Riding the Tiger

A day of teaching exploring the rich and dramatic symbolism of inner Tantra, and the practice of yidam – wearing the body of visions.

We are all symbols of ourselves, of the nondual beings we actually are. We do not experience ourselves as real - whilst we cling to duality – instead our experience is a fabric of confusion and conditioning. What we experience ourselves to be is always symbolic of what we actually are. These dualistic symbols that we are – are radiant with the energy of the non-dual state. We may exist in a state of distortion but we are able to employ the energy of the distorted state itself to transform what we seem to be into what we actually are. Vajrayana employs symbol in order to transform symbol. We are self-secret realised beings, and the powerful methodology of Vajrayana enables us to discover this through the practice of yidam. The yidam is an anthropomorphic / andropomorphic symbol of our own non-dual state and the practice enables us to transform the dualistically deranged symbols of our conditioning into the non-dual symbol of the yidam, and the kyil’khor or non-dual environment of the yidam.

The yidam takes infinite forms because there are endless styles of confusion and these myriad forms are classified in three groups – as ‘peaceful’, ‘joyous’, and ‘wrathful’. These three are associated with the three distracted tendencies of the dualised condition: ‘indifference’, ‘attraction’, and ‘aversion’.

Symbolism may appear complex and mysterious – but it is a language which can be learnt and a tool with which we can come to understand the intrinsic beauty of all beings. The peaceful, joyous, and wrathful yidams are the key to realisation, but also to both personal dignity and to perceiving the dignity of others. These three categories cover every human body type – and in so doing, release us from the bondage of societal sanction with regard to how we appear.

Saturday 17th April

Two sessions from 10am to 1pm and from 2pm to 5pm London UK time