Yoga of the View

The Yoga of the View

from the Four Yogas of the Khandro Nyingtik

In the language of India: ḍākinī […] upadeśa
In the language of Tibet: mkha’ 'gro snying thig gi rnal 'byor bzhi’i man ngag

Homage to the Blessed One, the Three-Kāya Teacher!

I, Padma of Oḍḍiyāna,
Having synthesized tantras, scriptures and pith instructions,
Here present the instructions of the Heart-Essence
Of the Great Perfection’s Secret Mantra as four yogas.
May this meet with the karmically destined.
Gya. Gya. Gya.

All the teachings of the Heart-Essence of the Great Perfection are definitively established under the four categories of view, meditation, conduct, and fruition.

View

The yoga of the view itself has six parts: (1) the identity of the view, (2) the modes of realizing it, (3) its literal meaning, (4) its subdivisions, (5) the method of practice, and (6) names for the view.

1. Identity

This has three parts: (1) essence, (2) nature, and (3) responsiveness. The essence of the view is the fact that all phenomena are not established as real in any way. The nature of the view is the clear luminosity that is the self-radiance of emptiness. The responsiveness of the view is the immediate liberation of whatever arises.

The Word-Transcending says:

When it comes to seeing the essence of the view,
There is no role for the speculative or the verbal.

2. Modes of Realization

There are three modes of realization: outer, inner and secret. The outer method is to look at objects of perception, whether coarse or subtle, among the six senses, and to see that they appear yet are unreal, like stars and planets reflected in the ocean. The inner method is to look into the essence of the empty nature of reality, and to see that everything is unreal, like the centre of the sky. The secret method is to look into pure awareness and see directly without leaving anything to speculation. The Luminous Expanse says:

Everything—outer, inner and secret—
Is seen and realized to be the essence itself.

3. Literal Meaning

The view is so called since it involves seeing directly all the phenomena of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. A tantra says:

When dharmatā is seen sensorily,
That is what we call "the view".

4. Subdivisions

There are two types of view: (1) the common view and (2) the natural view. Common views include the various assertions of the nine successive vehicles. A tantra says:

The partial assertions of individual schools
Are held to be forms of speculative grasping.

These are known as "views of verbalist speculation". The natural view[1] includes the three aspects of outer, inner and secret mentioned above.

5. Practice

i. Outer

By looking undistractedly at external apparent objects and seeing that whatever appears is dreamlike and illusory, delusion is purified in its own place without having to be rejected, and afflictions are liberated there and then.

ii. Inner

By looking inwardly at the discursive thinking mind, all discursive thought naturally subsides, like mist vanishing into thin air, bringing freedom. The Union of the Sun and Moon says:

For one who has become familiar with
The absence of reality in objects of focus,
Appearance and emptiness are non-dual;
Sixfold perception is free and unconstrained.

And a tantra says:

By looking within at the stirring mind itself,
It is not rejected but naturally freed, like a breeze.

iii. Secret

By looking undistractedly into the clear radiant state of secret dharmatā, we become free from even the slightest grasping towards phenomena, and phenomena are exhausted within a state of primordial purity. Without Letters says:

Since there is no view, nothing is viewable.
Understand this in the state of non-viewing.
When you understand this point of the unborn,
You do not leave behind the point of the view.
The view is automatically absent; it does not exist.
You abide within that state.

iv. Most Secret

By looking undistractedly into the essence of directly apparent awareness, which is most secret, and seeing in a way that is directly sensorial, we are spontaneously freed from speculative views. The Self-Arisen says:

The view of one’s own awareness abides as follows:
As to its location, it resides in the centre of the heart.
As to its course, it arises by means of the eyes.
As to its domain, that is empty space.
In the essence of non-conceptual clarity,
Grasping thoughts are automatically absent.

The Lion’s Perfect Power says:

The ultimate view of all the buddhas
Is none other than space and awareness.

6. Names

When applying a name to such views, we call them the view of consummate inactivity. With the highest diligence, this brings awakening without physical remainder; with intermediate diligence, awakening in the bardo; and with inferior diligence, awakening in a nirmāṇakāya pure realm. The Union of the Sun and Moon says:

For the supreme, two births are not required.
For the intermediate, it happens between two births.
Those of lesser capacity find relief
As emanations whose own minds are liberated.

The other vehicles do not realize this point, yet for those who apply this yoga there will be no one who is not liberated through the view. Since they will find realization with no delusion concerning what comes earlier, later or in between, this is called the view of the complete exhaustion of phenomena with nothing further to be done.

That is the yoga of the view. Ithi.

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Tsadra Foundation, 2025.

Bibliography

Tibetan Editions

"lta ba’i rnal 'byor" In snying thig ya bzhi. 13 vols. Delhi: Sherab Gyaltsen Lama, 1975. Vol. 10: 515–520 (3 folios)

Version: 1.0-20250122