Within the Kagyu tradition, engagement with Mahamudra rests on a carefully prepared foundation known as ngöndro, or preliminary practices. These preliminaries are often presented in two stages: the common and the special. The common preliminaries are contemplative reflections that reorient the mind toward the path, while the special preliminaries are structured practices, usually undertaken in large numbers, that purify obscurations and accumulate merit and wisdom. Together, they are regarded as essential conditions for receiving and effectively practicing the profound instructions of Mahamudra.

The common preliminaries are sometimes called the “Four Thoughts That Turn the Mind.” They consist of sustained contemplation on the rarity and value of a precious human birth, the inevitability of impermanence and death, the infallible workings of karma and its effects, and the pervasive suffering of samsara. These reflections are not merely philosophical ideas but are meant to be internalized until they reshape priorities and deepen renunciation and resolve. In this way, they create the inner orientation necessary for the later, more advanced practices to take root.

The special preliminaries are usually counted in sets of 100,000 and are undertaken as concrete methods of transformation. Refuge and prostrations combine taking refuge in the Three Jewels and Three Roots with full-length prostrations, cultivating humility, devotion, and the aspiration of bodhicitta. Vajrasattva purification involves visualization and the recitation of the Vajrasattva mantra, traditionally 100,000 times, to purify negative karma and mental defilements. Mandala offerings, likewise performed in large numbers, train the mind in generosity and non-attachment by repeatedly offering the entire universe as a pure realm.

Guru yoga completes this set of special preliminaries and is central in the Kagyu understanding of Mahamudra. Through repeated recitation of a guru yoga prayer, often 100,000 times, the practitioner cultivates deep devotion and an unbroken connection with the lineage masters, especially the root guru. This devotional orientation is understood as the channel through which the blessings and realization of the lineage are transmitted. When these common and special preliminaries have been thoroughly practiced, the mind is considered suitably prepared—purified, softened, and made receptive—for the direct instructions of Mahamudra to be given and to genuinely take effect.