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Brief Presentation of Channels, Winds, and Drops according to Kālacakra Tradition

Changkya Rölpa Dorjé 1717-1786

Gavin Kilty, translator

Introduction

The Kālacakratantra stands apart from other Highest Yoga Tantras. In its description of the vajra body, which is the basis of completion stage practices—the presentation of cakra channels, the winds that move through them, and the vital drops positioned in the vajra body—it differs from that of the Guhyasamāja, which epitomizes Highest Yoga Tantra. The path it presents is also at variance in its presentation of the concept of empty form as the basic substantial vehicle for the development of the enlightened body. This is a quite different phenomenon to the illusory body presented by the Guhyasamāja and other tantras. Because of this concept of empty form, the Kālacakra does not present the possibility of gaining enlightenment in the intermediate of the bardo state of existence. The resultant enlightened attainment is gained by methods unique to Kālacakra, in which the ordinary body of flesh and blood and the 21,600 winds of karma are alchemically transformed by the six yoga completion stage practices into the final enlightened and empty form Kālacakra.

The Kālacakratantra also utilizes in far greater detail than other tantras the observed external cosmos as part of its inner and outer correspondence, which forms its basis of phenomena to be purified. Thus, external planetary movements are replicated in the bodily internal movements of the winds, etc.

Because of these categorical differences it was deemed necessary by past masters of tantra to present the distinguishing features of this tantra separately. The short text translated below is an example.

Within the Kālacakra tradition itself there are differing assertions on the base, path, and result. This text’s presentation on the channels, winds, and drops differs a little from those of other authors.

The author

Changkya Rölpa Dorjé was born in 1717 to a nomad family of Mongolian ancestry in northern Tsongkha where people of Tibetan and Chinese stock lived side by side. He was recognized as the third incarnation of the Changya Tulku line. At the feet of many a great master he became learned and practiced in sutra and tantra. He was invited to central Tibet by Kelsang Gyatso, the Seventh Dalai Lama, whose biography he eventually wrote. Having mastered Chinese, Manchu, and Mongolian, he organized the translation of the Kangyur into Mongolian and Manchu. He was honored by Mongolian emperors and invited to Beijing where he built many Tibetan-style monasteries.

His compositions comprise nine volumes and include a famous work on tenets and the wonderful spontaneous poem on understanding emptiness called Recognizing My Old Mother. He built Evam Gakyil hermitage in Wutaishan, or Five-Peak Mountain, China in 1767, which was where he died in 1786.

Brief Presentation of Channels, Winds, and Drops according to Kālacakra Tradition

Prostrations to the gurus

The stationary channels

The three main channels—central, left, and right—are located together inside the life channel hosted by the spine and are somewhat closer to its rear than to its front. The upper tips curve forward inside the skull and drop down from the crown to a point midway between the eyebrows. The openings of the left and right channels protrude down to the left and right nostrils. The central or dhūtı channel is midway between these two. The lower openings of all three reach as far as the tip of the vajra opening.

The cakras¹ are those of the six families. The space cakra at the crown is green and has four petals.² The water cakra at the forehead is white and has four inner petals, eight intermediate and four outer petals, two of which are empty.³ The fire cakra at the throat is red and has four inner petals, eight intermediate petals, and thirty-two outer petals, of which four are empty. The air cakra in the center of the heart is black and has eight petals. The earth cakra at the navel is yellow and has four inner petals, eight petals outside of that, and sixteen outside of that, of which four are empty petals. Of the remaining twelve, six branch off from the right channel and are named Capricorn, Pisces, Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio—the six houses of the sun’s northern passage. The other six branch off from the left channel and are named Aquarius, Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius—the six houses of the sun’s southern passage.⁴ Outside of these each of the twelve splits off into five petals to make sixty-four when the four empty petals of the intermediate directions are included. The gnosis cakra at the secret place is blue and has six inner petals, ten intermediate and sixteen outer petals. Therefore, it is said to have thirty-two petals, but this method of counting differs from that of the navel cakra and others where the inner and intermediate petals are not included in the count.

From the center of the navel upwards the dhūtı central channel is known as the “channel which eliminates” (the other two channels), avadhūtī, the Rāhu channel, and the neuter channel. It is black and carries wind. The right channel is known as rasanā, the sun channel, and the wisdom channel. It is red and mainly carries blood or menstrual blood. The left channel is known as lalanā, the moon channel, and the channel of method. It is white and mainly carries seminal fluid.

Below the navel the continuation of the dhūti central channel is known as śaṅkhinı. It curves to the right, belongs to the gnosis element, is colored blue, carries seminal fluid, and is also known as the kālāgni channel. The continuation of the right channel is known as piṅgalā. It curves to the left, is of the air element, black, and carries urine. The continuation of the left channel below the navel is known as meṣa. It travels down the middle of the body, is of the earth element, yellow, and carries excrement.

These are called the six upper and lower major channels. The upper three mainly carry the life-sustaining wind and the lower three carry mainly the downwardly expelling wind.

The twelve main channels at the navel each divide up into five, and their continuation spreads throughout the body. Each of these divides up into six channels, and together they form the thirty channel petals on each of the twelve major joints of the arms and legs. These in turn divide to form the 360 channels of the fingers and toes, and so on. In total there are 72,000 channels. All channels originally divide up from the eight channel petals of the heart cakra.

The mobile winds

There are ten main winds: life-sustaining wind, downwardly expelling wind, coexisting wind, upwardly moving wind, pervading wind, nāga wind, turtle wind, lizard wind, devadatta wind, and dhanaṃjaya wind. In this tradition winds are not classified as main and secondary winds.

The coexisting wind and turtle wind flow through the east and southeastern petals of the heart cakra. The upwardly moving wind and the lizard wind flow through the south and southwestern petals. The pervading wind and devadatta wind flow through the north and northeastern petals. The nāga wind and dhanaṃjaya wind flow through the west and northwestern petals of the heart cakra.⁵

The life-sustaining wind is of the space element. The downwardly expelling wind is of the gnosis element. The coexisting wind and turtle wind are of the air element. The upwardly moving wind and lizard wind are of the fire element. The pervading wind and devadatta wind are of the water element. The nāga wind and dhanaṃjaya wind are of the earth element.

From the ten winds of the heart cakra winds flow to the cakras of navel, etc. and to all channels located within the body. Therefore, all winds of the body are permeated by the ten winds of the heart cakra.

According to this tradition the twelve great wind shifts occur as follows.⁶ One thousand, seven hundred and forty-three and three-quarter breaths flow uninterruptedly from a particular zodiacal petal of the navel cakra. This is followed by fifty-six and a quarter winds from the central channel. This constitutes one great wind shift. The same process then moves to another navel petal. In this way the great shifts are completed in the twelve zodiacal channels in a single day, resulting in twenty-one thousand, six hundred breaths. If the breaths flowing through the central channel are not counted separately, then in one day the flow of winds in each channel totals eighteen hundred.⁷

On the right the winds flow earth, water, fire, air, space, and earth. On the left they flow space, air, fire, water, earth, and space, constituting six great shifts from each side. The first channel petals in the great shift process are toward the back of the body. The latter channel petals are towards the front of the body.

This process can be illustrated from the time that the shifts begin in the navel channel petals on the right. First one thousand, seven hundred and forty-three and three-quarter earth-maṇḍala breaths flow from the first petal on the right. At this time the same number of earth-maṇḍala breaths flow solely through the right nostril. After that fifty-six and a quarter breaths flow from the central channel. At that time, apart from the quarter breath which when completed in the central pathway does not reach the nostrils, the remaining breaths flow equally through both nostrils. Then without any intervening pause, space-maṇḍala winds of the same quantity as described above flow from the first petal on the left. These flow through the left nostril. This is followed by winds of the same quantity as described above flowing from the central channel and passing equally through both nostrils. Again winds of the water maṇḍala flow from the second channel petal on the right, and so on.

In brief, the cycle of earth, space, water, air, fire, fire again, air, water, space, earth, earth again, and space make up the twelve great shifts. There are six channel petals on each side but only five maṇḍalas. Therefore, there are two earth maṇḍalas on the right and two space maṇḍalas on the left. These are separate channel petals and therefore belong to individual shifts, but it is taught that they are each counted as a single maṇḍala.

Externally, when the sun has completed the six great shifts of its southern passage, it moves on to the six great shifts of its northern passage. Inwardly, however, the process alternates between right and left channel petals as described above.

The twelve channels of the navel each divide up into a further five channels to make sixty lesser channels, through which the maṇḍalas of the minor elements flow. These are known as the maṇḍalas of the lesser shifts or the maṇḍalas of the minor elements. These are described as follows. The earth-maṇḍala wind that flows through the first channel petal during the great shift on the right side has parts corresponding to five elements. These elements flow as follows. Together with the number of earth-maṇḍala winds that flow through the first greater channel on the right as described previously, three hundred and forty-eight and three-quarter minor element earth-maṇḍala winds flow through the first lesser channel. Likewise, a similar number of breaths of water, fire, air, and space flow through the second, third, fourth, and fifth lesser channels, respectively. After that, fifty-six and a quarter gnosis winds flow though the central channel. The same process is repeated with the first channel of the left.

All five lesser channels that branch off from the first great channel on the right are pervaded by the earth maṇḍala in the sense of its being the dominant maṇḍala. A similar correspondence is made with the other groups of lesser channels. All six sets of five lesser channels on the right carry their winds in the dissolution order of earth, water, fire, air, and space. The corresponding sets of channels on the left carry their winds in the creation order of space, air, fire, water, and earth. In this way it can be understood that each great shift of wind at the nostrils carries five minor shifts of wind.

The predominant wind in the upper pathways of the three main channels is the life-sustaining wind. The predominant wind in their lower pathways is the downwardly expelling wind.

Whether it is from the left or right nostril, the earth-maṇḍala wind emerges for twelve finger widths, the water-maṇḍala thirteen finger widths, the fire fourteen, the air fifteen, and the space-maṇḍala wind travels a distance of sixteen finger widths outside the nostrils. When these winds enter the nostrils, the earth-maṇḍala reaches the navel before it returns. The water-maṇḍala stops one finger width before the navel, the fire two finger widths, the air three, and the space-maṇḍala stops four finger widths before the navel and then returns. The flow of the gnosis wind will be the same as the particular maṇḍala winds it follows.

In this tantra the five breath maṇḍalas of the left nostril are known as maṇḍalas of the five aggregates, and the five of the right nostril are known as the maṇḍalas of the five elements. Winds on the left are known as method winds, and those on the right are wisdom winds.

The positioned bodhicitta drops

The center of the forehead cakra carries the body drop that creates the waking state. The throat cakra carries the speech drop creating the dream state. The heart cakra contains the mind drop that creates the deep sleep state. The navel cakra carries the gnosis drop that creates the fourth state.⁸ Furthermore, it is taught that the navel, the secret area, the center of the vajra jewel, and the tip of the jewel also carry drops of the waking, dream, deep sleep, and fourth states, respectively.

These drops comprise vital fluid, blood, and wind. In the drops at the throat, navel, and secret area the quantity of red element is greater than that of the white element. At the crown cakra and at the lower end of the central channel in the vajra jewel the quantity of white element is greater than that of the red element. The red element at the navel is the source of all the red element in the body. The white element at the crown is the source of all the white element in the body. At the heart the white and red elements are equal in quantity. The very subtle wind and mind exists in these four drops by way of absorption. The size of a drop is that of a mustard seed.

This brief presentation of channels, winds, and drops according to Kālacakra tradition has been compiled from the teachings of the great master and his disciples and has been set down as a memory aid for its author, Changkya Rölpa Dorjé. The scribe was the monk Lotsawa Ngawang Chöpel, widely learned in many aspects of Dharma.

By this work, may the virtuous and uncontaminated path of the great secret vehicle spread in all directions.

Translated by Gavin Kilty, Devon, England, September 2006

Endnotes

1. Lit. “channel wheels,” but “cakra” has now been naturalized into English.

2. The petals too are channels.

3. No winds flow through empty petals.

4. According to Khedrup Norsang Gyatso in his Ornament of Stainless Light (Library of Tibetan Classics, vol. 14, Wisdom Publications: Boston, 2004) these two sets of six petals are arranged in the order given, but as listed here the two sets do not represent the zodiacal signs the sun passes through in its northern and southern passages. The signs or houses of the northern passage are, in order: Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and of the southern passage Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius. Therefore, the movement of the airs through these petals to correspond with the sun moving through the signs jumps from one set to the others, from Capricorn to Aquarius, and so on.

5. The locations of the winds as taught here differ considerably from locations as taught in Ornament of Stainless Light.

6. A great wind shift or movement occurs within the body about every two hours, corresponding to a new zodiacal ascendant appearing on the horizon also about every two hours.

7. Here “winds” and “breaths” are interchangeable terms.

8. The fourth state is the bliss of orgasm.