THERE IS A LEGEND of a female master, Machik Jobum, who lived sometime in the eleventh to twelfth century. After experiencing severe illness, her father taught her the Six Dharmas (Tibetan: Naro Chodruk), a series of meditations for accomplishing swift awakening. Practicing these meditations, she became a great adept and attained mastery over her body and mind. Machik Jobum had accumulated a heavy burden of negative karma due to a difficult past in which she had committed murder using black magic. However, the Six Dharmas were a remedy for her, providing a path to healing and redemption. Jobum’s story is recounted in Tibetan histories such as The Blue Annals and in Tāranātha’s history of the Kalachakra. It is a reminder that although this system is composed of advanced esoteric practices, they can be performed even while feeble, sick, or dying. The great teacher, the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339), said one of these meditations can even be done by lazy people.
Here, I will offer a glimpse into the history of these practices, their practice and purpose, and share notes on how you could apply this knowledge in your life.
IN BRIEF, the Six Dharmas are a system of meditations for the day, the night, and the time of death, according to Rangjung Dorje, who explained this in his . The two meditations to be done during the day are and illusory body, the two meditations to be done at night and . Bardo, in this case, emphasizes the liminal states in between death and rebirth, and phowa refers to the transference of consciousness at the time of death.
