Freedom to Explore: Explanation of the Underlying Principles
What is lovely about the natural state that it is natural at all times and conditions. In physical exercise, we tense muscles and relax muscles, we breath heavily and lightly, our heart rate goes up and down, and yet the natural state is the same. The reason why I mentioned Vajra Body exercise is because, when properly practiced, it makes the body very strong and very soft. The whole body, made of hundreds of muscles, becomes like a unified plate that is tensed all at the same time and relaxed all at the same time. We learn this "unified plate" as we do Vajra Bodies for some time. Embodiment, as I understand it, means that the mind state which here means the nature of mind (dharmakaya+sambhogakaya) is unified, or made one with the physical mind, oops, the physical body (nirmanakaya). I'll focus on the physical aspect of this as I have often written about it's yogic benefits, i.e. about the recognition of one's buddhanature.
What I mean by the unified plate of all muscles is that at some point in practice, both the strength of the muscles and the ability to contract them all at once feels like you are contracting one muscle, rather than separate muscle groups or parts of the body that are isolated from each other. Just like anyone can squeeze one's fist and have all muscles of the hand and fingers contract and relax at once, the same happens with the whole body. That is a signpost of having learned well Physical Dynamic Concentration, or Vajra Body like we call it in Pemako group.
At this point of the unified plate one's physical body has become very strong. You feel strong, healthy and vibrant throughout your days and whenever you feel the need to recharge yourself, you do some reps and instantly feel refreshed. With the tantric version, Vajra Body that uses empowerment mantras, your mind also becomes fresh and clear like the sky.
I always want to help my students understand what underlying principles of the practices we do so that they don't get caught up by technical formulas. Technical formulas are for beginners but once one advances and makes the practices one's own, i.e. gaines familiarity with them, the formulas can and should be broken down. Many don't understand this and remain caught up in rigid forms without ever understanding the level of principle.
There are countless types of physical exercise in the world. There is slow and fast movement, small and big movements, light and heavy movements (in terms of muscle contraction) and there are combinations of all these. Imagine how many kinds of physical movements there are... and all this is there for you to explore.
When we first learn PDC/VB, we learn to do it in the most simple form, in a stationery posture where you contract and relax the muscles as an isometric exercise. You both contract and relax in the same posture. I tell my students to try simple variations of postures, for example by changing the width and depth of the stance (wider or lower) or by placing the arms in different ways. That's were you have to begin with because you need to learn the basic form and get the foundational insights of the unified plate, to then be able to shatter the form. From there one is entirely free to bring movement into the exercise. Slow, fast, light, heavy, small, big and any combination of these. From the physical perspective, we are just squeezing and relaxing the muscles. There is zero mysticality in this.
What we also do in PDC/VB is to hold the breath and this also one needs to learn from doing the basic version but when you've done your ground work, you (should) already understand what the breath retention does from your experience. You know how it works and what it does. You know that holding the breath together with muscle contraction unifies your vital energy or prana. Vital energy is evenly spread around the body and this makes you feel balanced and energized.
So again to break the form, you don't need to do the breath retention always and you don't need to do it always the same way. If you know the principle already, me saying this will set you free. If you don't know the principle, stick to the basic form until your intuition leads you out from it.
With the breath part of the exercise we are simply bringing more vital energy into our subtle body and balancing it. That's all. Those in advanced stage can play and explore with this all they want. This is not a mystical experience either.
The same goes for the tantric element, or mantras. The mantras are used to establish the basic state through the deities received through the empowerment. If we use RBY mantras, there will be emphasis on purification of the ten bhumis. If we use Guru mantras, guru's blessing will be emphasized and consequentially our own basic state (dharmakaya and sambhogakaya) is revealed. If we use the seed syllables of the mahasiddha bhumis, A BA HU, the same happens. If we use mantras of wrathful, peaceful, passionate or healing buddhas, the effect will be accordingly but again new students should do the basic form until the basic discoveries are made. Oh yeah, don't forget that yogic practice in whatever form is all about making discoveries, finding new things that keep you motivated.
If you plateau, and samsaric mind cannot avoid this, things get boring and dull, your motivation suffers and maybe you don't feel like practicing for few months or years until you realise that the suffering is still there. One of the reasons why I teach dynamic practices is that they completely pierce through the ten karmic bhumis, like a space ship takes off with enormous power to make it past Earth's gravitational pull. The gravitational pull of samsaric tendencies is there all the time, from morning til night, which is why I tell y students to keep punching it, whether they do DC or PDC, aloud or silently. You need to keep pushing through the atmosphere to have your buddhanature recognised, so that you can practice vipashyana in the most effective manner. It's all about the two modes but if you loose the first mode, your practice becomes a pancake. Sit as much as you can and study these things through your own experience. Don't rely on anyone elses sayings or experience. It is you and not others whose mind your purifying, and it is entirely up to you whether or not you see this to an end or not. We have buddhas in our sangha, so the method is now tested.
So, anyway, I was talking about mantras in PDC/VB. As long as you have recognition of empty and joyful buddhanature, you already have mantras. If you loose recognition and get distracted or tangled up in emotional reactions, you use mantras to re-establish. That's it, nothing mystical. So, when you understand this, you can take liberties with mantras as well.
Here, I have described the practice of PDC and VB from the perspective of the three bodies: physical, energetic and mind.
May all beings be free, happy, healthy and prosperous,
- Kim, 2.9.2021
