Phowa (Tibetan: འཕོ་བ་, Wylie: 'pho ba, Sanskrit: saṃkrānti[citation needed]) is a tantric practice found in both Hinduism and Buddhism. It may be described as "transference of consciousness at the time of death", "mindstream transference", "the practice of conscious dying", or "enlightenment without meditation"[1] (Wylie: ma-sgom sangs-rgyas). In Tibetan Buddhism phowa is one of the Six yogas of Naropa and also appears in many other lineages and systems of teaching.
Lama Thubten Yeshe taught on the subject of phowa that "We have to choose the right time to transfer our consciousness; we’re not allowed to do it at the wrong time because that becomes suicide."[2]
Outside of Buddhism "This controversial esoteric technique (Skt. utkrānti), by which a tantric practitioner is able to sever his connection to the physical body, goes by the Indian reference to 'yogic' or spiritual suicide.[1] It is referred to in many Saiva scriptures, in one Vaisnava Samhita, and a handful of Sākta Tantras.
Phowa (Tibetan: འཕོ་བ་, Wylie: 'pho ba, Sanskrit: saṃkrānti[citation needed]) is a tantric practice found in both Hinduism and Buddhism. It may be described...
Phowa is a dialect cluster of Loloish languages spoken by the Phula people of China. There are three principal varieties, Hlepho, Ani, and Labo, which...
Drikung lineage is popularly known for its development of the practice of Phowa, in which a practitioner learns how to expel his/her consciousness or mindstream...
received all the Nyingthig initiations and teachings as well as his first Phowa teaching according to the Nyingma tradition. From the great Drikung lama...
interim state between death and rebirth), transference of consciousness (phowa) and Chöd, in which the yogi ceremonially offers their body to be eaten...
systems such as the Six Yogas of Naropa (like Dream Yoga, Bardo Yoga and Phowa) and the Six Vajra-yogas of Kalacakra. Another form of high level Tibetan...
generation stage practice. Forceful Transference (drongjuk phowa) – a variation of phowa in which the sādhaka may transfer their mindstream into a recently...
of emptiness and bliss. It is very important in the Tantric practice of Phowa, or consciousness transference. At the time of death, a yogi can direct...
deceased. Such rituals are often accompanied with the tantric technique of phowa ("transference of consciousness") to the pure land of Amitābha, performed...
Deity yoga Ngondro – preliminary practices Tonglen – giving and receiving Phowa – transference of consciousness at the time of death Chöd – cutting through...
temples in Dharamshala. Potala Palace Norbulingka By the Himalayan tradition, phowa is the discipline that is believed to transfer the mindstream to the intended...
death-motifs and practices (such as funerary and relic rituals, bardo teachings, phowa, etc). These new methods and teachings were part of several new traditions...
branch of Tibetan Buddhism) Phowa group (focused on the practice of phowa, under the guidance of Ayang Rinpoche, a renowned Phowa Master) Association of Theravada...
Tibetan Buddhist traditions of Vajrayana, Dzogchen for sadhna of Chöd, Phowa, Zhitro, etc. The deity called Shmashana Adhipati is usually considered...
Esoteric Buddhism, Vajrayana, Mantrayana, Dzogchen, and the sadhana of Chöd, Phowa and Zhitro, etc. The charnel ground is also an archetypal liminality that...
Bradley 1997) Southeastern Loloish: Nisu, Phula, Sani, Azha, Khlula, Muji, Phowa, etc. Ugong is divergent; Bradley (1997) places it with the Burmish languages...