Will You Reincarnate?

By Asa Hershoff | June 3, 2023

Reincarnation is not guaranteed, since we have to understand who or what is capable of such an extraordinary thing.. Here are some answers…

Biological Chakra Stack

The Mystery of the Dual System of Vajrayana Chakras

By Asa Hershoff | November 23, 2022

The Buddhist chakras, except for a few specific tantras, are described as five in nature. You would naturally expect them to stack up according to their hierarchy, their density, their sequential refinement, just as in the Shaivite approach and their hapless inheritor, the Western New Age chakra system. After all, that is how humans seem to be built. The vertical stack of human anatomy is our natural, biological makeup as our form and function span the gamut, from earth to sky.
But the tantric path is about building a new body, a new form, one commonly referred to as a light body or rainbow body. The meditations we superimpose (the spritual stack) on our normal bioenergetic hierarchy (the biological stack) are revolutionary.

Are You a Knowledge-Holder?

By Asa Hershoff | January 29, 2022

Information belongs to Persona. But knowledge is something that has entered you, become a part of your being, the fabric of your mind-body. You could say it integrates with our energetic DNA, our soul, our true self. It becomes part of Essence. However, even if you live a long and fruitful life, those particles of true knowledge are not such frequent visitors. There are not hundreds or even scores of them. In a life well-lived, there may only be a dozen things that we know from our core of certainty, that resonant with every atom of our being. And thus the rig-dzin, the knowledge-holder. Most people will accumulate information, good and bad, spiritual and worldly. Many of course will not pursue deeper knowledge of the world, of their human nature, of the meaning of life or the possibility of transformation. J. G. Bennett called such people psychostatic, as opposed to psychodynamic. But even for those that are fascinated, interested or involved with transformative information, esoteric subjects or religious traditions, it may not percolate into the core.

Breaking the Prison of Meditation

By Asa Hershoff | September 6, 2021

Something from nothing Like any religion, Vajrayana developed a codified set of rules, systems, behaviors, philosophies, and practices intended to guide the seeker sequentially along the stages of the path, directing them toward enlightenment, realization, moksha, the godhead, illumination, or a thousand other names that hint at our ultimate human potential. Some of these systems […]

Trauma and Transformation

By Asa Hershoff | June 19, 2021

TRAUMA DHARMA The greatest obstacle to spiritual development is-not what you might think. Various religious and spiritual pathways talk about our disturbed emotions, our anger, our anxiety, our past actions. Others dwell on the persistent clinging or attachment to various aspects of our outer world and inner experience. Still others site our self-centeredness, our  grasping […]

Purity, Impurity & the 5 Elements

By Asa Hershoff | March 8, 2021

Because impurity exists, so does purification. We have a certain biological nature, a certain mental harmony, a certain inherent purpose, and a certain amount of free will. In all these cases there can be contamination. This can happen as part of collective karma, being born in difficult times or places. We may be victimized (for example, by glycosphate in our food). Or we may make bad choices (eating processed junk food), or we may intentionally poison ourself or others (smoking or selling cigarettes). There are degrees of harm and a seeming infinite number of circumstances and variables that only discriminating wisdom can differentiate.

In Search of the Elemental Body

By Asa Hershoff | January 9, 2021

There are good reasons why we should want to know our Buddha-Elemental family connection, organically and inherently. It directs us towards the deities, protectors, meditations and mantras that are aligned with our nature.
Since the five Buddha families are also expressed as the five Elements, this orientation can be a roadmap to one’s entire life trajectory. We expect a strong correspondence between spiritual typology, psychological type, and body type, giving guidance towards our career, lifestyle, diet, activities and more.

The Mystery of the 5 Elements

By Asa Hershoff | December 6, 2020

The Mystery of the Five Elements The Elemental Conundrum The five Elements are the very bedrock of Vajrayana. Which makes it all the more extraordinary that, to date, there has been no attempt to define more precisely what these phenomena are, and how they exist as principles that structure our entire world. Those master yogins […]

Meditator made of triangles

Light Body 10—When 3 becomes 4.

By Asa Hershoff | October 11, 2020

The formative forces known as the 5 Elements are a core principle of body, mind and spirit. But the Law of Three is also an essential ingredient that we need to understand…

Rainbow Body 9—Dying into the (Elemental) Light

By Asa Hershoff | August 8, 2020

The Road Beyond this Life An individual who achieves a fully perfected Light Body or Rainbow Body in this very life is like a hologram, a gossamer web of photons, a powerful electromagnetic field that holds to human form until that allotted moment when it is time to leave the bubble of flesh behind. In […]