Twenty-five branch samayas
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Twenty-five branch samayas (Wyl. yan lag gi dam tshig nyer lnga) — In the Dzogchen tradition there are twenty-seven root samayas of the body, speech and mind and twenty-five branch samayas.
Chökyi Drakpa says[1]:
- Firstly, there are the five to be recognized: the five aggregates, the five elements, the five faculties, the five consciousnesses, and the five objects. These should be recognized as the mandala of deities of the three seats.
- Once these have been understood, there are the five to be accomplished: the vajra family, ratna family, padma family, karma family and tathagata family.
- There are five substances to be accepted at the time of accomplishment: faeces, urine, blood, semen and marrow.
- There are five signs of warmth in the practice not to be rejected: the transformation of the five poisons, which are matured into the five wisdoms.
- There are five to be practiced when the signs on the path have become manifest: the three negative actions of the body and lying and idle gossip. You should practise these in order to accomplish the benefit of others.