became clear and open, like a vast sky. In that moment, I understood what Naropa meant: the light is not a thing but a knowing, a pure awareness that is empty of form yet full of presence.
This union of light and emptiness is central to Dzogchen and Mahamudra teachings as well. It is the recognition that our true nature is luminous clarity, unbounded and indivisible from the spaciousness of being.
Living in the Inner Light
Practicing Naropa’s Inner Light Yoga is not about chasing mystical experiences. It is about returning, again and again, to the essence of what we are. In everyday life, this means remembering the light—not as a concept but as a lived experience.
There are moments, even in the most mundane activities, when the light makes itself known. It might appear in the quiet stillness between breaths, the soft glow behind closed eyes, or the spacious awareness that arises in the midst of deep listening. These moments are not separate from practice; they are the practice.
For me, the real transformation came when I stopped trying to hold onto the light and allowed it to flow naturally. Naropa’s teachings remind us that the light is always present; our task is simply to let go of the obstructions that hide it.
The Luminous Path
Naropa’s Inner Light Yoga is both a method and a revelation. It is a method in that it provides tools—breathwork, visualization, and meditation—to purify the channels and awaken the light. But it is also a revelation, showing us that the light we seek is already here, shining through every moment.
This practice has taught me that the journey is not about becoming something new but about realizing what has always been. The inner light is not a goal to be reached but the essence of who we are, waiting to be recognized.
Naropa’s teachings, like the light itself, are a gift—a reminder that even in the darkest times, the luminous truth of our being is never far away. To practice this yoga is to step into that truth, to merge with the infinite clarity and warmth of the inner light, and to know, in the deepest sense, that we are already whole.
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Shunyam Adhibhu
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