In the Kagyu lineage the practitioner usually begins by practicing Shamatha and Vipashyana and then goes on to doing the Ngondro practice of prostrations, Vajrasattva, Mandala, and Guru Yoga. After than the practioner can then do a closed three year retreat. At the end of this retreat the six practices of Naropa are introduced.

These six special yogic practices were transmitted from Naropa to Marpa and consist of the subtle heat practice, the illusory body practice, the dream yoga practice, the luminosity practice, the ejection of consciousness practice, and the bardo practice.

This book rather than describing these practices is a collection of translation of articles about the six yogas