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Vajra Teachings: OM, AH, HUNG Vajra Breathing

     His Eminence Deshung Rinpoche, Kunga Tenpay Nyima, introduced Vajra Breathing by saying something like this: ‘I know you’re interested in the highest Tantric practices His Holiness will give you in India. But I can teach right now the best one. And it’s very simple.’ The year was 1980.

     ‘Vajra Breathing’ is how Sonam Tenzin, I believe, translated it. Rinpoche showed us the basic pranayama rounds of ‘three-threes,’ blowing stale air out through our nostrils, left, right, (and together) center. Then he demonstrated breathing in steadily through his nose, instructing us to visualize a white OM. Then he demonstrated retaining that breath, telling us to visualize a red AH. He finished by saying to breathe out measuredly, with a blue HUNG in mind, so as not to rustle even a hair in the nostrils. I don’t remember him saying to imagine our breath going out farther and farther, with each round, as I believe is taught in the Nong Sum. But I’m certain he stressed a clarity in visualizing the vajra syllables. Perhaps instructing us as well to see them in a diminutive size, vivid, uniform, in order to increase the sharpness of our shamata. 

     As a ‘high tantric practice,’ he did not mention anything about the vajra body, or a right, left, and central channel. Having gone to India, however, and received those esoteric teachings from His Holiness Gongma Trichen, and other high Sakya lamas, now many times over, the three major vajra body veins and their functioning seem somehow indicated within the nostrils, which are, significantly, the two side channel’s upper ending. What I think Rinpoche did add, was an analytical wisdom meditation to couple with the retention of breath while visualizing the red AH. This by also giving us a teaching on the mindfulness of mind by meditating on the nature of ‘one’s own mind in itself.’ As he’d just bestowed upon us these teachings not too long before, and we were approaching the end of his exhaustive three year commentary on the Lam dre exoteric teachings. 

     Perhaps at the time mentioned, he reiterated his teachings on the nature of mind, like this one from the Three Levels of Spiritual Perception: “Briefly, when you have a mood without any thoughts, a sense of calm that lists for a while, you are approaching concentration; when you understand that the mind is empty and clear, that you cannot point it out or understand its color or shape, you are nearing insight. Once you understand the mind without looking back or ahead and can concentrate on your meditation without being disturbed by thoughts, that can be called concentration. When you understand yourself as nonexistent of true nature in reality and see yourself as infinite and yet very clear, that is the significance of insight meditation. 

     “From now on, it is important that, when meditating, you gaze not outward but inward, using your mind to understand your mind. A simile may help bring this point home. When there are no clouds, the sky is very spacious, very clear, and so vast that it cannot be measured. But suppose there is never a time when it is unclouded: the ordinary mind is something like that. It never has any freedom when it is clouded by constant thoughts, and when a patch of blue does appear, perhaps due to meditation, it is soon covered over again.” (430-1, 1st edition.)

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