Five Pure Lights

The colours of the Five Pure Lights are:

• Blue, which represents Akshobhya and space. When blue is used in meditation, it works to transform anger into wisdom (Ādarśa-jñāna)
• White, which represents Vairocana and air. When white is used in meditation, it works to transform ignorance into reality (Tathatā-jñāna)
• Red, which represents Amitābha and fire. When red is used in meditation, it works to transform attachment into discernment (Pratyavekṣaṇa-jñāna)
• Green, which represents Amoghasiddhi and water. When green is used in meditation, it works to transform jealousy into accomplishment (Kṛty-anuṣṭhāna-jñāna)
• Yellow, which represents Ratnasambhava and earth. When yellow is used in meditation, it works to transform pride into sameness (Samatā-jñāna)

These colours are often seen on prayer flags and mandalas.

Basis (gzhi)

In the basis (Tibetan: གཞི, Wylie: gzhi) there were neutral awarenesses (shes pa lung ma bstan) that did not recognize themselves. (Dzogchen texts actually do not distinguish whether this neutral awareness is one or multiple.) This non-recognition was the innate ignorance. Due to traces of action and affliction from a previous universe, the basis became stirred and the Five Pure Lights shone out. When a neutral awareness recognized the lights as its own display, then that was Samantabhadra (immediate liberation without the performance of virtue). Other neutral awarenesses did not recognize the lights as their own display, and thus imputed "other" onto the lights. This imputation of "self" and "other" was the imputing ignorance. This ignorance started sentient beings and samsara (even without non-virtue having been committed). Yet everything is illusory, since the basis never displays as anything other than the five lights.

For the deluded, matter seems to appear. This is due to non-recognition of the five lights. Matter includes the mahābhūta or classical elements, namely: space, air, water, fire, earth. The illusion of matter includes even the formless realms and the minds of sentient beings. For example, the beings of the formless realms are made of subtle matter. And the mind of a human is merely matter, specifically vayu (wind, air).

The Five Pure Lights are essentially the Five Wisdoms (Sanskrit: pañca-jñāna). Tenzin Wangyal holds that the Five Pure Lights become the Five Poisons if we remain deluded, or the Five Wisdoms and the Five Buddha Families if we recognize their purity.

In the Bonpo Dzogchen tradition, the Five Pure Lights are discussed in the Zhang Zhung Nyan Gyud and within this auspice two texts in particular go into detail on them as The Six Lamps (Tibetan: སྒྲོན་མ་དྲུག་, Wylie: sgron ma drug) and The Mirror of the Luminous Mind (Tibetan: འོད་གསལ་སེམས་ཀྱི་མེ་ལོང་, Wylie: 'od gsal sems kyi me long).