Begin with refuge and bodhicitta, the first inner preliminaries
In the ngöndro sequence, refuge and bodhicitta are the first inner preliminaries, and they come before the tantric practice.
Why it works
In the ngöndro sequence, four contemplations that turn the mind come first as the outer preliminaries, and refuge and bodhicitta are the first of the inner preliminaries that follow. Refuge names the Three Jewels as the source of what one seeks, and bodhicitta sets the aim of awakening for the sake of all beings. In the tradition’s account, the deity practice is undertaken from that motivation, so that the buddha-figure is a means of benefiting others rather than an ornament of the self. The refuge and bodhicitta pages on this site describe the traditional accounts in more detail.
How to do it
- Read what the Three Jewels mean in the tradition before you say any refuge words, and ask a teacher what the commitment involves.
- Work out, in your own words, who you want to benefit and why. The tradition asks for this motivation before any deeper practice.
- Use the bodhicitta page on this site to read the traditional accounts of the aspiration, and note which parts you find unclear.
- Keep these beginnings separate from any visualisation. This page does not describe the full preliminary sequence, which is taught by a teacher.
Evidence
Refuge and bodhicitta are described here in the tradition’s terms. They have not been studied as preliminaries to deity yoga. (mechanistic)
Thin source: the Lotsawa House ngöndro page is an index of texts. It lists refuge and bodhicitta among the inner preliminaries, after the four contemplations, but it does not define them or say which beginnings a newcomer may start with. That the preliminaries are where a newcomer starts is this page’s framing, not a finding of that source. The full ngöndro is taught by a qualified teacher, and the benefits the tradition describes are its own claims.
Sources
Common mistake
Skipping to the visualisation because the beginnings sound familiar. In the tradition the motivation is what the deity practice is for, and it is not a warm-up.
Practice this with IX Coach
More practices for Deity Yoga: The Vajrayāna Practice of Generating Oneself as a Yidam
- Learn what an empowerment involves before anything else
An empowerment is the ritual gate the tradition requires before deity yoga, and learning what it involves tells you what to ask a teacher.
- Study the view of emptiness that deity yoga presupposes
Deity yoga is defined as a clear appearance held together with emptiness, so the view of emptiness is studied before any image.
- Understand divine pride and pure appearance as technical terms
Divine pride and pure appearance are precise terms in the tradition, and knowing what they mean stops them sounding like self-inflation.
- Attend a public teaching as an observer, not a student
Sitting in on an open teaching at a centre lets you learn the vocabulary and the atmosphere before you decide anything about an empowerment.
- Start with one careful book on deity yoga
One introductory book, read slowly with its context, gives a firmer footing than several summaries that contradict each other. The 1987 edition introduces deity practice in the lower tantra classes, not the highest class this page describes.
- Read what the imagery studies measured, and what they did not
The 2009 deity-meditation study measured imagery performance, and reading its abstract shows what that finding does and does not cover.
- When visualising makes you feel unreal or shaky, ground first
If an imagined figure leaves you dizzy, shaky or far from your body, stop it, come back to your senses and body, and talk to a teacher or clinician before going further.
Related concepts
- Tibetan Buddhism: The Four Schools, Bön, and Where a Beginner Starts
Four schools, one shared ground, and the devotional practices that hold Tibetan Buddhist life together
- Tummo (Inner Heat): The Six Yogas Practice, What Research Measured, and How to Approach It Safely
The inner-heat yoga of Nāropa’s lineage: what it is for, how it is received, what scientists found, and how to stay safe
- Śūnyatā: Emptiness and the Two Truths in Madhyamaka
Nāgārjuna’s Middle Way: why nothing has a fixed essence, and why that is not the same as nothing
- Mahāmudrā: Looking Directly at the Nature of the Mind
The Kagyu path of calm, then looking at the mind itself — practised the way the manuals lay it out
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: cite or embed this practice · more practices graded Plausible mechanism