What is Six Yogas Of Naropa?
The Six Yogas (or Six Dharmas) of Naropa are a set of advanced Tibetan Buddhist tantric practices compiled by the Indian mahasiddhas Tilopa and Nāropa (1016–1100 CE) and passed on to the Tibetan translator-yogi Marpa Lotsawa. The six dharmas are a collection of tantric Buddhist completion stage practices drawn from the Buddhist tantras. The six yogas are fundamental to the meditative training of the Kagyu school and are also practiced in the Gelug tradition.
The six practices are: inner heat (tummo), clear light (ösel), dream yoga (milam), illusory body (gyulü), bardo yoga, and consciousness transference (phowa). Though numbering varies across lineages, these practices form an integrated system for working with the subtle body’s channels, winds, and energy centers, with the aim of accelerating spiritual realization.
Origins & lineage
The master Tilopa (988-1069) held four special esoteric Buddhist lineages. Structured and arranged by the eleventh-century Indian masters Tilopa and Naropa from various Buddhist tantric legacies, this system of yogic practice was carried to Tibet by Marpa the Translator a generation later. Nāropā lived c. 1016 - 1100 CE and was a scholar at Nalanda University before becoming a wandering yogi under Tilopa’s guidance.
Naropa transmitted these practices to the Tibetan translator-yogi Marpa. Marpa in turn brought these practices back to Tibet and transmitted them to his students there. His most prominent student was the great yogi Milarepa. This transmission lineage—Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, Milarepa, and Gampopa—forms the foundation of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Many Gelugpa practitioners including the Dalai Lamas and the Panchen Lamas were lineage holders of the six dharmas. Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa are recent Gelug teachers of the six dharmas.
How it’s practiced
In Kagyu and Gelug, initiation or empowerment into at least one Anuttarayogatantra system (generally Cakrasaṃvara and/or Vajrayogini/Vajravarāhi Tantras) and practice of its Generation Stage are the bases for practice of the six dharmas. They essentially require initiation and guidance from a Tantric Guru.
Inner heat (tummo) is the root of the path. For a dzogrim practitioner this meditation on inner heat is like the root of the entire path. The practice involves visualizing the body’s energy channels and chakras, then using breath retention and visualization techniques to generate inner heat at the navel chakra. Inner heat, generated through specific breath-holding exercises, helps vital winds enter the central channel, leading to blissful experiences.
Illusory body practice cultivates recognition of the dreamlike nature of phenomenal experience. Dream yoga involves learning to maintain awareness during sleep, recognize dreams as dreams, and eventually transform dream content deliberately. Clear light practice works with states of luminous awareness accessible during deep meditation, sleep, and death. Bardo yoga prepares practitioners for the intermediate state after death. Phowa, or consciousness transference, is practiced to direct awareness to pure realms at the moment of death.
Six Yogas Of Naropa today
Contemporary practitioners encounter the Six Yogas through authorized teachers in both Kagyu and Gelug lineages. Multi-week or multi-month retreats devoted to these practices occur at Tibetan Buddhist centers worldwide. Teachers must hold transmission from qualified lineage masters, and students typically need to complete preliminary practices (ngöndro) and receive proper tantric empowerment before beginning.
Key texts available in English include Glenn Mullin’s translations of Tsongkhapa’s commentary A Book of Three Inspirations, Lama Yeshe’s The Bliss of Inner Fire, and various practice manuals by contemporary Tibetan masters. The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) and Kagyu organizations such as Karma Triyana Dharmachakra offer structured programs under qualified teachers.
Common misconceptions
The Six Yogas are not physical yoga postures in the hatha yoga sense, though they involve working with subtle body energies. They are not beginner practices—they require years of foundational Buddhist training and tantric initiation. The traditional literature never uses the term ṣaḍaṅga-yoga or sbyor-drug for these practices; “Six Dharmas” is more accurate than “Six Yogas.”
Tummo is not merely a technique for generating physical warmth, though measurable temperature increases do occur. The physical heat is a byproduct of subtle energy manipulation aimed at spiritual realization. These practices are not self-contained techniques extracted from Buddhism but require integration with Buddhist view, ethics, and generation stage tantric practice.
Different lineages enumerate and organize the six practices differently. Tsongkhapa prefers the following listing: (1) tummo (2) illusory body (3) radiance (4) transference (5) forceful projection and (6) bardo, while some traditions substitute dream yoga as a separate category.
How to begin
Prospective practitioners should establish a foundation in basic Buddhist meditation and philosophy before approaching the Six Yogas. Completing the preliminary practices (ngöndro) under a qualified teacher is essential. Seek out authorized Kagyu or Gelug teachers who hold the transmission lineage and can offer proper tantric empowerment.
Recommended introductory texts include Lama Yeshe’s The Bliss of Inner Fire: Heart Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa and Glenn Mullin’s The Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa. However, these texts are intended to supplement—not replace—direct instruction from a qualified teacher. Contact established Tibetan Buddhist centers with connections to the Kagyu or Gelug traditions to inquire about teachers offering these practices.