Tib., Ni-gu-chos-drug rgyas-pa-khrid-yig
Six Tantric Yogas of Sister Niguma
Niguma was initiated into the
Naro Chosdrug by Naropa and she
knew, practised and taught the Path of Relying upon the Body of Another Person with and to
her students. Her teachings reached Tibet mainly through Khyungpo Naljor (11th cent.),
who made them the base of his Shangpa school. Apart from
the many teachings she imparted to him in his dreams (dream-yoga being one of
Naropa's doctrines) she also taught him the traditions concerning the
Vajrayogini and the techniques for controlling the mystic drops of genetic force
[Mullin, p.98].
The term genetic force seems to be an attempt by Mullin to avoid the all
too obvious sexual connotations of words like sexual fluids. He is similar cautios in
the following text when, instead of male semen and female fluids, he wants us to believe
that a 15th century Dalai Lama speaks of hormones in the following sentence:
... when the white bodhimind substance [male hormones] moves, it also causes the sun-like
red bodhimind substance [i.e., female hormones] to follow ...
These explicit and extraordinary oral teachings became disseminated widely in Tibet and were
written down by Gendun Gyatso, the second Dalai Lama (1475-1542);
to be published in English for the first time in 1985.
According to this text, subtitled A Transmission of the Wisdom Dakini, sexual union is not only visualized but
practised, and the yogi on the high levels of the completion-stage practices is led to
great bliss
. If both male and female adepts are properly trained and ripe for this path,
the practice is said to induce the clear light of mind
that arises
with great strength
[Mullin, p.123].
Similar to the Naro Chosdrug, the Nigu-Chosdrug teachings comprise the following stages:
Mullin, Glenn. Selected Works of the Dalai Lama II: The Tantric Yogas of Sister Niguma. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion, 1985.