Shangpa Kagyu - Practice and Doctrine

Practice and Doctrine

There are many unique teachings in the Shangpa tradition, but the most important are "The Five Golden Teachings", also called the Five Golden Doctrines of the Shangpas (Tib., shangs pa gser chos lnga), a group of teachings envisioned as forming a tree,.

  1. The innermost teachings are the "Six Yogas of Niguma," which are very similar to the "Six Yogas of Naropa" practiced by all other Kagyu schools. The Six Teachings of Niguma include the teachings on heat, illusory-body, the dream state, sheer clarity, transference, and bardo (the intermediary state between death and birth)
  2. The next tier includes "The Locket Tradition of Mahamudra" which combines the mahamudra teachings of Niguma, Maitripa, and Sukhasiddhi.
  3. The teachings on the three methods of carrying one's understanding from meditation into daily activities.
  4. The practice of development and completion with the white and red dakinis.
  5. The teaching of the deathless nature of mind and body.

The principal Shangpa protector is the Six-Armed Mahakala, and it was from this transmission that the practices of this deity spread to other schools.

The Shangpa Kagyu is not always counted among the Dagpo Kagyu schools, widely known simply as "Kagyu" and coming from Tilopa, Naropa, Marpa, Milarepa and Gampopa. It is still called "Kagyu" because it is a whispered lineage. Another derivation for the name "Kagyu" is the use in the Shangpa School of a cycle of teachings called "Kagyama" (bka' rgya ma) which refers to "A Hundred Secret Things."

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