Transform with H.E. Kalu Rinpoche in
The Illusory Body and Mind
A rare online Vajrayana course in the Shangpa tradition
Join The Illusory Body and Mind now and begin your transformation.
Use code WAIBM2507 by September 15 to access the full course for just $177.
This course is in self-study mode, so you can take it at your own pace. After enrolling, check your email for a welcome email with instructions on how to take the course. When you enroll in any Wisdom Academy course, you agree to our terms of use. Enrolled students have lifetime access to course materials. Wisdom is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your tuition supports the creation of more courses like this one. Thank you! For more about our terms, please see the Wisdom Academy FAQ.
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What You’ll Gain from This Course
- Cultivate unshakable inner motivation to energize and sustain your practice.
- Develop greater courage, resilience, and joy with potent Vajrayana teachings
- See through samsaric fixation and perceive the true nature of mind with clarity.
- Learn bardo (intermediate state) practices to transform fear of death into understanding.
- Receive step-by-step guidance in illusory body and mind meditation, one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most profound practices.
In this course, he opens the gateway to the profound teachings of the Shangpa lineage, sharing insights from great masters such as Niguma, Sukhasiddhi, Tangtong Gyalpo, and Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye.
You’ll be guided through two of the most transformative practices from Niguma’s Six Yogas: the illusory body and mind and the bardo (intermediate state). These completion-stage teachings are presented here with remarkable relevance for the challenges and complexities of modern life.
Whether you’re deepening an established Vajrayana practice or exploring these methods for the first time, this course offers a rare opportunity to receive authentic instruction from a revered lineage holder, at your own pace and in your own space.
Ready to join? Use code WAIBM2507 by September 15 to access the full course for just $177.
What Students Are Saying
“This course was beyond what I can adequately express in words. It’s shifted me to a much deeper place in my practice and created a resonance I’ve never experienced. Rinpoche's teaching is such a gift. I’m so grateful, not only for the class but for all the offerings that Wisdom Publications and Academy has. These teachings weren't so accessible years ago, and now to have access to such incredible translations, classes, and teachings…Wow!!!”—Kim Bennett, student
“It’s a great gift to hear teachings from such a great master. We enjoyed the expressive and warm explanations on how to practice with a correct mindset. The 6 yogas of Sister Niguma teachings contain precious meditative guidelines for us, which can be integrated well in our Dharma practice. Lesson 10 was so helpful in widening our practice of the final stage of the death process. We were deeply moved by your serene presence. To the Wisdom Publications Team: Thank you very much for your effort in publishing all the supportive materials for the teachings. The quiz was good corrective for our way of understanding. We are looking forward to further teachings.”—Heidi & Klaus von Varendorff, students
“What an amazing course. Such a privilege to hear Rinpoche share his intimate experiences. Inspired to dive deeper into these practices and very thankful for this opportunity.”—Sarah Caldwell, student
“[Rinpoche,] your simplicity, clarity, and depth of explanation has helped me immensely in my personal practice. I will revisit these lessons again and again and very much look forward to your next course. This course has provided a new beginning and aspiration in my ongoing practice.”—Kathy Bond, student
Tuition: $297 – now only $177 (40% off) with code WAIBM2507
Special Tuition Rate Ends September 15
Lesson 1: Overcoming Fixation: Introduction to Vajrayana Practice
Engage tong-len, deity yoga, and ngöndro to overcome samsaric fixation.
Lesson 2: Proper Reliance on the Vajra Master
Find out how to deepen faith and view through authentic guru-disciple relationship.
Lesson 3: The Path to Recognizing the Nature of Mind
Follow the three-stage process to recognize, sustain, and stabilize rigpa.
Lesson 4: Physical Postures, Mudras, and Subtle Channels
Refine meditation posture, hand mudras, and internal visualization.
Lesson 5: Blending the Spiritual and Mundane: Song of a Mahāsiddha
Receive guidance from the “vajra song” of the famed mahāsiddha Rahulagupta and learn about integrating retreat and everyday existence.
Lesson 6: First Category of Preliminaries in the Illusory Body and Mind Practice
Practice refuge, bodhicitta, and purification using Five Jewels framework.
Lesson 7: Niguma’s Heart Advice: Second Category of Preliminaries
Lesson 8: The Actual Illusory Body and Mind Practice Session
Conduct a full illusory body session with guidance from Niguma.
Lesson 9: Eight Visualizations in Illusory Body and Mind Practice
Learn the eight categories of visualization and how to approach practice based on your capacity and experience.
Lesson 10: Essential Instructions on the Bardo Practice
Receive essential guidance for navigating the bardo and preparing for death through authentic lineage teachings.
You’ve seen what’s inside. Now begin your own journey into these powerful, rarely taught Vajrayana practices—with guidance from a revered teacher of the Shangpa lineage.
Your Tuition: $177 (Normally $297)
His Eminence the 2nd Kalu Rinpoche was born on September 17, 1990 in Darjeeling, India. His father, Lama Gyaltsen, was a nephew of the previous Kalu Rinpoche and had also been his secretary since his youth. The 2nd Kalu Rinpoche was recognized on March 25, 1992 by Tai Situ Rinpoche. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has officially confirmed the recognition.
On February 28, 1993, he was inducted into Samdrub Darjay Chöling (Sonada). His father passed away in 1999 and he asked to live in the monastery of Bokar Rinpoche in order to grow and study under his direction. In 2004, he began the traditional three-year retreat, which he completed in 2008. In 2009, he received from Tai Situ Rinpoche all the transmissions of the Shangpa Lineage. On this occasion, he undertook to confer 108 times the cycle of initiations of the lineage from which he is now holder.
In 2010, Kalu Rinpoche traveled to the West and took charge of the meditation centers created by the first Kalu Rinpoche around the world. In 2014, he returned to Palden Shangpa La Boulaye in France to teach and to resume the tradition of Monlam Shangpa initiated by his predecessor. He has done the same in the United States in 2019.
Each year, Kalu Rinpoche gives initiations and teachings around the world.
Excerpted from Timeless Rapture, by Ngawang Zangpo:
In the Shangpa tradition’s collections of the early masters’ life stories, Kunga Ö’s Biography of the Wisdom Dakini Niguma covers a mere six pages, most of which amount to verses of praise. Only the following words are pertinent to her life:
This wisdom dakini was born the daughter of the great Brahmin Shantivarma [Zhiwé Gocha] and the Brahmini Shrimati [Palgyi Lodrö]. Her name was Shrijnana [Palgyi Yéshé]. She was pandit Naropa’s sister and a member of the Brahmin caste. During three previous incalculable eons of time, she actualized her training on the spiritual path.
In the continuity of that path, during this lifetime she received a little instruction from a few accomplished spiritual masters and, based on their teaching, directly saw the truth of the nature of reality. Her illusory body of obscuring emotions appeared as a pure body of enlightenment. Having reached awakening’s three pure stages, she actually met the great Buddha Vajra Bearer [Dorje Chang, Tib, Vajradhara. Sanskrit] and received from him the full four empowerments of Great Way tantra within an emanated sacred circle of deities.
The wisdom of her understanding of every sacred teaching, such as Buddha’s discourses and tantras, profound instructions, and treatises, flowered to include direct [knowledge and sight] of the nature and multiplicity of all phenomena. She reached awakening’s tenth stage, Cloud of the Doctrine.
Her obscurations of knowledge became finer and finer until no veils remained; she became one with enlightenment, an epitome of the three bodies of enlightenment. She reached perfection in renunciation and realization, the achievement of her own goal. Her enlightenment’s two form bodies appear for the benefit of others until the end of existence and bring benefit to beings in ways that can purposefully guide them. In particular, she watches over those who preserve her lineage with a compassion that knows no distance; she blesses them and ensures the success of their enlightened activity.
Biography source: Sukhasiddhi Foundation.
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