Four Dhyana States

Hours of the Day (dus tshod)

• The twelve hours of the calendar day, each of which corresponds to two hours of solar time, are generally designated as daybreak (gnam lang), sunrise (nyi shar), mid-morning (nyi 'dros), noon (nyin phyed), afternoon (phyed yol), late afternoon (nyin myur), sunset (nyi nub), twilight (sa srod), late evening (srod 'khor), midnight (gnam phyed), after midnight (gnam yol), and dawn (tho rangs). However, the twelve hours may also be named sequentially after the twelve animals, the eight trigrams, the nine numeric squares or the twelve sectors of growth and decline. There are particular procedures and purposes associated with divinations carried out at the hours of daybreak, sunrise, morning, noon, early afternoon, late afternoon, and sunset, as indicated in Part VII, pp. 000-000. In addition, the calculation of the nuptial hour (dus tshod kyi lam rtsis) is explained in Part V, pp. 000-000, the significance of the natal hour (skye dus) for natal horoscope in Part IV, pp. 000-000; the times of the day suitable for business activity in Part VII, pp. 000-000, and the coincidence of certain hours with specific destiny elements in Part VII, pp. 000-000. GD (from the Glossary to Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings)