Seven-point posture of Vairochana

Yogi in seven point posture. Source: Himalaya Art Resources.

Seven-point posture of Vairochana (T. rnam snang chos bdun). The seven physical disciplines to be maintained during a formal meditation in Buddhist practice.

The seven points are:

1. sitting cross-legged or in vajra posture (T. rkang ba skyil krung རྐང་པ་སྐྱིལ་ཀྲུང)
2. hands in the positions of equipoise (T. lag pa mnyam bzhag ལག་པ་མཉམ་བཞག་) — the right hand lying palm upward on the upturned left hand
3. spine straight (T. sgal tshigs drang por bsrang ba སྒལ་ཚིག་དྲང་པོ་བསྲང་བ།)
4. neck slightly bent forward (T. mgrin cung zad gug pa མགྲེན་པ་ཅུང་ཟད་གུག་པ།)
5. shoulders spread like the wings of a vulture (T. dpung ba rgod gshog ltar brkyangs pa དཔུང་པ་གཤོལ་ལྟར་བརྐྱངས་པ།)
6. gaze resting at the tip of the nose (T. mig sna rtser phabs pa མིག་སྣ་རྩེར་ཕབ་པ།)
7. tongue touching the palate (T. lce ya rkan la sbyar ba ལྕེ་རྩེ་ཡ་རྐན་ལ་སྦྱར་བ།)

Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang states:

The essential point for the body is to sit in the seven-point posture of Vairochana: legs crossed in the vajra posture; hands in the gesture of equanimity; the spine straight like a stack of coins; shoulders stretched apart and relaxed; the neck slightly bent; tongue touching the palate; and the eyes gazing in the direction of the tip of the nose.

Dudjom Rinpoche states:

As the essential point for the body, sit in the seven-point posture of Vairochana or in any other comfortable posture with your back straight. As long as you are practicing the step-by-step instructions, apart from when you have to adopt any general or specific physical postures, never sit in an ordinary fashion, lying or leaning against anything. The reason for this is that the body is like a city, the channels are like the streets in it, the subtle energy in them is like a horse, and the consciousness is like a crippled rider. If movement is bound, the street junctions are blocked and it is impossible for the rider and horse trapped inside to move. And just as the scales a snake uses for locomotion do not stand out unless one twists the snake, unless the body is placed into the posture, the mind will not stay still. If the right conditions are arranged in the body, realization will take birth in the mind. This is the first thing the teachers of the past have mentioned in the profound instructions.

Patrul Rinpoche states:

Whenever you practice concentration, it is important to sit in the "seven point posture of Vairocana" with your eyes maintaining the appropriate gaze. It is said:

When the body is straight, the channels are straight;

When the channels are straight, the energies are straight;

When the energies are straight, the mind is straight.

The Bhavanakrama of Kamalashila states:

One should sit in the full vajra posture of Vairochana, or the half vajra posture, on a comfortable cushion. The eyes should not be too widely opened or too tightly closed. Let them focus on the tip of the nose. The body should not be bent forward or backward. Keep it straight and turn the attention inwards. The shoulders should rest in their natural position and the head should not lean back, forward, or to either side. The nose should be in line with the navel. The teeth and lips should rest in their natural state with the tongue touching the upper palate. Breathe very gently and softly without causing any noise, without laboring, and without unevenness. Inhale and exhale naturally, slowly, and unnoticeably.

The Bhavanakrama is often quoted by Tibetan writers and scholars in expounding on the Seven Point Posture of Vairochana.

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 
• Dalai Lama (2003), Stages of Meditation, Snow Lion 
• Dudjom Rinpoche (2011), A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom: Complete Instructions on the Preliminary Practices, translated by Padmakara Translation Group, Shambhala 
• Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang (2011), A Guide to the Words of My Perfect Teacher, translated by Padmakara Translation Group, Shambhala 
• Patrul Rinpoche (1998), Words of My Perfect Teacher, translated by Padmakara Translation Group, Altamira Press 

External links

• Seven-point posture of Vairochana, Rigpa Shedra Wiki