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Naropa: Karmamudra Yoga



The practitioner who if free from doubts and who wishes
To engage in vast activities for the benefit of the world [bodhichitta]
Should seek the great bliss [ecstasy] which is the secret of the dakinis.
He should rely on a mudra [woman] who is between
The ages of sixteen and twenty-five,
A diamond-like yogini qualified [educated] for the tantric sexual practices,
Such as the lotus-like, antelope-like, or conch-shell-like.
That fortunate practitioner, who is as though a Heruka Chakrasamvara,
Should, without grasping at duality, seek her sexual embrace
And sport in both worldly [physical] and beyond-worldly [internal] delight.

The drop [of sexual energy] that descends [from within to the sexual organ] is to be retained [no orgasm], reversed,
And diffused to the appropriate sites.
This diffusion is to be done pervasively:
An eagle drinking the essence,
Like a lion, elephant, peacock, tiger and turtle.
And behold! Three aspects of the four blisses appear, making twelve.

The innate wisdom of inseparable nature is revealed,
And whatever occurs arises as non-worldly great bliss.
The secret initiation, mudra, nectar, pills:
Half of half of sixteen drops means four are given.
Bliss spreads through the four chakras and three channels.

If the yogi is drunk with mindlessness and attachment,
He misses the essence and falls to the realms of misery;
But if he applies the yogic techniques well,
Undoubtedly he will achieve buddhahood in this lifetime.

Vajra Verses of the Whispered Tradition by Naropa [mid-eleventh century]. Published by Snow Lion (1997) in The Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa, translated by Glenn H. Mullin.