Toh 1387Six-Branched Yoga
Pāli / Sanskrit:Ṣaḍaṅgayoga
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Exposition of the Six-Branched Yoga Scripture (Ṣaḍaṅga-yoga)
Background
The Six-Branched Yoga Scripture (Ṣaḍaṅga-yoga) belongs to the Tengyur, the Collection of Treatises of the Northern Tibetan Mahāyāna tradition. It is an important treatise on the method of cultivating meditative absorption (samādhi) and contemplative wisdom (prajñā) within the tantric path. This work was translated and annotated by Tibetan masters, deeply reflecting the instructions of the Mahāsiddhas and the Samye tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
The six-branched yoga is a system of cultivation developed to transform coarse consciousness into a refined spiritual instrument. It inherits principles of practice from Northern Tibetan yoga, but focuses on the close coordination of body, energy (prāṇa), and mind. These branches are not separate steps, but mutually supportive factors aimed at attaining an unmoving state of meditative absorption.
Main Content
The six branches of yoga include the following elements: first, restraint of the senses (indriya-samvara); second, purification of action (karma-purification); third, regulation of vital energy (prāṇāyāma); fourth, withdrawal of the mind from external objects (pratyāhāra); fifth, concentration (dhāraṇā); and sixth, contemplative meditation (dhyāna).
Each branch has its own purpose, yet they are organically connected with one another. Restraint of the senses is the foundation, helping the practitioner reduce external stimuli. Purification of action removes mental obstacles and negative habits accumulated from the past. Regulation of vital energy is the most subtle work, because it is directly connected with controlling and transforming the subtle energy currents within the channel system (nāḍī) of the energetic body. Withdrawal of the mind is the gradual process of separating the mind from external distractions.
Concentration is the ability to maintain the mind on an object without wavering, while contemplative meditation brings profound understanding of that object’s nature.
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