Tilopa cave in Mandi - Himachal Pradesh

Mahasiddha Tilopa's Cave in Mandi
This fotos shows the entrance of the small cave where Mahasiddha Tilopa practiced and actually realized the Nature of the Mind or Semnyi (sems nyid) through the Practice of Vajrayogini.
Tilopa (Prakrit; Sanskrit: Talika or Tilopada) (988-1069) was born in either Chativavo (Chittagong), Bengal or Jagora, Bengal in India. He was a tantric practitioner and mahasiddha. He practiced Anuttarayoga Tantra, a set of spiritual practices intended to accelerate the process of attaining Buddhahood. Naropa is considered his main student. At Pashupatinath temple premise, greatest Hindu shrine of Nepal, there are two caves where Tilopa attained Siddhi and initiated his disciple Naropa.
Tilopa was born into the priestly caste - according to some sources, a royal family - but he adopted the monastic life upon receiving orders from a dakini (female buddha whose activity is to inspire practitioners) who told him to adopt a mendicant and itinerant existence. From the beginning, she made it clear to Tilopa that his real parents were not the persons who had raised him, but instead were primordial wisdom and universal voidness. Advised by the dakini, Tilopa gradually took up a monk's life, taking the monastic vows and becoming an erudite scholar. The frequent visits of his dakini teacher continued to guide his spiritual path and close the gap to enlightenment.
He began to travel throughout India, receiving teachings from many gurus:
from Saryapa he learned of inner heat (Sanskrit: caṇḍalī, Tib. tummo, inner heat);
from Nagarjuna he received the radiant light (Sanskrit: prabashvara) and illusory body (Sanskrit: maya deha, Tib. gyulu) teachings (Cakrasaṃvara Tantra), Lagusamvara tantra, or Heruka Abhidharma);
from Lawapa, the dream yoga;
from Sukhasiddhi, the teachings on life, death, and the bardo (between life states, and consciousness transference) (phowa);
from Indrabhuti, he learned of wisdom (prajña);
and from Matangi, the resurrection of the dead body.
As advised by Matangi, Tilopa started to work at a brothel in Bengal for a prostitute called Dharima as her solicitor and bouncer. During the day, he was grinding sesame seeds for his living. During a meditation, he received a vision of Vajradhara and, according to legend, the entirety of mahamudra was directly transmitted to Tilopa. After having received the transmission, Tilopa embarked on a wandering existence and started to teach. He appointed Naropa, his most important student, as his successor.
Tilopa gave Naropa a teaching called the Six Words of Advice, the original Sanskrit or Bengali of which is not extant; the text has reached us in Tibetan translation. In Tibetan, the teaching is called Nekyi Zer Drug (gnad kyi gzer drug), the Six Nails [Pinpointing the Vital Points, the aptness of which title becomes clear if one considers the meaning of the English idiomatic expression, "to hit the nail on the head.”
Text Via Naldjor 🙏🏻 #tsopema #india #padmasambhava #mandarava #rewalsarlake #chogyamtrungpa #mandi #retreat #happyholi2024 #nuns

[@krimkara27]

thank you for sharing!

[@soniagomes8505]

@@krimkara27 most welcome !

[@lighturself]

tilopa says relax right here right now . nothing else matters

[@soniagomes8505]

🙏