Rainbow Body (Ja-lü) — Five Light Centres
Rainbow Body (Ja-lü) — Five Light Centres is a Tibetan / Dzogchen — rainbow body dissolution body system as transmitted through the lineage Ja-lü (འཇའ་ལུས་, rainbow body) is the Dzogchen account of complete realization in which the ordinary material body is said to dissolve into luminous appearance, with hair and nails traditionally treated as residual signs in some accounts. Nyingma Dzogchen sources describe fivefold elemental lights and inner centres, while later commentaries differ in the exact centre count and colour order; this map presents five light anchors and one dissolving axis as a lineage-aware visual synthesis.. This page lists every point in the system with sourced placements and links to cross-tradition correspondences curated for The Body Spiritual.
Open in interactive explorerPrimary sources
- Jigme Lingpa, Yeshe Lama (Ye shes bla ma), Longchen Nyingthig cycle (Tibetan text editions of the Nyingma Longchen Nyingthig cycle) — Completion-practice sections of this Nyingma cycle describe the luminous body, elemental light, and signs associated with realization; the text is used for the doctrinal frame rather than a modern anatomical diagram.
- Rigdzin Gödem, Dzogchen Upadeśa tantra cycle (rgyud bcu bdun / Seventeen Tantras) (Tibetan Nyingma terma and canonical recensions) — The Seventeen Tantras are a primary Dzogchen corpus for the light-body and visionary teachings that ground rainbow-body discourse; colour and centre enumerations vary among transmission recensions.
- Namkhai Norbu, The Crystal and the Way of Light (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986; revised edition Snow Lion, 1993) — Modern Nyingma/Dzogchen commentary explaining trekchö, thögal, elemental light, and the rainbow-body account for English readers.
Known lineage variants
- Five-element colour sequences differ by tantra, lineage, and ritual context. This map uses a blue/green/red/white/yellow teaching palette as an explicit visual convention, not as a universal Dzogchen colour canon.
- Descriptions of ja-lü range from a complete dissolution leaving hair and nails to accounts of luminous transformation with different signs; the map represents the doctrinal trajectory and does not certify historical reports.
- The five centre coordinates are a front-view editorial projection. Some Nyingma presentations use different numbers or names of channels and centres, and the texts do not provide a single standardized body silhouette.
- Anatomical-right is x below 0.5 in this front view. All anchors are midline; light is represented as subtle appearance, not as a gross organ or measurable radiation.
Cross-tradition overlaps
- Space light — crown centre ↔ Space — ākāśa at the crown (distance 0.020)
- Air light — throat centre ↔ 37. throat centre (distance 0.020)
Related systems
No other systems share this tradition label.
Points
- Earth light — secret centre — Yellow stabilising element
- Water light — navel centre — White flowing element
- Fire light — heart centre — Red transformative element
- Air light — throat centre — Green moving element
- Space light — crown centre — Blue spacious element
Frequently asked
What is Earth light — secret centre?
The lower anchor represents the earth element in a fivefold light-body presentation and is placed at the secret or root region for visual continuity with Tibetan completion-stage maps. This is a subtle-body convention with broad uncertainty, not a claim that a Dzogchen tantra identifies a single gross anatomical earth centre.
What is Water light — navel centre?
The navel anchor represents the water element in the selected five-light arrangement, using a pale field to suggest fluid luminosity rather than a fixed historical colour rule. It is a visual centre for the body-transformation narrative and is not a claim about a physical reservoir of light.
What is Fire light — heart centre?
The heart anchor represents fire light and the central transformation of ordinary experience into non-dual presence in the map's visual grammar. The red colour is a chosen Dzogchen-compatible palette token, not a statement that all lineages assign fire and red to this exact location.
What is Air light — throat centre?
The throat anchor represents air or wind light and the movement of luminous appearance through voice, breath, and visual awareness. Its placement follows the selected five-centre teaching image but should not be conflated with the Tsa Lung three-channel anatomy or with respiratory physiology.
What is Space light — crown centre?
The crown anchor represents space light and the open, unobstructed dimension in which the rainbow-body image culminates. It is drawn at the apex for symbolic clarity; the glow is not a measurable halo and the coordinate does not assert a universal anatomical crown aperture.