Modern Luminous Science and Techniques

Emptiness transformed into gold

The Third International Conference on Vajrayāna Buddhism, held from 19 to 20 April 2019 in Bhutan, shows that the extensive use of the term “luminosity” is more than simply a metaphorical qualification of the nature of mind. “Radiant, monks, is this mind.” Like gold is radiant, because of its natural luster, yet can be covered by a thin layer of tarnish.

“Radiant, monks, is this mind. And it is defiled by transient defilements. An unlearned ordinary person does not understand that in accord with reality. Therefore I say, “An unlearned ordinary person does not have mental development.”

Radiant, monks, is this mind. And it is freed from transient defilements. A learned noble disciple person understands that in accord with reality. Therefore I say, “A learned noble disciple has mental development.”

The point of this sutta is that this radiant mind (citta) can be defiled by transient defilements or freed from them. “Pabhassara” in Pāli or “prabhāsvara” in Sanskrit, is radiant.

The radiance of gold is not produced by its own light, but through the reflection of light on it. Pure gold can reflect the light it receives more radiantly than tarnished gold. A radiant mind can reflect reality better than a tarnished mind. When prabhāsvara is translated as “luminous”, it could give the impression that mind (citta) gives out light by itself. The metaphor has its limits and a citta is not gold.

“Dignāga and Dharmakīrti asserted that the mind is “reflexively” aware of its own contents, including sensory contents. That is to say, in the same moment that the sensorycognitive image is produced, there is some type of awareness of that image. This serves as a backstop against the possibility of an infinite regress: if a second-order cognition is required to establish awareness of a first-order perception, then it stands to reason that awareness of this second-order cognition necessitates a third-order cognition of the second-order cognition, and so on. The contents of consciousness are thus “self-illuminating” (Skt. svaprakāśa, Tib. rang gis gsal ba) as in the simile of the lamp; consciousness illuminates itself at the same time that it illuminates the objects of perception, just as a lamp illuminates itself as it illuminates a darkened room.[1]”

This “reflexive awareness” is considered as a direct valid cognition (pramāṇa). “Reflexive awareness [is] the direct means (pratyakṣa-pramāṇa) by which the cognizer has access to the contents of cognition.” Reflexive awareness “illuminates” itself, is evident to itself, and may therefore be called “self-illuminating” (s. svaprakāśa). Does it give off light? That would be taking the simile too far.

In Ratnākaraśānti’s Pith Instructions for the Ornament of the Middle Way, “Ratnākaraśānti (ca. 970-1045 C.E.) frequently describes reflexive awareness as “luminous” (s. prakāśa, t. gsal ba) and often refers to it simply as “illumination” or “luminosity.” Ratnākaraśānti thus obfuscates the very thing that “illumination” or “luminosity” stands for, i.e. reflexive awareness, and “luminosity” starts living a life of its own. Emptiness and luminous reflexive awareness become Emptiness and luminosity. Gradually luminosity (mostly used in Yogācāra and Tantra) takes over fully and emptiness becomes a mere mark of “Buddhistness”.

Buddha Nature, called the “Great Self” (s. mahātman) in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, becomes the “Luminous Heart” for Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339), and is declared “to exist” in The Universal Inclusiveness [of Perfection] (t. Spyi bcings)

“The self exists. There is no other. Spontaneous perfection exists, as the Great Self. Because it is one with the state of Samantabhadra, there is no other. In [the notion of] no-self, one falls into the error of nihilism.[2]”

The Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje also is the author of “The Profound Inner Reality“ or “The Profound Inner Principles[3]” (t. Zab mo nang don), on the Anuttarayogatantras.

“Just as sugatagarbha, or buddha nature, is the nature of our mind, the potential for awakening lies within our body. The Mahāyāna literature refers to this pure potential as the evolving gotra, whereas the Vajrayāna refers to it as the “vajra body”—the subtle body of channels, winds, and bindus with six elements (earth, water, fire, wind, space, and wisdom-bliss). The vajra body is not only our innate capacity, it is also our path. Understanding its components and properties is essential for most meditators. The overarching theme of the text is that we need to understand how buddha nature is present in sentient beings, those on the path, and buddhas. All the details concerning the mind’s workings, the vajra body’s structures, and the meditations, paths, and stages will reinforce that understanding and give us insight into how and why the Vajrayāna path provides access to wisdom through the body.”

When we read that Vajrayāna valorizes “the body”, it is of course not our coarse impermanent body, but “the profound inner principles” it refers to, and that can help the yogi to achieve a “Luminous Body” or a “Light Body”. This indestructible “Vajra Body” was the theme of the Third International Conference on Vajrayāna Buddhism. Here it’s the “Hermeticist”-like approach of the Luminosity Body of Luminosity doctrine that’s celebrated. It is often considered as the only “non-concptual” means to achieve Buddhahood and immortality.

“Unless you know the hidden nature of the body, none of the 84,000 methods [of Vajrayāna Buddhism] will yield any fruit.” Sampuṭa Tantra

“Even a Buddha, as long as [he remains] unperfected [by means of the practice taught in the Amṛtasiddhi], is considered a worldly man.[4]

As long as one doesn’t know the hidden nature of the body and practice the Amṛtasiddhi, one and including the Buddha, will remain a saṃsārika. This is why the knowledge and the practice of Vajra Yoga is vital in the sense of access to a pneuma-spiritual life and immortality. In a way one could say the building of a daimonic and angelic body, daimonifcation and deification.

“Unlike Theravāda Buddhist doctrines that present male and female bodies as sources of suffering and limitation, Vajrayāna celebrates the human body as an indispensible vehicle of enlightenment”, writes Ian A. Baker. “an incorruptible imaginal body of intangible energy channels (nāḍī), energetic currents (prāṇa), and vital essences (bindu) that arises experientially through the skilful means of completion stage Vajrayāna practices.[5]”

Dr. Asa Hershoff at the 3d International Conference on Vajrayāna Buddhism

Through Vajra Yoga this body can be revealed as “an unimpeded flow of luminous awareness[6]”. Dr. Asa Hershoff (“The Vajrayāna Light Body: The Interface of Biophysics and Tradition”) seems to view a Light Body in Biophysics ways that may be compatible with transhumanist goals.

“The development of a light body or rainbow body (‘ja’ lus) within the human organism is a central goal in the advanced practice of Vajrayāna.”

“The Light (Tib. ö-lü) or Rainbow Body (Tib. ja-lü) is constructed of an overall quantum photonic or energetic field, with a coherent structure and complex anatomy, for which we have no examples in the natural world.”

The ambition of the “creation of a luminous vehicle of consciousness” is found in other spiritual traditions:.”Christian, Alchemical, Japanese Shingon, Greek, Egyptian, Gnostic, Manichean, Kaballistic and Zoroastrian”. More specifically:

“The Divine Body (Shaivism), Immortal Body (Daoism), Supracelestial Body (Sufism), Resurrection Body (Christian), Karast or Luminous Body (Ancient Egyptian), Kesdjan Body (Gurdjieffian), Golden Body (Alchemical) and of course the Light Body (LB) or Rainbow Body of Vajrayāna Buddhism.”

The fact that the “Light Body”, until now, didn’t get the scientific treatment it deserved may have been due to “problems involving cultural, linguistic and psychological obstacles, including a lack of monastic facilities or the complexity of modern life.” “Mindfulness” and “Buddhist Psychology” did get some scientific attention, but not Vajrayāna and its Light Body.

For Dr. Asa Hershoff “the Primo Vascular System (PVS) has become the prime candidate for the traditional energy channels or tsa, including a possible transmission of biophotons i.e. light particles (Soh, 2004). These begin to come close to explaining familiar Vajrayāna practices, such as mantra-recitation, tsa lung (wind-channels), yidam (self-deity) visualization and tummo (inner heat).”

Dr. Asa Hershoff talks about the Nature of Light, and about the role of the electromagnetic force of the light-wave photon particle, “the real glue that binds all life together, the energy currency of reality as we know it” and “photons are the carriers of packets of information of every kind”. He compares “Cells of Light” with “bindus” (t. thig le) and “Channels of Light” with “nāḍīs” (t. rtsa) and talks about “The Illuminated Brain” as “a nexus of both the generation and remote inflow of biophoton and electromagnetic energies”.

“The central actor in this luminous drama seems to be the thalamus area.” According to Bókkon[7] “actual biophysical (biophoton) pictures can be formed in the retina and elsewhere (Bokkon, Salari, Tuszynski, & Anta, 2010).” Asa Hershoff points to the implications of Bókkon's theory “for the intense visualizations, and internal body focus of Vajrayāna creation stage practices. It also shows the importance of these phenomena in completion stage practices, like tögyal (leap over) or tummo (inner heat). This also is the setting for the appearance of consciousness experience altogether.”

“The process of connecting to a spiritual master or mentor is a ritualized empowerment, whereby there is a direct transmission to the students. This process gives them formal permission to perform meditation practices involving specific deities using visualization and mantric operations. But it is also considered to impart the “seed” of enlightenment and the development of a future Light Body to the student. This “wave of grace” (Tib. jin-lab) resides within, to be watered and nourished by regular practice. Quantum entanglement suggests that this is not merely symbolic or psychological, but a direct biophotonic transmission.”

“Through the empowerment process the student is related to the teacher and teachings – and the unknown quantum fields that relate to Vajrayāna deities, pure lands, and enlightened lineage masters of the past – from that day forward.”

For Dr. Asa Hershoff this also sheds a new light on samaya (t. dam tshig), the sacred bond between a teacher and a student, which is now about “maintaining one’s quantum entanglement”. Luminous Consciousness is actually “Biophotonic Consciousness”, “hold[ing] information in a holonic or holographic way” (Karl Pribram). The link between macrocosmos and microcosmos[8] can be explained through the “Endogenous Light Nexus Theory”.

“[I]n this model the holographic interface created in the brain is seen to act as a “receiving set” for the expression of consciousness, just as a television, radio or computer receives transmissions from an external signal or broadcast – AM, FM, TV or wi-fi.”

“The purpose of this entire neurophotonic array is to provide an interface of consciousness between mind and what has been termed original mind, natural mind, cosmic mind or Buddha mind.”

In an ordinary setting we humans “experience Buddha mind at a “low resolution”, a low wavelength, etc. Vajra Yoga will boost these transmissions and biophoton levels, in a way we will attain siddhis, or “Powers of Light”. Once we develop an “anatomical” body formed of light”, “this photonic form would be free to travel in time, be in several places at once (bilocation), be capable of invisibility or possess the power of flight, as well as having prescience (precognition) and a broad insight into the causes and effects of people’s words and deeds (telepathy).”

As Dr. Asa Hershoff writes, this may sound like the stuff of science fiction, or transhumanism, but having a “photonstructured form would account for having “inexhaustible nourishment” and “many other super human abilities”. Dr. Hershoff will write future papers about the integration of discoveries and concepts of biophysics in “a theoretical framework for the formation of a Light Body template in creation stage yidam practice, and the ultimate implosion and dissolution of cellular structure in Inner Heat [gtum mo] and other completion stage methods.”

What if Yogācāra, Tantra and Vajra Yoga had always been right? Emptiness and Madhyamaka were merely a stepping stone for Luminous Buddhism. Just like science, Buddhism may have gone through a more magical period, during which rituals, sādhanas and the practice of immortality yoga determined its deeper goals; more wishful thinking than science. But Biophysics now opens up the possibility to scientifically realize, yes realize, the goals of Vajrayāna and Vajra Yoga, through “photonic science” (Luminous Science) and Biophysical “techniques”, not “practice”.

“Similar to Buddhist teachings on the ultimate nature of reality (Mahamudra or Dzokchen), photonic science indicates that the underlying radiance of experience, and the non-finite consciousness that accompanies this light, is as near as the present moment.”

The link between Luminosity and Emptiness? Biophotons are empty…
Anyway Luminosity swallows Emptiness, digests it and shits it out as luminous turds.

***

[1] Alexander Yiannopoulos, Luminosity, Reflexive Awareness in Ratnākaraśānti’s Pith Instructions for the Ornament of the Middle Way, 2017

[2] Karen Liljenberg, On the Thig le drug pa and the sPyi chings, two of the Thirteen Later Translations of the rDzogs chen Mind Series, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, numéro vingt-quatre — Octobre 2012

[3] Callahan, Elizabeth M., trans. The Profound Inner Principles. By Rangjung Dorje (rang byung rdo rje), the Third Karmapa. With Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye's Commentary Illuminating "The Profound Principles." Tsadra Foundation Series. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, 2015.

[4] James Mallinson and Szántó Péter-Dániel. The Amṛtasiddhi and Amṛtasiddhimūla, The Earliest Texts of the Hathayoga Tradition (Institut français de Pondichéry, 2022), 32.3.ab tāvad buddho 'py asiddho 'sau narah. sām.sāriko matah.

[5] The Vajra Body in Tantric Buddhist Practice: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

[6] “While the creation stage practices of Vajrayāna Buddhism actively engage imagination, intellect, and emotion in liberating reified perceptions of reality, subtler yogic practices of the completion stage extend the process through an envisioned metaphysical anatomy activated through mental focus, respiratory control, and the dynamic physical disciplines of tsalung trulkhor, the ‘magical wheel of channels and winds’ that reveal the body as an unimpeded flow of luminous awareness.”

[7] Bókkon, I., Salari, V., Tuszynski, J. A., & Anta, I. (2010). Estimation of the number of biophotons involved in the visual perception of a single object image: Biophoton intensity can be considerably higher inside cells than outside. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B, 100(3), 160-166. doi:10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2010.06.001

[8] “In every Vajrayāna lineage, major and minor, this merging of outer and inner forces is held as essential to any progress on the path. This is reflected in the familiar symbol of the human skull cup filled with nectar (Skt. amrita; Tib. dutsi), representing the merging of the outer world and its contents (sentient beings) dissolving into their original “pure” nature of the five elements and the five pure lights.” Dr. Asa Hershoff