Post by Owain on Jul 27, 2023 8:12:58 GMT
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
In Dzogchen there are three transmissions: the mind direct transmission from the buddhas, the sign transmission of the vidyadharas,2 and the
oral transmission by word of mouth from realized beings. The Hneage
of Dzogchen, unbroken to the present day, is traced from the
Dharmakaya Samantabhadra (Kuntuzangpo in Tibetan) to the
Sambhogakaya, represented by the five buddha families and
Vajrasattva, and then to the first human master Garab Dorje. It then
passed to Manjushrimitra and Shri Singha, and was transmitted in
Tibet by Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Vairochana, and Yeshe
Tsogyal.
Padmasambhava, or 'Guru Rinpoche' -the 'Precious Guru' -as he is
affectionately known by the Tibetan people, is the Mahaguru who
introduced Buddhism to Tibet in the eighth century. Invited by King
Trisong Detsen upon the advice of the great I ndian Khenpo
Shantarakshita, Padmasambhava is said to have stayed in Tibet for
nearly fifty-five years. He travelled throughout the country, teaching
and practising, taming the forces that were inhibiting the buddhadharma, and infusing his blessing into the whole landscape of Tibet
and the Himalayas. As a result, the teaching of Buddha came to permeate the very fabric of the lives of the Tibetan people, and it is to
Padmasambhava's compassion, his blessing and his all-encompassing vision that Tibetan Buddhism owes its particular dynamism and
magic, its vitality and success. For the people of Tibet, the teaching of
Buddha pervades throughout every facet of their everyday life and
culture, almost like the very air they breathe. There lies the strength of
Tibetan Buddhism, and the reason why Tibet was renowned as such a
spiritual country.
Padmasambhava founded the first monastic university of Samye,
where many Indian pandits, such as Vimalamitra, came together with
TIbetan translators to translate the buddhadharma, and the first seven
TIbetans were ordained as monks. At Chimphu, he opened the mandala of the Mantrayana teachings to the twenty-five siddhas of TIbet (je
bang nyer nga), who included King Trisong Detsen, Yeshe Tsogyal and
Vairochana. For millions of practitioners down through the centuries,
Padmasambhava has continued to be the source of their realization,
and the inspiration which breathes life into the heart of their practice.
Padmasambhava's life story is extraordinary, but he is by no means
limited to a historical personality; in fact he defies history or chronology.
A number of prophecies, including one made by Buddha himself as
2
Introduction
he was passing into pariniivana (in perhaps the fifth century B.C.),
predicted that Padrnasambhava would be born, eight or twelve years
after him, to spread the teaching of t he MantraYana. Yet
Padmasambhava was still in TIbet in the eighth century A.D.
Padma�mbhava is the human embodiment of Dzogpachenpo, the
inspiration and spirit of Dzogchen, a cosmic principle, and embodiment of all masters. In the Tibetan tradition, he is the enlightened principle whose powerful energy is invoked as a source of protection
amidst the confusion and turmoil of this age. For today's world, the
practice and mantra of Padmasambhava are treasured as being particularly effective in creating peace and harmony.
As Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, the greatest living Dzogchen master, says:
There have been many incredible and incomparable masters from
the noble land of India and from TIbet, the Land of Snows, yet of
them all, the one who has the greatest c0I1:,passion and blessing
towards beings in this difficult age is Padmasambhava, who
embodies the compassion and wisdom of all the buddhas. One of
his qualities is that he has the power to grant his blessing instantly
to whoever prays to him, and whatever we may pray for, he has
the power to immediately grant our wish.
'lIn this dark age," continues Khyentse Rinpoche, lithe Idregs of
time', where beings are immersed in constant suffering from the three
poisons of ignorance, aggressionl and attachment, where the five negative emotions are more turbulent than ever before, and where terrible suffering comes from illnesses, poverty, famine, hungerl and the
threat of war, the blessings of Guru Rinpoche are even quicker to act.
He himself has pledged that in such an age, whenever a person prays
to him, he will immediately respond with his blessings. And these
were not just sweet words meant to please, but the true, undece�ving
words of Guru Rinpoche."3
3
DZOGCHEN VIEW, MEDITATION AND ACTION
The uniqueness of Dzogchen is the way in which it brings precise
experience of the awakened state, the direct experience of the absolute. In Dzogchen a very important distinction is made between the
ordinary mind, called sem in TIbetan, and the primordial or pure, pristine awareness of Rigpa. Dzogchen Perna Rigdzin, the first Dzogchen
Rinpoche, pOinted out:
All that appears and exists, the phenomena of samsara and nirvana are all gathered, perfect, within the state of the empty Rigpa.
That is why it is called TIzogpa'. There is no. other method greater
than this to gain liberation from samsara; therefore it is called
'Chenpo'. So it is called Dzogpachenpo.4
For the main principle in Dzogchen is to go beyond mind, to transcend the ordinary, thinking mind altogether and to reach the nature
of Rigpa. As Shantideva points out in the Bodhicaryavatara: IJThe
Absolute is beyond mind, that which is within the realm of mind is
called the �elative.'"
It is this Rigpa that the master introduces to the student, and recognizing it is the Dzogchen View. In Dzogchen, the Path is described in
terms of View, Meditation and Action, which encompass the practical
training, and specifically the practice of Trekcho and the subsequent
practices of Togal.5 In the words of Dudjom Rinpoche:
View is the comprehension of the naked awareness, within which
everything is contained: sensory perception and phenomenal
existence, samsara and nirvana. This awareness or Rigpa, has two
aspects: shunyata-emptiness as the absolute, and appearances
or perception as the relative.
Within the vast expanse of Dzogpachenpo, everything there is in
samsara and nirvana is perfectly complete. Although its essence is
empty, pure from the beginning (known in Dzogchen as ikad�k'), its
nature is rich in noble qualities, pregnant with all possibilities, a vast;
5
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
creative field, which is spontaneously perfect (called 'lhundrup').
Very simply, the essence of mind is empty, spacious and pure from
the beginning, like the open, blue sky ; its nature is luminous claritY,
unobstructed and spontaneously present, like the sun with all its
warmth and light; and its energy or manifestation is compassion,
unimpeded and all-pervasive, like the ray s of the sun that shine on us
all impartially. liThe empty nature of Rigpa", explains Dudjom
Rinpoche, Hand its luminosity, being non-dual, manifest themselves
functionally as compassion in all times/J
H. H. Dudjom Rinpoche
Introduction to the View, and resting in the state of Rigpa, is the
heart of Dzogchen practice. In other approaches the realization of the
nature of mind is arrived at through deduction and reasoning. In
Dzogchen the actual direct experience of the state of the wisdom mind
of the buddhas is transmitted through the blessing of a master who
embodies this complete realization-the mind direct transmissionto a student who .. as a result of past aspirations and purified karma,
has arrived at a point where they have both the openness of heart and
devotion to make them receptive to the true meaning of the teaching.
As Jigme Lingpa say s in his Senge Ngaro (The Lion's Roar):
First the student must find an accomplished Guru with whom he
has a good karmic link. The master must be a holder of the mind
direct transmission. The student must have single-minded devotion and faith, which makes possible the transmission of the
6
Dzogchen View, Meditation and Action
master's understanding.
When that powerful moment, the 'meeting of mind-hearts', takes
place, the student has a direct and undeniable experience, or glimpse,
of the nature of Rigpa. In that instant, the master introduces and the
student recognizes. As the great Dzogchen master Patrul Rinpoche
observed:
The nature of mind, the face of Rigpa, is introduced upon the very
dissolution of conceptual mind.
In Dzogchen, this direct introduction is preceded by a special meditative investigation into the empty nature of mind and phenomena.
Through the close analysis and examination of mind, the student
comes to a personal realization of the nature of emptiness, 'the nonexistence of samsara and nirvana', which leads to the realization of
dharmakaya. Once this is established, then it serves as a preliminary
to the introduction to the Rigpa by the master. Bu t if this were not realized, and one were just to remain 'leaving the mind in its natural
state', then one's practice would be mere shamatha and one's View
would fall into the state of alaya (kunshyD.6 In Dzogchen the main
point of the introduction is to go beyond the alaya, to reveal explicitly
the naked Rigpa. This is how the investigation into the View of emptiness faciJitates the introduction to the Rigpa.
Now, the true realization of the nature of mind is only possible when
transmitted from the heart of the master to the heart of the student, and
this is exemplified by the great figures of the Dzogchen lineage in the
extraordinary accounts of how, at that moment, their minds became the
Garab Dorje .
same as the wisdom mind of their master, for example
when Garab Dorje transmitted his last testament,
known as Hitting the Essence in Three Words, to
Mafijushrimitra, or when Shri Singha revealed the
nature of mind to Padmasambhava.
Mafijushrimitra was the only human disciple of
Garab Dorje, and studied with him for seventy-five
years. At the time of his parinirvana, Garab Dorje ascended into the sky
and dissolved into rainbow light. At this, Manjushrimitra cried out in
despair and distress ... and made a very beautiful plea: "What will become
of us now that you are passing away? You are the light of the world ... "
7
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
Whereupon Garab Dorje was moved, and his hand reappeared, in
which was a small golden casket, the size of a thumbnail, containing
the teaching of Hitting the Essence in Three Words, which he let fall into
the hand of Mafijushrimitra. As soon as he received it, his mind
became the same as the wisdom mind of his master Garab Dorje. As
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche explains, a highly realized Dzogchen master will entrust and transmit his entire wisdom mind, and the blessing
of his lineage to his foremost disciple, and thereby ensure the continuity of the transmission, unimpaired. Even though he dies, his wisdom
mind continues, without losing its purity, authenticity or power. At
the very moment that the disciple receives it, he becomes the same as
his master. Such has been the approach of Dzogpachenpo, says
Khyentse Rinpoche, from the Primordial Buddha to this very day.
This is why the fundamental basis of Dzogpachenpo is the introduction to Rigpa. Dzogchen begins with introduction, for, in Dzogchen,
meditation is simply abiding by the View of Rigpa. As Dudjom
Rinpoche points out:
Medita tion consists of being attentive to such a s tate of
Rigpa-free from all mental constructions, whilst remaining fully
relaxed, without any distraction or grasping, because it is said
that 'meditation is not striving, but naturally becoming assimilated into it'.
Out of the realization of the nature of one's mind radiates a deep
compassion for those who have not realized, and thus in Dzogchen,
meditation is described as the 'radiance, or union, of wisdom and
compassion' .
Abiding by the continual flow of Rigpa becomes a reality and
begins to permeate the practitioner's everyday life and Action. As
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche points out: ''When someone has realized the
union of wisdom and compassion, then whatever they do spontaneously benefits beings, even if they just wink or move their little finger."
Once the practice is truly integrated, it gives birth to a deep stability
and confidence, because whatever arises, thoughts or emotions, will
no longer delude one; they are liberated from their very basis. One can
look into them with composure and equanimity, confident that lithe
Dharmakaya's efflorescence of whatever arises is neither good nor
bad." As Dudjom Rinpoche says:
8
Dzogchen View .. Meditation and Action
Action is being truly observant of one's own thoughts, good or ,
bad, looking inwardly into the true nature of whatever thoughts
may arise, neither tracing the past nor inviting the future, neither
allowing any clinging to experiences of joy, nor being overcome
by sad situations. In so doing, one tries to reach and remain in the
state of Jgreat equilibrium', where all good and bad, peace and
distress are devoid of true identity. .
And this leads to the Fruition of Dzogpachenpo, which is complete
enlightenment and liberation: realizing the wisdom of dharmakaya,
and on a manifest level attaining the buddha body. Many Dzogchen
practitioners have attained the Jrainbow body', transmuting their
physical bodies into their light nature at the time of death?
Yet, "Until one attains the fully awakened enlightened state/' advises Dudjom Rinpoche, /lone should always value the relative aspect of
phenomena and be mindful of the non-duality of appearances and
their empty nature .... Though different forms are perceived, they are
in essence empty; yet in emptiness one perceives forms. Though
different sounds are heard, they are emptY; yet in the emptiness one
perceives sounds. Also different thoughts arise; they are empty, yet in
the emptiness one perceives thoughts./I
The View of Dzogpachenpo is the ultimate view of all; it is not just
another view in an ordinary philosophical sense, one which you can
arrive at through intellectual analysis or deduction. Rather it is the
fruition and culmination of all spiritual training of study, reflection
and meditation, and of all purification, that transcendent state in
which the obscurations of mind are eliminated. In fact, Sakya Pandita
maintained: IJ Atiyoga is not a mere view, but the fruition of all yanas./I
All teachings are seen within the all-inclusive vision of
Dzogpachenpo, and so, from that perspective, i t i s often said that the
Ground is Madhyamaka, the Path is Mahamudra, and the Fruition is
Dzogpachenpo. The View in which all the dharmas of samsara and
nirvana are realized to be, in their inherent nature, emptiness is the
Ground, the Madhyamaka. In order to realize that personally, within
the nature of your mind as the unity of emptiness and clarity, the Path
is Mahamudra. And the ultimate realization, which is tenned the Jnaturally arising Rigpa', or Iwisdom gone beyond the mind' is the
Fruition, Dzogpachenpo.
9
THE HEART OF DZOGCHEN PRACTICE
The practice of Dzogchen, though seemingly quite simple, is extremely profound; the more and more you practise, the deeper and more
vast it becomes and the more you realize that everything is gathered
into and radiates out of the essential �point' of Dzogpachenpo. In
Dzogchen practice, the main point is to be as mtural as poSSible, by
releasing and relaxing effortlessly into your nature, into Rigpa. You
just allow all confusion to dissolve into the absolute, and you assume
your sky-like nature. The spirit of this is expressed so well by Nyoshul
Khen Rinpoche:
Rest in natural great peace
This exhausted mind
Beaten helplessly by kanna and neurotic thought
Like the relentless fury of pounding waves
In the infinite ocean of samsara.8
With the confidence and humour of the View, you can afford to relax
the heart, in carefree abandon. And it may happen that you ask yourself the question, When is it Rigpa, and when is it not? As Dilgo
Khyentse Rinpoche points out: 111£ you are in an unaltered state, it is
Rigpa." This means that if you are not in any way contriving or
manipulating, but just leave your mind in its natural state then that is
Rigpa. When you are contriving or manipulating, that is not Rigpa.
This one simple difference points to the heart of Dzogpachenpo.
As you begin, you should sit very inspiringly, like a rocket rising ..
Rise up, undistracted, clear and awake! This inspiration is the key to
the quality of your sitting and to Dzogchen practice. If you sit very
inspiringly, you will find that even your body responds and becomes
more agreeable. In Dzogchen your posture should be like a
mountain-inspiring and majestic, yet without any rigidity or tension
at all. There is a quality of really letting your mind rise and soar and
fly. Many of the Dzogchen chants echo that feeling of rising up and
soaring into the sky/like an eagle or a garuda9 in flight and your body
expresses that state of your mind. If you are in an inspiring state of
mind,' even your posture will say so.
11
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
Tubten Chokyi Dorje; the Vth Dzogchen Rinpoche
In Dzogchen, in meditation it is said that not only one's posture, but
also one's View should be like a mountain. There is an interesting connection between the bodily posture and the View. You sit in the inspiration of the View, so that your View inspires your posture. It is almost
as if the View becomes the core of your being, and expresses it in your
posture. And however strong the wind blows, it does not topple the
mountain. It remains firm and steadfast, yet completely relaxed and at
ease with itself. It sits without sitting. A mountain just is, it needs no
confirmation. Look at the great Dzogchen masters, like Tubten Chokyi
Dorje, or Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and the way that they sit: they are
like a mountain. Your trust, your View, your understanding, your attitude, and your spaciousness should be like the mountain. Or like a
Kathmandu cow. In India and Nepal the cow is so sacred that if you
kill a cow or knock one down it is more serious a crime than killing a
human being. The cows know that. So even if you keep sounding
your horn, they do not budge. They just move gracefully on their
12
The Heart of Dzogchen Practice
way, with confidence.
The eyes should be kept open. When you begin to practise, sometimes it can be helpful to close your eyes for a while and quietly go
into your 'soft spot', especially if you feel disturbance from outside.
Once you have established that centredness, then you gradually open
your eyes, because there is no intention in Dzogchen practice to run
away from anything. You should actually experience the nature of
everything, and not slip into some state of absorption or trance, nor
experience an altered state of consciousness, or 'hlissed-out' state.
In Dzogchen it is said your gaze should be like the ocean. Also it is
said that your Meditation should be like an ocean, vast and profound.
Your gaze and your Meditation, or how you leave your mind, are
linked; both are all-pervasive, like the ocean. Your gaze is your meditation, because in meditation you are expressing your View. Your eyes
are like those of the Buddha, long eyes which see and understand
everything. In the bodhisattva path it is said that compassion shines
out through the eyes, like Chenrezi, 'Lord of Compassion', whose
very name signifies 'the compassionate eyes which see the needs of
all'. Or His Holiness the Dalai Lama, for example, whose gaze, along
with his laughter and his very being, embody tha t compassion.
In Dzogchen, you do not shut off your senses; you just stay with
them, alive. As Dudjom Rinpoche advises:
You leave everything fresh, natural, vivid, and unspoiled. When
you leave each thing in its own state, then its shape does not
change, its colour does not fade, and its glow does not disappear.
Therefore you keep your eyes open. In Dzogchen, there is a practice
where you put your awareness into your eyes and your eyes into the
sky, unifying your Rigpa with space, and using the nature of the sky
to inspire YO\lr own sky-like nature.
Then there are other reasons why the eyes should not be closed.
First of all, if you close your eyes you can fall asleep more easily. Very
few people fall asleep with their eyes open. Yet the deeper significance
is that in Dzogchen, for example in the teaching of Togal, the practice
of luminosity, it is said that all the light of the wisdom-energy resides
in the heart centre. In fact, the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra,
with his complete mandala, is said to rest in the heart. But at the
moment this luminosity is obscured and hidden, as if a lamp were
13
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
placed inside a vase: the light cannot be seen from outside, but a little
light emerges from the top. The top is like your eyes, which are connected via ;wisdom channels' with your heart. So in the Togal practice
of Dzogchen, the eyes are used very much to work with the light,
which is why, generally, you keep your eyes open in order not to block
this wisdom channel. Although Togal is a very advanced practice,
only taught to a student who has accomplished the prac
'
Uce of
Trekcho, yet to practise in this way will create an auspicious condition
for the future practice of Togal.
Then, you keep your mouth slightly open, as if about to �
say a deep, relaxing U Aaaaaah." The syllable; N represents
) the Prajnaparamita-the Mother of all the Buddhas, and
also Dzogpachenpo. In certain guru yoga practices in
Dzogchen, you simply use just a white; N, unify your mind, and enter
into the state of Rigpa. ; N embodies all the Dzogchen masters, and IN
is Rigpa. Just say "Aaaaah." Your jaw is relaxed. This way you can
breathe through the mouth or through the nose. In Dzogchen you are
recommended to keep your mouth slightly open because then the obstacles that are provoked by the 'karmic winds' are less likely to arise. This
is a special method of Dzogpachenp'o.
Your hands are left relaxed, covering your knees. This is the posture
called ;mind in comfort and ease'.
Then, what about the mind? There is a well-known Tibetan saying
which goes:
Chu rna nyok na dang
Sern rna cho na de
meaning: if you don't stir the water, it will clear by itself; if you don't
alter or manipulate the mind, but leave it in its natural state, it
becomes spontaneously at peace.
Therefore if you do not alter your mind but leave it, as it is, there
is peace and bliss. All the different instructions given for meditation
are only so many means of arriving at a point of courage, a warm
atmosphere, from within which you can let go, and just leave your
mind in the state of Rigpa. In Dzogchen, the way we sit is even free
of sitting. As my master Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro says in his
Heart Advice:
14
The Heart of Dzogchen Practice
Remain is only an expressiot:\-
In reality it is totally free of that which remains and remaining itself.
Very naturally, leave your mind in the Rigpa. Let it settle and purify
itself. And simpHfy. Whilst you just remain present, focused, and
unal teredo TIlls serves as a meditative preliminary to the introduction
of Rigpa.
Now here there is a danger of misunderstanding the true meaning
of Dzogpachenpo. These days there is a rather naive and simplistic
tendency to misunderstand 'naturalness'. Many people imagine that,
by just being natural, they can expect the Rigpa to arise. Simply by
talking about the 'unaltered' or natural state, however, does not mean
at all that you will arrive automatically at the state of Dzogpachenpo.
In fact naturalness is stressed at all levels of the teaching, for the simple reason that when you are unnatural, it obscures the nature ofmind. So in all practices, the practitioner is advised not to follow past
thoughts, nor invite future thoughts, but to remain, attentively, in the
present moment. Whatever the focus of the practice, for instance in
shamatha or vipashyana, one is advised to remain 'naturally' in the
awareness of the present.
In Dzogchen the very same word, naturalness, ma chlJ pa in Tibetan,
is used, but it refers to something quite different: it refers to the natural and unaltered state of dharmata that was arrived at through the
meditative investigation and through the master 's introduction to the
wisdom of Rigpa which followed. Otherwise, when you simply
remain naturally, you are only resting in the nature of alaya, not
Rigpa. The difference, as is said in Dzogchen, is 'greater than that
between the earth and the sky.'
But ... this is easier said than done! It points to how important it is m
Dzogchen to actually realize directly the state of Rigpa. This is the crucial point, the dividing line. Otherwise there is always the danger of
falling into conceptual traps, even when we talk about Rigpa, and ending up like those of whom Patml Rinpoche remarked: "Even though
they might proclaim such terms as 'emptiness' and 'dharmakaya',
these are nothing more than mind-made concepts which they are just
repeating." Dudjom Rinpoche adds: "Plenty of people know how to
talk about it quite glibly, but they do not know how to practise it, and
it is just something they recite like a parrot saying its prayers."
15
THE SPIRIT OF DZOGCHEN
The spirit of Dzogchen is very much an attitude, one which springs
from a deep confidence and trust. The trust comes from the realization
of the true meaning of the teaching of Dzogpachenpo and from your
personal experience, through practice. It is a trust in your ultimate
nature, that you have the buddha, the wisdom of Rigpa, which exists
even in spite of all your confusion. It is there, self-present.
What hinders us from realizing the wisdom of our Rigpa is the
obscuration perpetuated by our thinking mind. So you send the thinking mind on holiday, or deport it, because it is an illegal immigrant.
You don't issue it a visa. If you just leave your mind quietly in its own
natural state, then out of that comes the real settling, calming, and
clearing, from which arises the nature of mind-whatever that may be!
For it is important as well not to have some idea about what the
nature of mind is, because when you do you will end up contemplating an idea, and that is not the point at all. Here you are simply in the
true nature of your being, rather than contemplating an idea about the
nature of mind, which becomes just a concept. That is why neither of
the terms Imeditation' or 'contemplation' are really so appropriate for
Dzogchen, because they both ultimately imply contemplating or meditating on something, rather than being in a particular state or view
and resting in that state. We have to use the word 'non-meditation', to
describe this non-dual meditation.
In Dzogchen practice, you go beyond the clouds, to reach your skylike nature, the non-conceptual, non-dual aspect of your mind. That
absolute state is the pure or pristine awareness of Rigpa, the state of the
wisdom mind of all the budd has. The main point of the practice is to
strengthen and to stabilize this Rigpa, and to let it grow to maturity. As
Dudjom Rinpoche used to say, at present our Rigpa is 1ike a little baby
left on the battlefield of arising thoughts'. We need to babysi t our Rigpa.
Our absolute state or the state of Dzogpachenpo is always perfect
and never spoiled by our confusion. As Dudjom Rinpoche says:
Such a state of ultimate awareness, the primordial nature of which
is empty, has never been ennobled by the buddhas, nor degenerated by beings in their confusion for it is uncreated, yet spontaneously accomplished.
17
Dzogchen and Padn1JlSllmbhava
From the Dzogpachenpo point of view, our inherent nature is the
Primordial Buddha Sarnantabhadra, just like the sky. Even though
there may be many clouds, the sky itself always remains unstained.
Or sometimes the nature of mind is likened to a mirror, open and
clear, which reflects everything, yet is never dirtied.or stained by the
reflections.
This mirror-like nature of our mind is what we have to be reminded
of, time and time again. When we remember the purity of the inherent
nature of our Rigpa, there arises a tremendous inspiration, hope, and
confidence, and in this state we can dissolve all confusion, because
confusion is cloud-like, only a temporary obscuration, and does not
have the quality of absolute reality. When you can remain in that skylike nature, it is like a trust, like the earth which can bear the weight of
eyerything.
With the inspiration of the teachings, and with that confidence of
the absolute, of the View in one's heart, one relaxes into one's nature
and rests there. And if you can find that kind of trust and confidence
in yourself, it allows you to relax more. It gives rise to a spaciousness,
contentment and generosity, which you could call the 'buddha
humour'. When the clarity of Rigpa dawns there is an all-pervasive
feeling of goodness and tremendo�s inspiration, a sense of transcendence and uplift, as if you were rising above everything.
Remaining in the confidence and clarity of Rigpa allows all our
thoughts and emotions to naturally liberate, like writing on water, or
painting in the sky. That kind of understanding is how the ocean itself
views the waves. Dudjom Rinpoche points out:
.. .If you do not recognize this thought for what it is the moment it
arises, then it will tum into just an ordinary thought, as before .
This is called the 'chain of delusion', and is the root of samsara. On
the other hand, if you are just able to recognize the nature of the
thought as soon as it arises, and leave it alone without any followup, then whatever thoughts arise all automatically dissolve back
into the vast expanse of the Dharmakaya Rigpa and are liberated.
Once the View of Dzogpachenpo is realized, then there is no longer
any doubt. In the story of the 'Six Blind Men and the Elephant' each of
the blind men, limited by their lack of vision, is only able to describe
the part of the elephant they can feel. Being able to see the whole
18
The Spirit of Dzogchen
elephant is like having the overall view, the sight of Rigpa. All
doubts are dispelled by the confidence and certainty that arise from
having directly realized the View of Rigpa, which is then stabilized
through the practice of Dzogpachenpo. T hrough this stability, as
Rigpa is brought into the open, you have a clear confidence that whatever arises is naturally liberated, like shining a light into darkness. /lIn
an instant", said Guru Rinpoche, "it clears away the darkness of
aeons." With the light of the View of Rigpa, you can see through to the
true nature of whatever rises; there is no longer any deception.
Many people find that by far the most important feature of
Dzogchen is its style, its attitude, and its feeling, qualities which grant
tremendous relief in the ease and freedom they bring, and the absolute humour they shine onto our relative reality. As Dilgo Khyentse
RiI)poche says, once you have this View of Dzogpachenpo, although
the delusory perceptions of samsara may arise in your mind, you will
be like the sky; when a rainbow appears in front of it, it is not particularly flattered, and when clouds appear, it is not particularly disappointed either. There is a deep sense of contentment. You chuckle
from inside, as you see the fa�de of samsara and nirvana; the View
will keep you constantly bemused, with a little, inner smile bubbling
away all the time.
The profOUndness of the Dzogchen teaching lies in its tremendous
clarity and vividness, its power to resonate the Truth as a living, vital
experience. In fact for someone who is a true vessel for the Dzogchen
teaching, and who has a very deep karmic connection with it, just to
hear about Dzogchen can inspire the View. For Dzogpachenpo itself is
not just a teaching, but a state, the absolute state. The teaching is a
means, and a very powerful one, which links the absolute with the
conditioned and relative. Yet the wonder of the Dzogchen path is that
it does not stain the absolute with concepts, but still speaks of it in
conventional terms, bringing the Truth here into this world, and into
our lives, even before we become completely enlightened. The spirit
of Dzogchen starts to penetrate and permeate the fabric of our everyday experience. Even though we may be imperfect at this point, we
can begin to glimpse our 'perfect-ness' . All the buddhas are embodied
within us, complete-that is why it is called Dzogpachenpo! They are
already there, so there is no need to go out looking for them elsewhere. That would be, just like Patrul Rinpoche said, to leave your
elephant at home and go out searching for its footprints in the forest.
19
THE PATH
Dzogchen is an extraordinary teachingl a path through whichl as
Dudjom Rinpoche says: I�ven the most hardened criminal can directly and speedily attain buddhahood ." Yet whilst it is said to be for
those of the highest capacity, even within Dzogchen there are
supreme, middling, and average categories. For the supre�e student,
it can bring about complete enlighte�ent in an instant. It is said, for
example, that when the first human Dzogchen master Garab Dorje sat
down to receive the teaching of Dzogpachenpo from Vajrasattva, he
was an ordinary being, and when he got up afterwards, he was
already a buddha. The second case was Padmasambhava, and the
third was Chetsiin Senge Wangchuk.10 These are the three great examples of chik charwa, beings who were enlightened directly without
even having to practise, simply by hearing the teaching once.
Yet for most of us it does not follow that if we hear the Dzogchen
teachings we will become spontaneously enlightened. It has a great
deal to do with the purification of karmal as well as with past aspirations and prayers, which, when they mature, enable a person to
understand� the true meaning of Dzogpachenpo. For example,
Vairochana taught the Dzogchen teaching to an old man, Pang Gen
Mipham Gonpo, who had reached the age of eighty-five, and had not
practised in his youth. On the very day he requested to be introduced
to the nature of mind, there and then he realized it, and he was so
beside himself with joy that he embraced Vairochana and held onto
him, refusing to let him go the whole day long. He lived to be one
hundred and twelve and attained the rainbow body. He played an
important part in the transmission of Dzogchen, and it is said that in
his lineage everyone attained the rainbow body. No doubt many old
folk received teachings from Vairochana, but he attained realization
because of the ripening of his past karma and aspirations!
Then again, in Dzogchen it is said the nature of mind is introduced
upon the dissolution of the conceptual mind, but this implies that it is
taken for granted that a student would have performed the practices
preliminary to this, such as the investigation of the mind, so that when
the introduction is made, they can truly realize the meaning of the
introduction. Otherwise, as Patrul Rinpoche points out:
21
Dzogchen and p'admasambhava
Amidst the turbulence of arising thoughts, the gross arising
thoughts which run after the objects of perception obscure the
actual face of mind itself. So, even if the nature of mind were
introduced, one would not recognize it.
Nyoshul Lungtok was a very great Dzogchen master, who followed
his teacher Patrul Rinpoche for about eighteen years)1 They were
almost inseparable, so great was the love and devotion between them.
Patrol Rinpoche, who was from the Dzachukha region of Kham in
East TIbet, always used to call him a-mi, an affectionate way of saying
'my son', Nyoshul Lungtok would keep telling Patrol Rinpoche that
he had not yet got the main point, of realizing the Rlgpa. Maybe he
had, but he really wanted to be sure, so he kept on asking him. Then
Patrol Rinpoche gave him the introduction. It happened one evening,
whilst Patrol Rinpoche was staying up in one of the retreat centres
above Dzogchen monastery. It was a very beautiful night; the sky was
clear, and the stars were very bright. It was very quiet, and the sound
of solitude was heightened by the distant barking of a dog from the
monastery down below.
Nyoshul Lungtok had not asked him anything that evening, and
Patrul Rinpoche called him over, saying: "Didn't you tell me that you
still hadn't got the main poi�t of the practice of Dzogchen?" Nyoshul
Lungtok replied: "Yes, that's right."
"It' s very simple", he said, and lying down on the ground, he beckoned to him: "My son, come and lie down here like your father./J So
Nyoshul Lungtok did so. Then Patrul Rinpoche asked him, in a very
affectionate way: liDo you see the stars in the sky?" "Yes." "00 you
hear the dogs barking from the Dzogchen monastery?" "Yes," liDo
you hear what I am saying to you?" "Yes." "Well, the nature of
Dzogpachenpo is just-simply this."
At that moment, everything fell into place, and instantaneously
Nyoshul Lungtok was completely realized. The words Patrul
Rinpoche used were by no means extraordinary or esoteric; in fact
they were very ordinary. But beyond the words, something else was
being communicated. When a disciple like Nyoshul Lungtok, who
had complete devotion and receptivity to the true meaning of
Dzogpachenpo, meets a master who is completely enlightened like
PatmI Rinpoche, then the nature of Dzogpachenpo can be introduced
in such an ordinary, and extraordinary way.
22
The Path
This is why there are preliminary practices und purification for
Dzogchen. In Mahamudra, for example, there is a lot of emphasis on
the practice of shamatha, through which the student develops the
insight of vipashyana. The great Dzogchen master Adzom Drukpa
made his students do thr� years of shamatlla practice which consisted
of simply considering the teacher as the Buddha. In general however in
Dzogchen, the preliminary is the ngondro practice,12 which purifies
and transforms the student's basic being, as well as having a parallel
effect to shamatha of focusing the llund and making it more stable.
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche stresses the importance of this practice:
Without the ngondro, the main practice will not resist deluded
thoughts, it will be carried away by circumstances, it will be
unstable, and it will not reach its ultimate point.
Therefore a person embarking on the practice of Dzogchen follows
a step-by-step path of study and practice, beginning with the outer
preliminary (ngondro) of contemplation on the precious human birth,
death and impermanence, karma-cause and effect, and the frustrations of samsara. In the inner preliminary, there follow the practices of
taking refuge, generating the awakened mind of bodhicitta, prostrations, Vajrasattva purification, manda1a offering and the thirteen hundred thousand recitations of the Vajra Guru Mantra as part of Guru
Yoga. Then the practitioner progresses to the practice of sadhana, the
generation'ilIi.d completion phases of kyenm and dzogrim, and then the
yoga practices of tsalung. Having been directly introduced by the
teacher to the nature of mind through the Rigpe Tsal Wang, the
empowerment of Rigpa, the student then follows the actual path o�
Dzogchen Atiyoga. As Patrul Rinpoche says:
From the difficulty of gaining fortunate human birth,
Up to Mantrayana, generation and completion phases,
T,.2 the direct approach of Dzogchen (Trekcho),
.
to strip the mind naked of its pretenses:
There is no dharma which is not included here.
Dudjom Rinpoche points out:
A full understanding and realization of the true essence of
Dzogpachenpo depends entirely on these preliminary practices of
23
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
ngondro. For as Je Drikhungpa said: "Other teachings stress th�
profoundness of the main practice, but we here stress the profoundness of the preliminary practice" -and that is just how it is.
It should always be remembered that Dzogchen cannot be studied
simply by reading books, but only through meeting and following a
qualified master who embodies the complete realization of
Dzogpachenpo, and who, once the preliminaries have been completed,
will introduce his student to the teaching of Dzogchen. His Holiness
the Dalai Lama underlines the paramount importance of this point:
In order to engage in the practices of Trekcho and Toga), first of all
the practitioner requires training in the preliminary practices. One
fact that you must bear in mind is that the practices of Dzogchen,
such as Trekcho and Togal, can only be achieved through the guidance of an experienced master, and through receiving the inspiration and blessing from a living person who has himself the realization. Only through such close contact with a perfectly realized
master can one accomplish the realization of Dzogchen practice.13
Even the great masters of the past, such as Padmasambhava and
Vimalamitra, also followed teachers. As it is said, 'Without the master, even the name 'Buddha' is not heard."
Even though Dzogchen itself is not a gradual path, one of 'sudden
enlightenment', yet in order to ripen the student it must be taught
step-by-step according to their capacity of understanding and their
experience. This is why it is transmitted through the great method of
Mengak Nyongtri Chenpo, the secret know .. how and direct method of
realizing the absolute, handed down from the wisdom mind of the
masters and related to the experience of the student to enable them to
realize their absolute nature.
Therefore the importance of meeting and following a qualified
teacher cannot be over-emphasized. For when the real meaning of
Dzogpachenpo is pointed. out, if there is no way that the student can
realize it, it leaves plenty of scope for falling into a conceptual misunderstanding, and thereby completely missing the point. Also, as
Dudjom Rinpoche observes: "It is because the Dzogpachenpo is so
very profound that there will be obstacles, just as making a great profit entails a great ri�k." The guidance of a qualified master is imperative.
24
The Path
O�erwise it might be easy for the practitioner to be led astray, especially when they reach a deeper, more advanced state and there is that
much more room for deception.
In the Dzogchen guidelines it is stressed that in order to fully realize
the true meaning of Dzogpachenpo, three authentics must be present:
an authentic master, an authentic student, and an authentic lineage of
the method of introduction. First the authentic master must meet an
authentic student. Then the method is of crucial importance. For a
master might give the introduction non-methodically, but if a student
does not catch on, he or she will misunderstand the point of the introduction entirely, and just be left totally baffled. Hence the true understanding of Dzogchen depends upon an 'authentic lineage of the
method of introduction', that very same method which made the masters of the past themselves attain realization.
The following prayer was spontaneously composed and given to me
by H. H. Dudjom Rinpoche on the occasion when he first taught Hitting
the Essence in Three Words in Europe, to an assembly of thirteen disciples
in Paris. It is reproduced in Dudjom Rinpoche's own hand:
May we obtain the great confidence of the View
Where both samsara and nirvana are one.
May we greatly perfect and strengthen Meditation
Which is naturally resting in the unaltered state.
May we greatly accomplish the Action
Of non-acti�n, which is naturally arrived at.
May we self-find the Dharmakaya
Which is free of obtaining and abandoning.
25
THE LOTUS-BORN GURU
Whereas Buddha is principally known for having taught the
Sutrayana teachings-even though he did teach the Tantras in secret,
Padmasambhava came to this world, and to Tibet in particular, in
order to teach the Tantra. So whilst Buddha Shakyamuni represents
the buddha principle, the most important element in the Sutrayana
path, Padmasambhava personifies the guru principle, the heart of
Vajrayana Buddhism, and is therefore known as sangye nyipa, the second buddha.
As Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche explains:
According to the general approach of the buddhadharma, the
story of the h istorical Buddha Shakyamuni begins from the
moment of his enlightenment in India at Vajrasana (Dorjeden), the
modem Bodhgaya. Buddha turned the wheel of dhanna on three
occasion s, and finally passed into parinirvana. Then Padmasambhava came to follow up his teachings, and especially to turn
the wheel of the Secret Mantra Vajrayana teachings. Whereas
Buddha gave the fundamental teachings, and opened up the
ground, it was Padmasambhava who introduced the teachings of
the Vajrayana.14
Padmasambhava, or Padma'kara in Sanskrit, Pemajungne in Tibetan,
means 'the lotus-born'. The lotus symbolizes the Padma or lotus family to which all human beings belong. Although the lotus grows in
muddy swamps, yet it always produces an immaculate, pure flower.
In the same manner, although we have negative emotions, such as
desire, their inherently pure wisdom-energy can be allowed to blossom. Therefore confusion does not have to be abandoned; it can be
transmuted into wisdom. The principle of the lotus represents this
power of transmutation.
So Padmasambhava is the embodiment of the vision of tantra and of
transmutationj he is the transformative blessing of all the buddhas.
He is therefore particularly powerful in this day and age, when negative emotions are stronger, and confusion greater than ever before. It
is said that the more confusion and difficulties there are, the more
27
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
powerful he is. When TIbetan people need blessing or protection, their
natural reflex is to invoke Padmasambhava, and when great masters
face crises, even they too call out to him, as if he were their saS.
Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche continues:
Now, according to the extraordinary path of Dzogpachenpo,
Buddha is actually the true nature of our own mind, our inherent
Rigpa or pure awareness. Where did he become enlightened? In
the all-encompassing space of dharmadhatu. From this point of
view, events such as his manifestation as the historical Buddha, in
Vajrasana, for example, are seen simply as an outer display.
The 'Primordial Buddha' dwells nowhere but in the nature of
our Rigpa, the realm of Akanishtha.15 From out of the space of '
dharmadhatu he manifests, for the benefit of bodhisattvas, as the
sambhogakaya buddhas of the five families: Vai rochana,
Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi. For
this world of ours, he manifested in a nirmanakaya form as the
historical Buddha Shakyamuni. In reality, though, he was no
other than an emanation of the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra
who is in our own heart, our o\;Vn Rigpa.
Later he manifested as Padmasambhava, the eigh ty-four
mahasiddhas, and the great masters of India, such as: Nagarjuna,
Asanga, Aryadeva, Vasubandhu, D ignaga, Dharmaki r ti,
Shakyaprabha, and Gunaprabha, known as the Six Ornaments and
Two Excellent Ones. For other worlds, he manifested in various
ways, for each different being in their own way, appearing as a
bird amongst the birds, as an animal amongst animals, and so on.
Whereas the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra is our Rigpa
on an absolute level, the nature or quaHty of the wisdom of Rigpa
is radiant and endowed with luminosity, like the sun with its
unchanging and unceasing radiance. This quality of the unceasing luminosity of the primordial nature is that Limitless Light or
Unchanging Light which we call Buddha Amitabha, Opame or
Nangwataye in Tibetan.
From his heart, the Buddha Amitabha, who is the
same as Samantabhadra, sent out tremendous rays of
light in the form of the syllable HRlH, which descended
into the north-western land of Oddiyana,16 and onto the
lake of Dhanakosha. In the same way as the essence of
28
The Lotus-born Guru
father and mother give birtl). to a child and form the seed of our
elemental body, Padmasambhava's birth generated from this seed
syllable HRIH.
'
At that moment all the buddhas of the ten directions, together
with hundreds of thousands of dakinis from different celestial
realms, invoked the blessings and the incarnation of all the buddhas for the benefit of beings. This invocation of theirs is known
as the "Seven Verses of the Vajra', or the "Seven Line Prayer.' It is
the Spontaneous Song of Peace of the Dharmadhatu. This is the most
important prayer, since it is the invocation through which Guru
Rinpqche came into this world of ours.
i,� -!!!Jl:"l!9n.t�q�CU� � • .m"�-;"",-;
Iq 'QI �"'t4iW-",\.1\t�...Y!J Q 'Q�3 w.,�"'ql� ��
n�'�G.t�q.��� ���Cq'41'�"�
"'� «II �'�"W,u���� .....!!)�.':l., .. ���
The Seven Line Prayer and the Vajra Guru Mantra
As Guru Rinpoche was born within a lotus flower upon the
waters of the lake, the dakinis called out to him from their hearts,
and their call spontaneously became the Vajra Guru Mantra. So
this mantra is his heart mantra, his life-core, his heart essencel and
to recite it is to invoke his very being.
Then the King of Oddiyana, Indrabodhi, took charge of him. As
Padmasambhava had manifested on a nirmanakaya level, he had
to act accordingly, and even though in reality he was already a
buddha, he pretended that he needed to receive teachings and
accomplish the practice, in order to demonstrate that he had come
as successor to the Buddha and to continue his work. As he was
born eight years a fter Buddha's. parinirvana, he went to
Vajrasana, where he studied under Buddha's closest� disciple
29
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
Ananda. Then he went to all the Eight Great Vidyadhara masters,
received the Secret Mantrayana teachings and practised them. In
particular, in a pure vision he met Garab Dorje, the first human
Dzogchen master, and went through the motions of receiving the
Dzogchen teachings. He manifested the display of attaining complete realization.
Padmasambhava came to this world to accomplish three main
aims. In general, he came to help the beings of the six realms.
Then, his historical mission was to bring the light of the Dharma
and the teachings of Dzogchen to the land of TIbet. It is owing to
his kindness and his single-handed efforts that the teaching in
Tibet has lasted for well over a thousand years. Now the teachings
of Padmasambhava have come to the West, where once he was
unknown, and this indeed is a sign of his blessing, a mark of his
compassion and power. Thirdly, each buddha has a particular
mission, and Padmasambhava's specific mission is to come in this
dark age, the 'dregs of time', the kaliyuga.
The Dzogchen teachings were transmitted in Tibet primarily by
Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, and Vairochana, and that this
transmission happened at .all was mainly as a result of
Padmasambhava's kindness. Under his guidance, at a retreat in
Chuwori sponsored by King Trisong Detsen, out of one hundred
retreatants, ninety-nine attained the rainbow body; the only one
who did not was Palgyi Dorje. Padmasambhava had twenty-five
close disciples who were the first mahasiddhas of TIbet, and of
these all attained the rainbow body except Trisong Detsen. At
Drak Yerpa, eighty students all became mahasiddhas, attained the
rainbow body and never came out of retreat; there were thirty siddhas of Yangzom who all attained realization, fifty-five tokden
(realized beings) of Sheldrak, twenty-five dakinis who attained
the rainbow body, and there were also the seven siddhas of Tsang.
All these, and so many more, attained the rainbow body and realization through the power and blessing of Padmasambhava. And
this is because Padmasambhava is the Buddha of this time; his
speciality is working with the negativity of this particular age, in
which he is the quickest to act and most powerful.
When the time came for him to depart from Tibet, Padrnasambhava
left for the land of Ngayab Ling in the southwest, and the Copper
30
The Lotus-born Guru
Coloured Mountain, Zangdo kpalri. ""There," writes Dudjom
Rinpoche, 'lle manifested the inconceivable Palace of Lotus Light,
and there he presides as king, with one of his manifestations in each of
the eight continents of the rakshasas, giving teachings like the Eight
Great Methods of Attainment of the Kagye, and protecting the people
of this world of Jambudvipa from fears for their life. Even to this day,
he reigns as the regent of Vajradhara, the 'Vidyadhara with spontaneous accomplishment of the ultimate path'; and thus he will remain,
without ever moving, until the end of the universe."
There are many forms of Padmasambhava. The first is called ,
Totreng De Nga: the five families of Padmasambhava: Vajra Totreng,
Raffia Totreng, Padma Totreng, Karma T6treng, and Buddha Totreng.
Then there are the Eight Manifestations of Padmasambhava: Tsokye
Dorje, Padmasambhava, Loden Chokse, Pema Gyalpo, Nyima Ozer,
Shakya Senge, Senge Dradok, and Dorje Drolo. There are the six Guru
Rinpoches that manifest to help the hell realms, the hungry ghost
realm, the animal realm, the human realm; the demi-god realm, and
the god realm. These six Guru Rinpoches work against the six nega":'
tive emotions. There are also twelve manifestations of Guru Rinpoche
(Nam trul Chu Nyi) against various obstacles and fears that arise in
our life, and many others)7
In the practice of Sampa Lhundrupma (The Spontaneous Fulfilment of
all Wishes),- there are thirteen emanations of Guru Rinpoche: against
war, against illness, against famine �nd deprivation, Guru Rinpoche
the same as the yidam, for travel, for protection against wild animals,
for the elements, against robbery, against assailants, for the moment of
death, for the bardo, against mental illness, and against suffering in
the world at large.
Buddha himself said: "I came in a dream-like manner and taught a
dream-like dharma, but in reality I did not teach at aU, it all arose simply out of the needs of beings." Just as whatever appears in front of a
mirror is reflected within it, so the teachings appeared according to
the need of beings. In the same way, the Eight Manifestations of
Padmasambhava are not different Padmasambhavas, but reflect his
ability to appear according to needs and demands. In fact, they are
called in Tibetan Guru Tsen Gye, (Eight Names of the Guru). So, for
example, for scholars he appeared as the learned pandita Guru
Padmasambhava; as a great buddha Guru 5hakya Senge, he proclaimed the Mahayana; as the prince who administered the kingdom
31
An aspect of Padmasambhava for Peacel withl abovel Padmasambhava of Great
Blissl Guru Dewachenpo. A visionary thangka commissioned by the great Jamyang
Khyentse ChiJkyi Lodrol and photographed recently in Tibet by
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
The Lotus-born Guru
with great statesmanship, he appeared as Guru Perna Gyalpo; as a
yogin he appeared as Guru Nyima Ozer, and so on: each manifestation demonstrating a different principle.
"If you pray to Guru Rinpoche fervently/' says Nyoshul Khen
Rinpoche, "there is no doubt that he will actually appear to you. For
there is no other buddha who has manifested in visions to practi tioners as often as has Guru Rinpoche. Some of the great tertons,18 Ratna
Lingpa for example, had as many as twenty-five visions of Guru
Rinpoche. Other major tertons had twenty, others ten, some six, and
all the thousand minor tertons had at least three visions each, making
many thousands of visions in all.
The details of these visions are very precisely recorded, for example:
the date, the p1ace, and the manner in which they occurred, and the
teachings and prophecies Padmasambhava gave. These teachings
have subsequently been written down very clearly, and practised later
by other masters, many of whom have attained the rainbow body
through their authentic power. This all demonstrates just how powerful Guru Rinpoche is, and how quick he is to act. If you practise him,
success on the path will corne more swiftly. No buddha or master has
appeared as many times as Guru Rinpoche; he seems to be the most
active of them all."
33
Jamyang Khyentse ChDkyi Lodro
THE GURU PRINCIPLE
When we talk about the lama, the master or the guru principle, it is
important to remember that the guru is not merely a person. The guru
represents the inspiration of truth; he embodies the crystallization of
the blessing, compassion and wisdom of all buddhas and all masters.
As my master Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro used to explain,
although our true nature is buddha, yet from beginningless time it has
been obscured by a cloud of ignorance and confusion. But despite this
obscuration, our buddha-nature, or the truth within, has never surrendered to ignorance, and rebels against its confusion. This is our
inner teacher or guru, the active aspect of our buddha-nature, which
from the very moment when we became confused has been working
for us to bring us back to our true nature. It has never given up on us;
in its infinite compassion, it has been tirelessly working for our evolution, not only in this life, but in all our past lives, using all kinds of
means and situations in order to teach us and guide us back to the
truth. Even from an ordinary point of view, we realize that life is
always teaching us. And though it may be a teaching that we often do
not want, we cannot run away from this truth, for life continues to
teach us. This is the universality of the guru.
As a result of our past aspirations and prayers, and our purified
karma, this inner teacher actually begins to manifest more clearly and
take shap� in the form of the outer teacher whom we actually encounter. In fact, the outer teacher is none other than the spokesman of
our inner teacher. He teaches us how to receive the message of our
inner teacher, and how to realize the ultimate teacher within, restoring
a belief and confidence in ourselves and thereby freeing us from the
suffering that comes from not knowing our true nature.
The outer teacher is a messenger, the inner teacher the truth. If
someone wants to reach you on the telephone, for example, they call
your number. In the very same way, the buddhas call you through
your buddha-nature, your inner teacher. He is the direct line, but until
you know how to listen and hear, it is your outer teacher who answers
the phone. They work through him, to you. It is important not to lose
the sense of this connection between the inner and outer teacher. The
outer teacher is teaching you how to find yourself, how to find the
35
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
buddha in you. He is introducing you to yourself, and until you find
the buddha within you, he is that substitute.
In the Dzogchen teachings Padmasambhava embodies this universal principle. He is regarded as the incarnation of the buddhas of the
past, the representative of the buddhas of the present, and the source
from whom all the future buddhas will come. He is the timeless guru,
within whose being all masters are embodied. Many of the great masters of the Tibetan tradition have drawn inspiration from him, and are
his emanations, like the rays that burst out from the sun. So if you connect with any one of them, they will eventually lead to him. His
human connection with you is your teacher. It is through your teacher
that you can recognize him.
For whatever you consider Padmasambhava to be, or whatever you
consider your master to be, is what Dzogchen is. That absolute state of
Dzogpachenpo is the wisdom mind of your teacher. So you do not
regard him as an erdinary human being. What he embodies is the
truth or wisdom that he touches and inspires in you. So for you he
comes to embody the wisdom mind, so much so that just to think of
him crystallizes all the teaching and practice into an essential flavour.
The master is not separate from the teaching; in fact, he is the energy,
truth, and compassion of the dharma� He is the embodiment of
Dzogpach enpo, so whenever you think of your mas ter or
Padmasambhava, it invokes this blessing into your presence. This is
the principal source of inspiration for Dzogchen practice.
As Kalu Rinpoche said in his last public teaching:
What we call the buddha, or the lama, is not material in the same
way as iron, crystal, gold, or silver are. You should never Hunk of
them with this sort of materialistic attitude. The essence of the
lama or buddha is emptiness; their nature, clarity; their appearance, the play of unimpeded awareness. Apart from that, they
have no real, material form, shape, or colour whatsoever-like
the empty luminosity of space. When we know them to be like
that, we can develop faith, merge our minds with theirs, and let
our minds rest peacefully. This attitude and practice are most
important,19
We need to humanize the truth in order to make it accessible to us.
Without that how could we possibly understand the absolute? For us,
36
The Guru Principle
the guru is the human face of the truth. And as Dilgo Khyentse
Rinpoche says, 'Pfhere is no buddha who became enlightened without
having relied upon a spiritual teacher.1I You cannot realize the absolute
within the domain of the ordinary mind. And the path beyond the
mind is through the heart and through devotion. As Buddha told
Shariputra, it is through devotion, and devotion alone, that one realizes the absolute. Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche pOints out:
According to Dzogchen and the special approach of the great
Dzogchen master, Shri Singha,,
_
there is a way of recognizing the
nature of mind solely through devotion. There are cases of practitioners who simply through their heart-felt devotion attained
realization, even though their teacher had already passed away or
was nowhere near them physically. Because of their prayers and
devotion, the nature of mind was introduced. The most famous
example is that of Longchenpa and Jigme Lingpa.20
Dzogchen cannot be realized merely with the intellect or the thinking of the ordinary mind, but only through the purity of the heart. For
Dzogchen is beyond mind; it is the wisdom of Rigpa, which can only
be transmitted via a closeness of the heart between master and disciple. Devotion is na�rally inspired when a teacher is able to open your
innermost heart and offer you a glimpse of the nature of your mind.
From this there comes a tremendous joy, appreciation, and gratitude to
the one who has helped you to see, and to the truth that he embodies.
That heartfelt, uncontrived, genuine feeling is true devotion. True
devotion is not some kind of adoration or worship on a mundane or
conventional level, but simply the natural ability to invoke the
warmth and blessing of the truth in times of need, through a genuine
and pure devotion. It comes from having seen the View, and from this
also comes tremendous compassion. As Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
explains: "Once you realize the true meaning of emptiness or
Dzogpachenpo, effortless compassion arises for all beings who have
not realized; if crying could express that compaSSion, you could cry
without end/' These three: the View, devotion, and compassion, are
indivisible, one flavour-the taste of dharma.
37
H. H. DilgD Khyentse RinpDche
GURU YOGA
The most powerful way to invoke the inspiration and view of
Dzogchen is through the practice of guru yoga, 'merging with the
mind of the guru.' That is why, throughout his tory, the great
Dzogchen masters, such as Jigme Lingpa, Jamyang Khyentse
Wangpo, and Patrul Rinpoche for example, have treasured guru yoga
as their innermost practice. Patrul Rinpoche would even recite the
words of the guru yoga involuntarily when he rolled over in his sleep.
liOn an ultimate level," says Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, "it is
through Padmasambhava that we can realize the nature of mind and
the meaning of Dzogchen or Mahamudra. For one cannot realize them
without the practice of guru yoga. Guru yoga is the key."
The practice of guru yoga is a very subtle, yet powerful, niethod of
relating to the truth in a human, personal way, and of opening one's
heart to reveal the wisdom of Rigpa. The guru is a medium and invoking him a means. Because when you think of your master it evokes the
very essence, the very flavour and feeling of enlightenment, of the
View, and of Dzogchen. And devotion disarms all your negative emotions. In guru yoga you open your heart and your mind to the truth
that the guru embodies.
Although the truth or the buddha is within us, when we are not able
to realize it ourselves, we need to invoke it. It is extremely difficult,
almost impossible, to enter into the state of the absolute without any
inspiration, and if you do not have the confidence of the wisdom guru
within you, then you need to find a way to inspire it through guru
yoga, which invokes that presence, to warm your heart and bless your
mind. As Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche points out: IIIf you look at your
mind, when a very strong devotion arises and you meditate inspired
by that devotion, what happens? You find that your meditation has
much more feeling, clarity, bliss, and realization. Whereas you can just
sit there dumbly meditating on emptiness, and think: 'I am meditating", but it will be quite flat."
Dudjom Rinpoche writes:
In particular, it is vital to put all your energy into the guru yoga,
holding onto it as the life and heart of the practice. If you do not,
39
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
then your meditation will be very dull, and even if you do make a
little progress, there will be no end to obstac1es, and no possibility
of true, genuine realization being born within the mind. Therefore
by fervently praying with uncontrived devotion, after a while the
direct blessing of the wisdom mind of the lama will be transmitted, thereupon empowering you with a unique realization,
beyond words, born deep within your mind. Lama Shyang
Rinpoche declared: "Continue the flow of relaxed stillness, continue the flow of inner experience, continue the flow of samadhi
meditation." Though there are many such words of advice, yet
rare indeed is that realization born within through the blessing of
the lama, invoked by the power and strength of devotion.
There are four stages in the complete practice of guru yoga:
• invocation
• merging your mind with the guru by means of the mantra, then
• the receiving of the blessing or empowerment, and finally
• uniting one's mind with Padmasambhava or with the guru and
resting in the nature of your Rigpa, the Absolute Lama.
1. Invocation
Invocation begins with arousing the View of true devotion. As you sit,
quietly, from the depth of your heart you invoke Padmasambhava, the
embodiment of all the buddhas and all the masters, in the sky before
you, in the person of your master. He should be visualized radiant,
like a rainbow, and not flat like in a picture, nor solid like a statue of
gold, nor empty. Consider that he has the blessings and qualities of
the wisdom, compassion, and power of all the buddhas. For as
Padmasambhava himself said: "Those who accomplish me accomplish all the buddhas; those who see me, see all the budd has." As you
invoke him, you call upon his help and inspiration to purify all your
karma and negative emotions, and bring about the realization of your
true nature. With that kind of plea, you invoke him very strongly, and
unite your mind with him.
If you have difficulty relating to the form of Padmasambhava, you
can simply consider that perfect presence, the presence of all the
buddhas and masters, and invoke the truth in the form of light.
Invocation is as if you were bringing Padmasambhava into your
40
Guru Yoga
presence and into your heart. As you invoke, your mind is occupied
with Padmasambhava or the feeling of Padmasambhava, transforming the whole environment of your heart and mind. Dilgo Khyentse
Rinpoche says:
It is as if Padmasambhava himself is actually present.
Recognizing this, visualize him and invoke him from the depths
of your heart, saying: 'Guru Rinpoche, you take care of me!' Then
there is no doubt that the blessing will enter your heart.
When we undertake a practice of visualization like this, we are
entering the dimension of a sacred realm. It is to remind ourselves that
the buddhas are there, for as Buddha himself said: "Whoever thinks of
me, I am in front of them." You are not fabricating something, instead
you are tuning in to the true nature of the pure environment, the buddha realm. You do not have to 'see' buddha realms, but simply let
your heart enter into them. Intrinsically, all realms are the pure realms
of the buddhas, yet at present on account of our karmic vision, we are
unable to see them purely. This is the pure perception (dag nang), the
sacred outlook.
When you invoke Padmasambhava you can do so by chanting the
Seven-Line Prayer, the prayer that is most commonly u sed in the
Nyingma and Dzogchen traditions. liTo this very prayer, you can give
your whole mind, in devotion," said Guru Rinpoche. He also said:
When a disciple calls upon me with yearning devotion,
And with the melodious song of the Seven-Line Prayer,
I shall come straightaway from Zangdokpalri,
Like a mother who cannot resist the call of her child.
Feeling the presence of the Buddha, Padmasambhava, or your master and just opening your heart and mind, without concepts, to the
embodiment of truth actually blesses and changes your mind. On the
one hand, whether Buddha was actually there or not does not really
matter as long as your feelings change and your mind is transformed;
at the same time, buddhas are limitless, and just as the quality of
water is to quench thirst and of fire to bum, so theirs is to come immediately whenever someone invokes them. Though on an absolute
level Buddha is the true nature of our mind, even so, on a relative
41
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
level, as long as there are confused beings, there will be buddhas to
help. Through the blessing of invocation, the buddha within you is
inspired to blossom, like a flower in the sunshine. Because at the same
time as you invoke all the buddhas, your buddha-nature is awakened.
2. Maturing the Blessing
The essence of the practice of guru yoga is to unify your mind with
Guru Rinpoche and say the mantra OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU
PADMA SIDDRI HUM as much as possible. As you recite the
mantra, you keep uniting your mind one with the guru, or you just
quietly rest your mind in the nature of your guru. This is called
'maturing the blessing'. Through the blessing, your ordinary mind is
realized into the wisdom mind of Guru Rinpoche. Your feelings and
perception are transformed, as if suddenly the heavy clouds had lifted
and everything had become clear.
The Vajra G uru Mantra is the very heart essence of
Padmasambhava. It is also the mantra of all the masters, buddhas,
yidams, dakas, dakinis, and protectors. When you chant it, you are
invoking the very embodiment of Padmasambhava.
If you enter into the right inspiration and chant the mantra it can
really transform your energy, and through that transform your mind
and emotion. The definition of mantra is 'that which protects the
mind'; it protects it from its own negativity. In other words, it protects
you from your own mind. Even if you are not able to actualize the
meaning of the mantra each time you chant, it is fine. You simply rest
in the natural sound of the mantra, the 'natural sound of the vajra', as
is done in Dwgchen practice. Your breath, your mind, and the mantra
are one. You are working with prana, the breath, which is the most
important medium of energy. If you chant inspiringly, all the subtle
channels of your body resonate and vibrate with the sound of the
mantra, and through this a great transformation of energy takes place.
For the emotions are very closely connected with energy, and through
chanting the mantra one can slowly find balance, poise and integration. In the Dzogchen tradition, mantra is often used as a preliminary
to sitting meditation, to inspire samadhi, to ease nervous tension, and
to defuse volatile emotions.
42
Khyentse Sangyum, Khandro Tsering ChiidriJ"n
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
As you say the mantra, you invest your mind and heart in the wisdom mind of Padmasambhava. You offer your Jheart and soul', and
merge and mix your mind with your master. As you do that, something fennents, and what encourages that is the mantra. IJ'Samadhi
meditation is like a fire," it is said, lJ'and mantra is like the wind." The
wind of tne mantra fans the fire of your ' meditation and fuels your
realization. As this is the main part of the practice, you should spend
time on this, to mature the blessing.
The main feeling is of gradually coming closer, and dosing the gap
between you and the wisdom mind of Guru Rinpoche. A simple practice like this is very important: simply focusing on the mind of the
Guru. And if you keep merging your mind with him and saying the
mantra, whatever problems you have will be dissolved-of that there
is no doubt. As you unite your mind with Guru Rinpoche, sometimes
it is almost as if you forget your mind ... and it is when you forget your
mind that you can find yourself in a state of Rigpa Guru Rinpoche.
Your mind has matured and ripened into the wisdom mind of Guru
Rinpoche, and in the state of his wisdom mind, are there really any
problems?
The Vajra Guru Mantra
The essential meaning of the Vajra Guru Mantra is: I invoke you, the
Vajra Guru, Padmasambhava, by your blessing may you grant us ordinary
and supreme siddhis.
The complete meaning, as explained by Dudjom Rinpoche and
DiIgo Khyentse Rinpoche, is as follows:
Externally, they are aI,so the vajr� body, vajra speech, and vajra mind
of the buddhas. OM represents the blessing of the body of the buddhas, AH the blessing of the speech of the buddhas, and HUM the
blessing of the wisdom mind of all the buddhas. OM is the essence of
form, AH the essence of sounds, and HUM the essence of mind. OM
purifies all negative actions committed through your body, AH purifies all negative actions committed through your speech, and HUM
purifies all the negative actions committed through your mind.21 You
are empowered with the blessing and transformation of the body,
44
Guru Yoga
speech, and mind of all the buddhas.
Internally, OM purifies tsa, the channels or nadis. AH purifies lung,
the prana, inner air or flow of energy. HUM purifies tikle, bindu, the
energy or creative essence. OM purifies all perceptions, AH purifies
all sounds, and HUM purifies mind, thoughts, and emotions.
Secretly, OM AH HUM represent the three kayas: OM represents
the dharmakaya aspect of the lotus family, Buddha Amitabha; AH
represents the sambhogakaya aspect, Avalokiteshvara, and HUM represents the nirmanakaya aspect, Padmasambhava. This in�icates that
the three kayas are all embodied in the person of Guru Rinpoche.
Even more secretly, OM is compassion or energy (tukje), AH is
nature (rangshyin) and HUM is essence (ngowo).
VAJRA, or 'dorje' in TIbetan refers to the diamond, the hardest and
most precious of all stones. The diamond can cut through all other
substances, yet itself cannot be cut by any of them. In the very same
way: the unchanging, non-dual wisdom of the buddhas cannot be
affected or destroyed by ignorance; this wisdom can cut through all
delusions and obscurations; and the qualities and activities of the
body, speech and mind of the buddhas benefit beings without any
hindrance from negative forces. Like a diamond, the vajra is free of
any defects; its strength comes from the realization of the dharmakaya
nature-the nature of Buddha Amitabha.
GURU means Jweighty', someone replete with all the wonderful
qualities of wisdom and knowledge, who has tremendous presence
and also fully embodies this wisdom. Just as gold is the most substantial and precious of metals, so the guru is the most substantial figure
because of his inconceivable and flawless qualities, and also he is the
most precious of all beings. Here the guru corresponds to the sambhogakaya and to Avalokiteshvara, JLord of Compassion',
Since it was Guru Rinpoche himself who showed us the path of the
Secret Mantra Vajrayana, and through its practice attained supreme
realization, so he is the VAJRA GURU.
PADMA indicates the lotus family or speech aspect of the buddhas.
As Padmasambhava is the direct emanation or nirmanakaya of the
primordial Buddha Amitabha, who belongs to the lotus family, he is
known as JPadma', as in Padmasambhava or Pemajungne.
VAJRA also means the indestructible energy of enlightenment, the
truth, which we pray that we may realize in our View. GURU represents the luminosity or perfection of the nature of mind, which we
45
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
pray that we may actualize in our Meditation. PADMA stands for
'compassion' or 'action', and we pray that we may accomplish the
compassion of Action.
So: VAJRA is the View, GURU is Meditation, and PADMA is compassion in Action. VAJRA is dharmakaya, GURU is sambhogakaya
and PADMA is nirmanakaya. VAJRA is essence, GURU is nature and
PADMA is energy .
In short, we pray that we realize the confidence of the View of
VAJRA, perfect the great skill of Meditation of the GURU and accomplish the compassionate Action of PADMA.
SIDDID means 'real accomplishment', attainment, blessing and
realization. There are two kinds of siddhis: ordinary and supreme.
Through receiving the blessing of ordinary siddhis, all obstacles in our
lives, such as ill-health, are removed, an our good aspirations are fulfilled, we obtain benefits like wealth and prosperity, and all life' s circumstances become conducive to the realization of enlightenment.
The blessing of the supreme siddhi brings about enlightenment itself,
the state of complete realization of the Lotus-born Guru, for the benefit of both ourselves and others. By remembering and praying to the
body, speech, mind, quality, and .activity of the Lotus-born Guru, one
will attain both ordinary and supreme accomplishments.
Siddhis can be divided into the outer accomplishment of the four
kannas, the inner accomplishment of the eight siddhis, and the secret
accomplishment of the supreme siddhi. Also they can be the outer
accomplishment of the development stage (kyerim), the inner accomplishment of the tsalung practice of channels and winds, and the
secret accomplishment of the realization of the nature of mind.
SIDDHI HUM is said to draw in all the siddhis like a magnet that
attracts iron filings. HUM is the wisdom mind of the buddhas, and the catalyst for the
mantra. So be it[
By the infinite truth of the dharmadhatu and the power and blessing of the wisdom mind of all the buddhas, may we actualize this
mantra and may its power be accomplished: OM AH HUM
VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM.
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche goes on to explain:
46
Guru Yoga
It is said that the twelve syllables OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU
PADMA SIDDHI HUM carry the entire blessing of the twelve
types of teaching taught by Buddha, which are the essence of his
84,000 dharmas. Therefore to recite the Vajra Guru Mantra once is
equivalent to the blessing of reciting the whole of the Tripitaka,22
or practising the whole teaching of the Buddha. These twelve
branches of the teaching are the antidotes to free us from the
twelve links of interdependent origination, which keep us bound
to samsara: ignorance, karmic formations, discursive consciousness, name and fonn, senses, contact, sensation, craving, grasping, existence, birth, old age, and death. They are the mechanism
of samsara. Through reciting the Twelve Syllable Mantra, these
twe1ve links are purified, and one is able to completely remove
and purify the layer of karmic emotional defilements (kleshas),
and be liberated from samsara.
Although we are not able to see Guru Rinpoche in person, his
wisdom mind has manifested in the fonn of mantra; these twelve
syllables are actually the emanation of his wisdom mind, and they r
are endowed with his entire blessing. The Vajra Guru Mantra is
Guru Rinpoche in the form of sound. So when you invoke him
with the recitation of the twelve syllables, the blessing and merit
you obtain is tremendous. In these difficult times, just as there is
no buddha or refuge that we can call upon who is more powerful
than Padmasambhava, so there is no mantra that is more fitting
than the Vajra Guru Mantra.
Further explanations of the Vajra Guru Mantra can be found in the
terma revelation of Karma Lingpa, and in the writings of Dodrup
Jigme Tenpe Nyima.
3. Empowerment
When you reach the end of the mantra practice, maturing the bleSSing,
and uniting with the wisdoDl mind of the guru, it culminates in the
receiving of the empowerment, abhisheka in Sanskrit, which is the
third phase of the guru yoga practice. It is explained here according to
the practice of guru yoga in Longchen Nyingtik.
From a crystal white syllable OM in the forehead of Padmasambhava, stream out rays of white light which enter your forehead and
47
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
fill your whole body. This purifies all the negative
karma accumulated through negative acts of the body,
and purifies the channels (nadi, Skt.; tsa, Tib.). Thus
you receive the blessing of the vajra body of Guru
Rinpoche. This is the 'vase empowerment' (bum
wang), which empowers you for the practice of visualization (kyerim), and sows the seed for the attainment of the state of
'fully matured vidyadhara' and nirmanakaya realization.
From a ruby red syllable AH at Padmasambhava's
throat stream out rays of red light which enter your
throat and fill your whole body. This purifies all the
negative karma accumulated through negative acts of
the speech, and purifies the inner air (prana, Skt.; lung,
TIb.). Thus you receive the blessing of the vajra speech
of Guru Rinpoche. This is the 'secret empowerment'
(sang wang), which empowers you for the practice of mantra recitation, and sows the seed for the attainment of the state of 'vidyadhara
of etemal life' and sambhogakaya realization.
Thirdly, from a lapis-lazuli coloured blue syllable
HUM at PadmasaIl.lbhava's heart stream out rays of
blue light, entering your heart and filling your whole
body. This purifies all the negative karma accumulated
through negative acts of the mind, and purifies the creative essence or energy (bindu, Skt.; tikle, Tib.). Thus
you receive the blessing of the vajra mind of Guru
Rinpoche. This is the 'wisdom (prajna-jnana) empowerment' (sherab yeshe kyi wang), which empowers
you for the yoga practice of 'bliss and emptiness' of tummo23, and
sows the seed for the attainment of the state of 'mahamudra
vidyadhara' and dharmakaya realization.
Finally, from the syllable �UM at Padmasambhava's heart another lapis-lazuli coloured blue HUM
emanates, and 'like a shooting star' enters your heart,
filling yo�r whole body with light and merging indistinguishably with your mind. As Dilgo Khyentse
Rinpoche says:
All the subtle defilements masking realization are
dispelled. Deluded perceptions, dualistic clinging
48
Guru Yoga'
to subject and object, as well as all latent tendencies, are cleared.
The subtle defilements upon the 'universal ground' (kunshyD are
purified. The universal ground is where the residue of past
actions, one's habits and tendencies, which create obstacles on the
path to enlightenment, are stored. According to the Sutrayana, the
subtle obscurations that veil realization are only cleared when one
reaches the tenth bhumi.24 According to Secret Mantrayana, when
one's awareness is seen as immaculate and vast as the sky, all the
subtle defilements veiling the knowable are cleared.
Tlius you receive the blessing of the vajra wisdom of Guru
. Rinpoche-his body, speech and mind inseparable. This is the 'symbolic empowerment' (tsik wang)/25 which empowers you for the practice of kadak Dzogpachenpo, and sows the seed for the attainment of
the state of 'spontaneously accomplished vidyadhara' and svabhavikakaya realization.
Essentially, as the rays of light emanating from the OM AH HUM at
Guru Rinpoche's three centres touch your three centres, they purify
the negativity and obscurations accumulated through the body,
speech and mind, and purify the channels (nadi, tsa), inner air (prana,
lung) and creative essence or energy (hindu, tikle). Your body, speech
and mind are transformed into the vajra body, speech and mind of
Padmasambhava.
4. The Absolute Guru Yoga
At the end of the empowerment, Padmasambhava dissolves into light
and becomes one with youl in the nature of your mind. Or you can
consider that rays of light emanate from Guru Rinpoche, and as they
touch you, you dissolve completely into light and become one with
him. At that moment, you recognize that the nature of your mind is
the Absolute Lama, inseparable from you. In that state of indivisibility, you quietly rest, realizing this to be the nature of Dzogpachenpo.
This is why guru yoga is said to be so powerful, because, if you
open your heart and merge your mind with the wisdom mind of the
Guru, your mind is realized into his wisdom mind. Then no longer is
the teacher outside of you; you realize that he is actually in the nature
of your mind. Your mind, now that it has become one with the t ruth,
is no longer your ordinary mind; it has become one with the wisdom
49
'
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
mind of Guru Rinpoche and all the buddhas. As Dilgo Khyentse
Rinpoche says, it is like throwing a pebble into a lake; it plunges right
down to the bottom. In the same way, at the moment that you invoke
the presence and blessing of Guru Rinpoche, they enter into you and
merge, one with you, in the very depths of your heart.
/I According to Dzogchen/' says Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, IIguru
yoga is to unify your mind with Guru Rinpoche. If you put your
whole reliance on him, so his vajra body, vajra speech and vajra mind
enter your body, speech and mind, they effect a transformation.
Outer, inner and secret obstacles are removed, and the supreme siddhi can be accomplished. It is only through this that the wisdom of
Rigpa can be actualized."
This is also the Guru Yoga Phowa, the most powerful practice for
the moment of death.
The Essential Practice
The really essential practice of guru yoga is just to unify your mind
quietly with the Guru, and say the mantra. Yet although it may be
simple, this is a complete practice of guru yoga. Dudjom Rinpoche
used to explain the TIbetan word naljor which means 'yoga' as: nal,
resting in the nature of �nd, and jor, flowing with, or radiating that
View. You merge your mind one with the wisdom mind of Guru
Rinpoche and flow with the mantra, letting the mantra mature and
ri pen your Rigpa.
This is the essence of guru yoga practice: as you chant the mantra,
and �it in the state of Rigp a, you recognize that Rigpa is
Padmasambhava. As Padmasambhava himself said:
Mind itse1f is Padmasambhava; there is no practice or meditation
apart from that.
When you rest in a state of Rigpa, you recognize that to be the
Absolute Lama. Then the more you invoke the blessing, the stronger
your Rigpa becomes. Your Rigpa gets more and more blessed by the
Rigpa Lama. And so we invoke, with this kind of understanding:
Recognizing and remembering that my own Rigpa is the Lama, through
this may my body, speech and mind be empowered by the blessing of
50
Guru. Yoga
your Vajra body, speech, and mind, and thereby may your mind and
mine merge as one.
As you just sit quietly, you inv:oke the blessings of all the masters
and all the buddhas in the person of Padmasambhava, in the fonn of
light. Then you unite your mind with him whilst you quietly say the
mantra .. whereby your ordinary mind is realized into the wisdom
mind of the buddhas.
At the end you realize there is no buddha outside of yOUj the buddha is nowhere but in the nature of your own mind. In the confidence
of that non-duality, you simply rest and abide by it. At the beginning,
the mantra is an invocation and a way of maturing the blessing. By the
end, when you realize non-duality, it has become just a declaration of
confidence, a vajra proclamation. TIlls is how you unify guru yoga
and Dzogchen.
In Dzogchen it is said that to practise, recognizing that the lama is
none other than the true nature of one's mind, embodies the whole
practice of View, Meditation and Action. Dudjom Rinpoche explains
that once you recognize the Lama is inseparable from the true nature
of your mind, then to simply rest and abide by this recognition is 'the
natural homage that arises from seeing the View�. For true homage is
not an external homage, but the inner realization of the View of Rigpa.
Once you discover that the true nature of all the buddhas and masters
is the very same as your own Rigpa, in the confidence and blessing of
that recognition, there comes a tremendous sense of joyful celebration
and deep gratitude. Such a homage, the expression of that profound
realization of absolute devotion, is full of dignity and grace.
51
Longchen Nyingtik Refuge Tree
THE NINE YANAS
As we have seen, the natural expression of the Buddha's great compassion and skilful means was to teach spontaneously and appropriately according to the minds and capacities of different individuals, so
that each one might be able to practise the teachlng. Thus, there are
many kinds of teaching, for beings of a wide spectrum of experience
and capacity for spiritual development. Just as there are practitioners
at varying levels of spiritual development, varying levels of paths are
taught, and these paths reflect the type of practice emphasized at such
levels. However, all these paths are equally precious, and share the
common aim of attaining enlightenment, the awakened mind of a
buddha.
Within the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism as a whole three yanas or
vehicles of Buddhlst teachings are taught. As His Holiness the Dalai
Lama explains:
Owing to the historical sequence of the dissemina tion of the
Buddhist teaching in TIbet, and as a result of certain differences in
emphasis placed on particular scriptures by great masters of the
past, there arose in TIbet four major traditions, which are known
as Nyingma, Kagyii, Sakya, and Gelug. They are called the
"earlier' and 'later' transmissions of the teachings of Buddha in
TIbet, and they differ for the reasons mentioned above, as well as
in the different importance given to particular techniques of meditation, or in some cases also in the different terminology used to
express, for example, experiences developed by the masters ...
What is common, however, to all four of these major traditions, is
their emphasis on the practice of the entire structure of the
Buddhist path, which comprises the essence of both Sutrayana
and Tantrayana. In India, based on differences in philosophical
standpoint, there were four distinct schools of thought,26 but the
four traditions found in TIbet do not have such fundamental differences, for they all follow the philosophical standpoint of the
Madhyamika SchooI.27
53
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
The Nyinglna, or Ancient, School of TIbetan Buddhism is the name
given to the followers of those original translations of the teachings of
Buddha into Tibetan which were carried out up until the time of the
Indian translator Smrtijfianakirti in the late t�nth century. They are
known as the 'Earlier Translation School', Ngagyur Nyingma, distinguishing them from the New Schools, Sarma, such as the Kagyii,
Sakya, Kadam, and eventually Gelug, which followed the later translations made from the time of the great translator Rinchen Zangpo
(958-1055) onwards.
Within the Nyingma tradition the full spectrum of spiritual paths is
divided into nine yanas, which is taught as a system of practice bringing together all the approaches of the Buddha's teaching into a single
comprehensive path to enlightenment. To begin this explanation of
the Nyingma system of nine yanas it is first important to discuss the
three yanas as a general context of view and practice shared by all
TIbetan traditions. Each of the nine yanas will then be summarized
according to the division of spiritual paths into Sutra and Tantra, and
within Tantra, into the paths of Outer and Inner Tantra.
The Three Yanas
'Yana' means vehicle, a means of evolution or spiritual development.
In general there are three yanas or vehicles of Buddhist teachings:
Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. With Hinayana as the ground
for beginning the path, Mahayana opens an expansive vision of the
journey to enlightenment. As a special vehicle of the Mahayana,
Vajrayana actualizes the enlightened state within one's own present
experience.
Hinayana, often known in Dzogchen as the Fundamental Vehicle, is
the path based on the aspiration for individual liberation. The main
practice of Hinayana is the realization of the Four Noble Truths: suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the paths
leading to the cessation of suffering. All beings want happiness and
do not want suffering. In order to bring about happiness and to eliminate suffering three trainings are practised: discipline (shila), meditative concentration (samadhi) and discriminative awareness (prajna).
Through the discipline of upholding the vows of individual liberation
(pratimoksha) one protects the mind from circumstances which generate emotional entanglements and negativity. Through the one54
The Nine YaMS
pointedness of mind attained through shamatha and the special
insight of vipashyana meditation, discriminative awareness of selflessness is realized. By practising these disciplines, both in meditation
and throughout one's life, one can actually be freed from causing
harm to oneself and others. The meditative experience of Hinayana
forms a basis for practice in all the yanas.28
Mahayana or the Great Vehicle expands the scope of concern beyond
one's own experience to the end of suffering for all beings. The
essence of Mahayana is the aspiration to attain buddhahood as the
only means to help all beings find liberation from suffering. This aspiration is called bodhicitta, the 'heart of enlightened essence', and is
realized on both an ai?,solute and relative level. Absolute bodhicitta is
the realization of emptiness, that all phenomena of self and other are
dependent arisings which have no inherent or permanent characteristic of their own, and do not arise under their own power. This is the
realization of absolute truth. Relative bodhicitta is both the aspiration
to enlightenment for the benefit of beings and the application of practice to bring this about. Aspiration is developed in meditation on the
four immeasurable qualities of love, compassion, joy, and equanimity.
Application is practised through the six perfections of generosity,
ethics, patience, exertion, meditative concentration, and discriminative awareness.
Through this practice of spiritual training the two accumulations of
merit and wisdom are completed. Merit is based on the view of relative truth and cultivated through the six perfections. Wisdom is based
on the view of absolute truth, the emptiness of all phenomena, and is
realized in meditation free from conceptualization. The completion of
the collection of wisdom results in the dharmakaya (the truth body of ,
the Buddha), while the completion of the collection of merit results in
the rupakaya (the form body). The achievement of dharmakaya is the
fulfilment of one's own welfare, while the achievement of rupakaya,
in its two aspects of the sambhogakaya (complete enjoyment body)
and the nirmanakaya (emanation body), is for the sake of fulfilling the
welfare of others.
Vajrayana, also known as the Secret Mantra Vajrayana (Sang Ngak
Dorje Tekpa), is not a separate vehicle from Mahayana, but actually
belongs within Mahayana as a distinctive vehicle of skilful means. In
fact, Mahayana is divided into two vehicles: Sutra and Tantra. The
fundamental intention of bodhicitta as well as the absolute view of
55
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
emptiness do not differ between the two, yet Tantra employs special
techniques appropriate to the capacity of the practitioner, to quickly
arrive at a profound realization of emptiness and great compassion.
Amongst the qualities which mark the superiority of the Tantrayana
are: i ts vast range of skilful means, the fact that buddhahood is quickly accomplished without hardships, and that it is suitable for those of
a superior capacity.
The Sutrayana, which encompasses the teachings of both Hinayana
and Mahayana, is known as the 'Causal Vehicle', because the path is
followed in order to establish the cause for attaining enlightenment.
The six perfections, thirty-seven bodhisattva practices, and a variety
of ethical and i ntellectual disciplines are practised as causes for
achieving the final result. Buddhahood emerges as the result when all
such causes are complete. In Sutrayana the mind will accumulate the
two collections of wisdom and merit, which are the respective causes
for the attainments of dhannakaya and rupakaya. The mind is thus
considered the cause of this attainment.
Tantrayana is known as the 'Fruitional or Resultant Vehicle', because
the path is no longer based on establishing the cause, but identifying
directly with the fruition. The fu�damentally pure essence of mind, or
buddha-nature, was seen in Sutrayana as the seed of enlightenment.
Tantra begins with the view that the final attainment or result has ·
been within the mind from the very beginning, but has been obscured
by ignorance and adventitious defilements_
Both Sutra and Tantra share the same ultimate goal of buddhahood;
the greatest difference between them lies in the methods employed.
Al though in the Sutrayana there exists the practice of meditation on
emptiness, said to be 'similar in aspect to dharmakaya', there is not the
practice of I dei ty yoga', which is called 'similar in aspect to rupakaya',
and which is quite unique to Tantra.
In deity yoga one first meditates on emptiness and then uses that
consciousness realizing emptiness as the basis of emanation of a buddha. The wisdom consciousness itself appears as the fonn of a buddha. This single consciousness thus has two aspects-one of wisdom
and one of method. Therefore, through the practice of deity Y9ga, one
simultaneously accumulates the collections of wisdom and merit.
This special method of deity yoga is called 'fruitional', because seeing
oneself in the form of a deity in which wisdom and method are
simultaneously present is a method which takes the result of the
56
The Nine YaMS
path, buddhahood, as the example and means by which the result is
attained.
The essence of the tantric approach is the-all-encompassing vision of
pure perception (dag nang). Through empo�erment into the mandala
of deities, one actualizes the world as a pure land and all beings as
enlightened buddhas. Through the yoga of channels, winds, and energy (tsa lung tikle) of the vajra body, the tantric practitioner generates
the experience of the union of bliss and emptiness, bringing the mind
directly to realization. In tantric practice negativity is not to be abandoned, but rather transformed as the fuel of wisdom. All experience is
transformed into wisdom itself, the fruition of the path. Therefore,
Vajrayana is known as the "fruitional vehicle', for it truly takes the
fruition itself as the path of training.
The Nine Yanas
In the Nyingma tradition, the three yanas of Hinayana, Mahayana
and Vajrayana are divided further into:
• three causal vehicles of Sutra-Shravaka, Pratyekabuddha, which
together form the Hinayana, and Bodhisattva or Mahayana; and
• six fruitional vehicles of Tantra-three Outer Tantras known as
Kriyayoga, Charya- or Upayoga, and Yogatantra; and three Inner
Tantras known as Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga.
The Sarma tradition recognize four classes of tantra: Kriya, Charya,
Yoga, and Anuttara Yoga Tantra (Highest Yoga Tantra). The latter is
divided into three: Father Tantras, such as the Guhyasamaja, the King
of Tantras; Mother Tantras, such as Heruka Chakrasamvara; and Nondual Tantras, such as Kalachakra.29
The C;:ausal Vehicles
In the first vehicle of the Hinayana, the Shravakayana or Vehicle of
Hearers, one listens to the teachings of the Four Noble Truths, hears
the self-evident problems of life-the truth of suffering-and looks
further to find the origin of pain. One is inspired to take refuge in the
Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and search out a master who can show one the path towards the cessation of suffering. The
shravaka realizes the selflessness of persons, understanding that there
is no abiding substance to be found in the personality, but maintains ·
57
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
that phenomena have their basis in indivisible atomic particles and
moments of consciousness which are held to be real.
In the next vehicle of the Hinayana, the Pratyekabuddhayana or
Vehicle of Solitary Realizers, there begins a deeper analysis of suffering and its origin. Experience is analyzed in minute detail, with the
ego shown to be a mere collection of the five aggregates (skandha),
and using the twelve links (nidana) of interdependent origination
(pratityasamutpada) to trace suffering back to its origin in ignorance
of the true nature of reality. The pratyekabuddhas understand the selflessness of persons as well as phenomena; however they still maintain
the indivisible moment of consciousness as the substantial basis of all
experience. The pratyekabuddhas are called 'solita ry realizer-s'
because they find the view and path on their own.
The third vehicle, the Bodhisattvayana or Vehicle of Enlightened
Beings, begins with the intention to attain enlightenment not merely
for oneself but for the benefit of all beings. The bodhisattva realizes
the selflessness of both persons and phenomena, finding that all phenomena are in fact empty of any inherent identity. Central to the realization of a bodhisattva is an understanding of the indivisibility of the
two truths, the union of wisdom. (prajfia) and skilful means (upaya).
The practice of a bodhisattva is to apply transcendental knowledge or
wisdom (prajfiaparamita) through the six perfections, bringing
together the insight into the ultimate truth of emptiness, and the relative means of appropria te action. The practices of shamatha and
vipashyana are employed to gradually remove obstructions to
insight. Both the obscuration of conflicting emotions and the obstructions to omniscience are removed, and the realization of emptiness is
discovered in the non-duality of experience, free from conceptualization of subject and object.
The teachings of the Hinayana, such as the Four Noble Truths and
the Eightfold Path, derive from Buddha's 'Pirst Turning of the Wheel
of Dharma' at Samath. The teachings practised in the Mahayana represent those given in the 'Second' and 'Third Turnings of the Wheel of
Dharma', which Buddha gave at the Vulture Peak and elsewhere.
They include the Prajfiaparamita and Cittamatra (Mind-only) teachings, which subsequently gave rise to the Madhyamika and Yogacara
schools of philosophy.
58
The Nine Yanas
The Fruitional Vehicles
The Outer Tantras
The union of skilful means and wisdom which is expressed in the
action of the bodhisattva becomes in tantra the inseparability of
appearance and emptiness, manifesting in the form of a tantric deity.
The tantric path begins with empowennent into the mandala of a deity
and taking the commitments of samaya to regard all of one's experience as the primordially pure appearance of the mandala. In tantric
practice, one visualizes oneself as the samayasattva or 'commitment
being' and the deity as the jiianasattva or 'wisdom being'. One merges
the absolute nature of the jnanasattva into one's own perception and
experience. Thus the absolute truth of phenomena as primordially
pure is discovered within the relative appearance of oneself in the form
of the deity. In the practice of visualization, the creation of the deity out
of the pure st�te of emptiness or absolute truth is called the generation
or development stage (kyerim). The appearance of the deity is then
dissolved back into emptiness, and one rests the mind in its ultimate
nature. This is the completion or perfection stage (dzogrim). These two
phases of meditation form the basis of all tantric practice.
The view of Kriyayoga, the first vehicle of Outer Tantra, is that in
absolute truth all phenomena are perceived as the inseparable nature
of appearance and emptiness; however, in relative truth the appearance of deity and mandala becomes an overwhelming experience of
purity. There is a clear division between the purity of the deity and the
impurity of one's own being. Thus, the deity or jnanasattva is viewed
as external and superior to oneself, the samayasattva. Kriya means
action, so in Kriyayoga the emphasis is upon external actions, such as
ritual purification, in order to be able to receive blessing and wisdom
from the realized being.
The practice of Charya- or Upayoga is the same as in Kriyayoga; however, the View is that of Yogatantra. While the deity is still viewed as
external to oneself, one now relates to the deity as friend, both equally
pure in appearance. In Upayoga one balances internal practice of yoga
with external actions of purification. It is thus considered a transitional vehicle between Kriya and Yoga.
The view of absolute truth in Yogatantra, the third vehicle of outer
tantra, is that all phenomena arise as the inseparable nature of
59
The Nine Yanas
luminosity and emptiness. Yoga means 'union'; thus, this nature is
expressed in relative truth as the union of the jnanasattva with the
samayasattva. One visualizes oneself as the samayasattva and invites
the jiianasattva, which merges into oneself as Iwater poured into
water.' In Yogatantra the emphasis is placed on the internal practice of
yoga.
The Inner Tantras
The tantric texts relating to the three Outer Tantras are common to
both the Old and New Translation School traditions. Unique to the
Nyingmapas are the three Inner Tantras: Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and
Atiyoga or Dzogchen. Some of these appear in the Kangyur, the Word
of Buddha, but there is a separate collection, the Nyingma Gyubum, the
Collected Tantras of the Nyingmapas.
In the practice of Outer Tantra one maintains the relative distinction
between the,� two truths, and practi�es them sequentially, rather than
simultaneously in union. However, in the practice of Inner Tantra the
two truths are seen as inseparable from the beginning. As Dudjom
Rinpoche explains, the distinctive feature of Inner Tantra is that:
... You realize pristine awareness (jfiana, yeshe), which is an undivided unity of method and wisdom-the unity of relative and
ultimate realities. Through the totality of this pristine awareness,
those things to be abandoned, such as the defilements together
with their suffering, are utilized as aspects of the path through the
application of appropriate means. This does not mean that you
encourage the arisal of defiled states of mind. Rather, there is no
need for the deliberate act of 'abandoning' delusions; they are
automatically transcended with such awareness.3D
In Outer Tantra, the development and completion stages are practised separately; however, in Inner Tantra one meditates on these two
stages in union. Visualization of oneself in the form of a deity is generated as the inseparable nature of appearance and emptiness. One
rests in the vajra samadhi of the deity, the vajra dignity of onels own
pure nature. One then dissolves this appearance back into emptiness
, and rests in the pure awareness of the nature of mind. Dudjom
Rinpoche further explains that:
61
Dzogchen and PadmasambJuzva
... In fact, all three inner tantras are mutually pervasive, incorporating aspects of one another. A certain practice is classified as
Maha-, Anu- or Atiyoga in reference to what is emphasized or is
foremost in it. The prominent feature of a Mahayoga practice is the
development stage, that of Anuyoga is the completion stage, while
that of Atiyoga is the cultivation of the realization of the void
sphere of all things. Each of these practices .. however .. has development (Maha), completion (Anu) and Dzogchen (Ati) stages.31
Mahayoga, the first vehicle of Inner Tantra, focuses mainly on the
development stage, and emphasizes the clarity and precision of visualization as skilful means. The development stage consists of three
phases, known as 'the three samadhis'.
The practice of Mahayoga begins with meditation on emptiness, the
'samadhi of as-it-isness' (deshyin nyi kyi ting nge dzin) where all phenomena are realized as empty in their pure nature. This is the realization of absolute bodhicitta. From this state arise exuberant waves of
compassion in what is known as the 'samadhi of all-perceiving compassion' (kuntu nangwe ting nge dzin). This is the realization of relative bodhidtta. The union of these two is known as the samadhi of ,
cause (gyui ting nge dzin), in which state arises a �-syllable, from
which rays of light emerge, purifying the entire environment of samsara and the beings within it into the nature of emptiness. One's mind
becomes this seed-syllable, which in tum transforms into the pure
appearance of the deity. The mandala is seen as the palace of the deity.
The form of the deity is the indivisible appearance of skilful means
and wisdom. All experience is perceived as the retinue and activity of
the deity. As one realizes that all perceptions, sounds and thoughts are
the vajra-nature .. one rests in this state of vajra dignity.
'''To practise the Inner Tantra", says Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, "one
should realize that everything is primordially pure. Accordingly all
outer elements are not perceived as ordinary, but as the five female
buddhas. The five aggregates within the body are also not perceived
as ordinary, but as the five male buddhas. In the same way, the eight
consciousnesses as well as their eight objects are perceived as the eight
male and eight female bodhisattvas. In this way one will not only see
the purity of all phenomena, but one will also perceive the 'great
evenness of samsara and nirvana'. So samsara is not considered to be
something to be discarded and nirvana something to be achieved, but
62
The Nine Yanas
as the -'great union' of purity and evenness. Such a state is not something which has to be fabricated anew; it has been there since the very
beginning.
-'The essence of kyerim, or Mahayoga, is to recognize all appearances
as the deity, all sounds as the mantra, and all thoughts as the dharmakaya. This is the most profound path, through which one can actualize aU of the quali�ies of the body, speech, and mind of the Buddha."
A central figure in the transmission of the Mahayoga tantras was
King Dza, who was empowered with their understanding through
visions of Vajrasattva and Vajrapani. He received the oral transmission from the Vidyadhara Vimalakirti, who had been given the tantric
teachings by Vajrapani at Mount Malaya in Sri Lanka. The lineage
passed to the great siddha Kukkuraja, and then via Buddhaguhya to
Vimalamitra and Padmasambhava, who taught them to their Tibetan
disciples.
Mahayoga is divided into Tantra and Sadhana. There are eighteen
Tantras, the root tantra being the Guhyagarbhamayajalatantra (Dorje
Sempa Gyutrul Drawa Tsaw"'e Gyii Sangwa Nyingpo), the Tantra of the
Magical Net of Vajrasattva. The sadhanas are the Eight Great Mandalas of
Kagye (Drubpa Kagye), which appear in both Kama and Terma.32
Anuyoga focuses mainly on the completion stage, and emphasizes
the inner yoga of channels, winds, and energy (tsa lung tiklc.�).
Visualization of the deities is generated instantly, rather than through
a gradual process as in Mahayoga. In their relative appearam::e, all
phenomena are seen as the mandala of the male Primordial Buddha
Samantabhadra (Kuntuzangpo), the mandala of spontaneous accomplishment. In their absolute nature they are seen as the mandala of the
female Primordial Buddha Samantabhadri (Kuntllzangmo), the ma�
dala of primordial emptiness. To realize that all phenomena abide
equally, without separation or joining, in the union of these mandalas
is the realization of the mandala of great bliss, also known as the mandala of bodhicitta.
The Anuyoga tantras were also received by King Dza, from
Vajrasattva and Vimalakirti. He transmitted them to the siddha
Kukkuraja, and they then passed to Nubchen Sangye Yeshe who
taught them in Tibet. The tantras are classified as: four -'root tantras',
six -'branch tantras', and twelve -'rare tantras', and are exemplified by
the Sutra which Gathers All Intentions (Do Gongpa Diipa), the Dupa Do.
63
DzogcJren and Padmasambhil.va
Dzogchen Atiyoga
The ultimate source of the teachings of Atiyoga or Dzogchen is the
Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra. Whilst the root of Dzogchen is
the 6,400,000 verses or shlokas, the actual tantras are said to number
22,000. Dzogchen can be categorized into gyu, lung and rnengak. Gyii is
the tantras, lung (agama) the clarification of the tantras, and mengak
(upadesha) the experiential instruction given by the master.
The lineage of Dzogchen is traced from the dharmakaya
Samantabhadra to the sambhogakaya-the five buddha families and
Samantabhadra
Vajrasattva, who are Samantabhadra's own selfreflection. This is the mind direct transmission (gyalwa gong gyii). Vajrasattva appeared to the first
human master G arab Dorje, who was born in
Oddiyana, empowered him, and instructed him to
write down the Dzogchen tantras. The transmission
then passed to Mafijushrimitra, Shri Singha and
Jfianasutra through the sign transmission of the vidyadharas (rigdzin da
gyii), and was continued in Tibet by Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra,
and Vairochana. From Padmasambhava onwards is counted as the
oral transmission (gangzak nyen gyii).
The 6,400,000 verses of Dzogpachenpo were d ivided by
Mafijushrimitra into three categories or series: the category of Mind
(Semde), the category of Space (Longde), and the category of Secret or
Pith Instruction (Mengakde). Shri Singha further divided the
Mengakde into four cycles: outer, inner, secret, and innermost, unexcelled. The core of the Mengakde are the teachings of Nyingtik, 'Heart
Essence', and amongst the most important Nyingtik cycles are the
Virna Nyingtik, taught in Tibet by Vimalamitra; the Khandro Nyingtik,
taught in Tibet by Padmasambhava; and the Longchen Nyingtik, the
essence of the Dzogchen teachings of the great master Longchenpa,
revealed by Jigme Lingpa. Many practitioners of Nyingtik in Tibet
a ttained the rainbow body. The Semde and Longde were transmitted
in Tibet mainly by Vairochana and Vimalamitra, and the Mengakde
by Vimalamitra and Padmasambhava. The three categories are taught
to suit the capacities or disposition (khan1) of individual students. For
example, for someone who is more intellectually inclined or analytical, there is the teaching of Semde, and for a person who is drawn
more to nature and inclined towards simplicity, there is Longde.
64
The Nine Yanas
Mingyur Namkhi Dorje, the IVth Dzogche:n Rinpoche 33
The teachings which place more emphasis on the natural condition
of the mind (sem kyi ne I uk), were classed by Mafijushrimi tra as
Semde, the category of mind. There are twenty-one main tantras of
Semde, exemplified by the Kunje Gyalpo. Five were translated into
Tibetan by Vairochana, and thirteen translated later by Vimalamitra,
Nyak Jfianakumara and Yudra Nyingpo. Longde teachings are characterized as those that emphasize 'freedom from effort'. Chief
amongst the tantras of Longde is the Longchen Rabjam Gyalpo. In
Mengakde, which is superior to both Semde and Longde, there are
many texts, mainly the seventeen tantras of the Innennost Unexcelled
Cycle in the Nyingma Gyiibum; principal amongst these is the Root
Tantra, the Dra Thai Gyur Tsawe Gyu.34 In Mengakde, there are two
65
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
paths of training: Trekcho and Togal.35 Trekcho is translated as 'thoroughly cutting through' (resistance, stut>bornness, toughness, and
closedness), or 'breakthrough'. The practice of Trekcho reveals the
View of kadak trodral. Togal, translated as Jdirect crossing', 'the direct
approach' or 'leapover', can bring very quickly the actual realization
of the three kayas i!l this lifetime, and thus is a more rapid way of
bringing about the dissolution of the practitioner's karmic vision. The
practice of Togal brings the r�alization of Ihundrup, 'spontaneous presence', and it can only be undertaken by a practitioner who has first
gained stability in the practice of Kadak Trekcho. There is a saying:
"Trekcho trek rna cho na, togal to mi gal, .... which means: "If the practice of Trekcho is not accomplished, then the Togal cannot transcend."
The ground in Dzogchen therefore, is the indivisibility of kadak, primordial purity and 1hundrup, spontaneous presence. The path is the
practice of Trekcho, through which kadak is realized, and Togal,
through which lhundrup is realized. The fruition is to attain the buddha body (ku) and wisdom (yeshe).
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche outlines the whole path of Dzogchen:
The practice of Dzogchen or Atiyoga, is to realize the tathagatagarbha, or buddha-nature, which has been present in our nature
since the very beginning. Here it is not sufficient to concentrate on
contrived practices that involve intellectual efforts and concepts;
to recognize this nature, the practice should be utterly beyond
fabrication. The practice is simply to realize the radiance, the natural expression of wisdom, which is beyond all intellectual concepts. It is the true realization of the absolute nature just as it is,
the ultimate fruition.
At the present moment our awareness is entangled within our
mind, completely enveloped and obscured by mental activity.
Through the practice of Trekcho, or 'cutting through all attachment', and the 'direct realization' of Togal, one can unmask this
awareness and let its radiance arise.
To accomplish this it is necessary to do the practice of 'the four
ways of leaving things in their natural simplicity' (chokshyak)
and through these, to acquire perfect stability in the Trekcho practice. Then win come the 'four visions of Togal' which are the natural arising of visions of discs and rays of light, deities, and buddhafields. These visions are naturally ready to arise from within
66
The Nine Yanas
the central channel that joins the heart to the eyes. Such an ariSing
from this channel will appear in a gradual process. In the same
way that the waxing moon will increase from the first to the fifteenth of the month, these visions will gradually increase-from
the simple perception of dots of light to the full array of the vast
expanse of the sambhogakaya buddhafields. The manifestation of
space and awareness will thus reach its culminating point.
These experiences are not linked with consciousness or intellect
as the former experiences were; they are a true manifestation or
radiance of awareness. After this, in the same way that the moon
decreases and disappears from the fifteenth to the thirtieth of the
month, all of these experiences and visions, all phenomena, will
gradually come to exhaustion and reabsorb themselves in the
absolute. At this time the deluded mind which conceives subject
and object will disappear, and the primal wisdom, which is
beyond intellect, will gradually expand. Eventually one will
attain the perfect enlightenment of the Primordial Buddha,
Samantabhadra, endowed with the six extraordinary features.
This is the path intended for people of superior faculties who
can achieve enlightenment in this very lifetime. For those of medium faculties, there is instruction on how to achieve liberation
within the bardo or lintermediate state'. When we say �ardo', in
fact we recognize four bardos: the bardo from conception to
death; the bardo of the moment of death; the bardo of the absolute
nature; and the bardo of coming into the next existence.36 '
The bardo between conception and death is our present state. In
order to destroy all deluded perceptions or deluded thoughts in
this bardo, the ultimate practice is Dzogchen Atiyoga. In this there .
are the two main paths of Trekcho and Togal, as described above.
As the ultimate fruition of this practice, the ordinary body made
of gross aggregates will dissolve into the Irainbow body of great
transference' or 'vajra-body', or dissolve without leaving any
remnants.
But if one cannot achieve such ultimate attainment within a lifetime, then there is stilI the possibility of achieving enlightenment
at the time of death. If our teacher or a close dhanna brother is
near to us at the very moment of our death, he will remind us of
the instructions-the introduction to the nature of mind. If we can
recall our experience of practice and remain in this nature, then
67
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
H. H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
we achieve realization. It is then possible to depart to a buddhafield straightaway with no intermediate state. If this is not
accomplished, then the bardo of the absolute nature, or dharmata,
will arise. At this time the ground luminosity of the dharmakaya
will appear. If one can unite the ground luminosity (mother
luminosity) with the luminosity which one has recognized whilst
practising during one's lifetime (child luminosity), then one will
be liberated into the dharmakaya.
If one is not liberated at this time, then countless manifestations
will appear: sounds, lights, and rays. Great fear will arise because
of these emanations and visions, but if one is a good practitioner
one will realize that there is no point in being afraid. One will
68
The Nine Yanas
know that whatever deities appear, wrathful or peaceful, they are
one's own projections. The recognition of this assures liberation in
a sambhogakaya buddhafield. But if this is not accomplished,
then the bardo of coming into a new existence will occur. If one
practises in the right way at this time one can be liberated into a
nirmanakaya buddhafield.
In essence, the primordial nature of the Buddha Samantabhadra
is like the ground or mother-nature of reaHzation. The nature
which has been introduced to us by the teacher is like the childnature. When these two meet, one will attain full realization and
seize the fortress of enlightenment.
For ordinary beings unable to achieve liberation either in this
life or in the intermediate state, liberation can be attained in the
ninnanakaya buddhafields.
In brief, through the practice of the path of Trekcho and Togal,
one will reach the ultimate realization of the dhannakaya, the
enlightened state of the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra,
within this very lifetime. This is the best case. If not, then one can
be freed in the other three bardos: the bard os of the moment of
death, dharmata, and becoming. Even if this does not happen, one
can stilI be relieved of suffering and be liberated by the virtues or
blessings of the Dzogchen teachings. Whoever has a connection
with these teachings is: liberated by sight, on seeing the teaching
or the teacher; liberated through hearing, on hearing the teacher
or teaching; liberated through contact, on wearing the precious
mantras and scriptures of Dzogchen; or liberated through taste,
and so forth. As a resul t, one will be liberated into one of the five
ninnanakaya buddhafields."37
Dzogchen and the Other Yanas
From the perspective of the Dzogchen teachings, the paths included
within the system of nine yanas can be summarized into three: renunciation, purification, and transforma tion. The paths of Sutra are
known altogether as paths of renunciation, and work primarily on the
level of body, or ninnanakaya. Tantra works primarily with energy or
speech, the level of sambhogakaya. It is divided into paths of purification, the two Outer Tantras of Kriya and Upa, and transformation,
which begins with Yogatantra and includes Mahayoga and Anuyoga
69
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
in the Inner Tantra. Dzogchen itself is the path of self-liberation, and
works at the level of mind, or dhannakaya.
The path of renunciation relies on reasoning to establish the meaning
of ultimate truth, and on the practices of shamatha and vipashyana to
gradually develop insight. Renunciation means
'
that there is adoption
or rejection of states of mind, such that positive states are cultivated
and negative states are countered with antidotes. In the path of purification the negative is purified rather than rejected, revealing its primordially pure nature. Purification prepares one to receive the blessing of the wisdom being, through which the entrance of purity into
oneself is effected. In the path of transformation one uses the energy of
negative states as an aid to transform them into their enlightened
aspects. Here neither is negativity abandoned, nor is it purified, for its
nature is already pure, the realization which comes through the transformation of oneself and one's environment into the appearance of a
deity and mandala.
Self-liberation means that whatever manifests in the field of experience is allowed to arise just as it is, abiding by the unaltered state of
Rigpa. Without clinging, without att�chment, without effort, whatever arises spontaneously liberates itself. Relative appearances are naturally freed in themselves, where they arise, and thus, there is no need
for renunciation. Since this primordial state cannot be stained by relative appearances, there is nothing to be purified. Since appearances
are already pure, there is no need to transform the relative into pure
perception through visualization. Thus, Dzogchen encompasses and
transcends the paths of renunciation, purification, and transformation. Jigme Ungpa speaks of the path of Dzogpachenpo:
This is the path taken by the buddhas of the past, the practice of all
future buddhas, and the one path which all the present buddhas
tread. The peak of everything, it is not touched by the views of the
eight pure vehicles, which rely upon the mind as the path.
For Dzogpachenpo, which transcends the mind, relies upon Rigpa
as its ultimate vehicle.
To illustrate the differences in method taught in the various yanas,
Dudjom Rinpoche always used to recount the story of the poisonous
plant. The plant is a symbol for emotional defilements or negativity. A
70
The Nine YaMs
group of people discover that a poisonous plant is growing in their
backyard. They begin to panic, as they recognize that this is very dangerous. So they try to cut down the plant. This is the approach of
renunciation, which is taught in Hinayana as the method to eradicate
the ego and the negative emotions. Another group of people arrive,
and, realizing that the plant is dangerous, but that simply cutting it
. down will not be sufficient since its roots remain to sprout anew, they
throw hot ash or boiling water over the roots to prevent the plant from
ever growing again. This is the approach of the Mahayana, which
applies the realization of emptiness as the antidote to ignorance, the
root of ego and negativity. The next group of people to appear on the
scene are doctors, and when they see this poison they are not alarmed;
on the contrary, they are very pleased, since they have been looking
for this particular poison. They know how to transfonn the poison
into medicine rather than destroying it. This is the tantric approach of
the Vajrayana, which does not abandon the negative emotions, but
through the power of transformation uses their energy as a vehicle to
bring realization.
Finally, a peacock lands, and dances with joy when it sees the poison. It immediately consumes the poisonous plant and turns it into
beauty. It is a TIbetan belief that the peacock owes its beauty to the fact
that it eats a particular species of poisonous plant. The very nature of
the peacock is such that it can actually consume poison, and thrives on
iti hence it does not have to transform the poison, but eats it directly.
The peacock represents Dzogchen, the path of self-liberation, the
fruition and essence of all the nine yanas.
71
Guru Rinpoche
A "Looks Like Me" image made by Vairochana
72
THE ANCIENT TRANSMISSION
OF THE NYINGMAPAS
The Nyingma teachings are divided into the long transmission (ring
gyii) of Kama and the short transmission (nye gyii) of Terma; other
teachings were received by masters directly in pure visions (dag rulng)
from deities or gurus, in experiences or in dreams.
The Kama, or canonical teachings, have been transmitted in an
unbroken lineage from the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra down
to the present day. E arlier on they were maintained in Tibet by
Padmasatnbhava's disciples Nyak Jnanakumara and Nubchen Sangye
Yeshe, and later (from the eleventh century onwards) by the masters of
the Zur family. There developed two kama lineages in Tibet, the Rong
lineage of Central Tibet and the Kham lineage of Eastern Tibet, which
were brought together by Terdak Lingpa (1646-1714) in the late seventeenth century. The kama teachings collected by Terdak Lingpa and his
brother Lochen Dharmashri (1654-1717/8) were later expanded in the
monasteries of Dzogchen and Palyul, and finally published in forty
volumes by H. H. Dudjom Rinpoche.
The three Inner Tantras are categorized in the kama tradition under
three headings: Do Gyu Sem (sutra, maya and mind). These refer to the
Anuyoga Do Gongpa Dupa, the Mahayoga Gyii Sangwa Nyingpo, and
the mind class, Semde , of Atiyoga.
Terma are teachings concealed mainly by Padmasambhava and
Yeshe Tsogyal, to be revealed at the time most appropriate for their
discovery by treasure revealers (tertons), a continuing series of emanations of Padmasambhava and his twenty-five diSciples. Many of
these ter were collected by Jamgon Kongttul and Jamyang Khyentse
Wangpo into more than sixty volumes, the Rinchen Terdzo, Precious
Treasury of Terma. Termas can be divided into earth tennas (sa ter),
which employ physical objects, and mind termas (gong ter), discovered within the mindstream of the terton.
In addition to the three transmissions mentioned above (mind
direct, sign and oral}, three special terma transmissions also exist:
authorization through prophesy, empowerment through aspiration,
73
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
and entrustment to the dakinis. Tercho literature can be in three parts:
Lama, Dzogchen and Tukje Chenpo (La dzog tuk sum), i.e. the peaceful and wrathful sadhanas on the guru, teachings on Dzogchen and
sadhana cycle on Avalokiteshvara. Another division is into Kagye,
Gongdii, and Phurba.
Examples of gongter are: the Seven Treasuries of Longchenpa
In Dzogchen there are three transmissions: the mind direct transmission from the buddhas, the sign transmission of the vidyadharas,2 and the
oral transmission by word of mouth from realized beings. The Hneage
of Dzogchen, unbroken to the present day, is traced from the
Dharmakaya Samantabhadra (Kuntuzangpo in Tibetan) to the
Sambhogakaya, represented by the five buddha families and
Vajrasattva, and then to the first human master Garab Dorje. It then
passed to Manjushrimitra and Shri Singha, and was transmitted in
Tibet by Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Vairochana, and Yeshe
Tsogyal.
Padmasambhava, or 'Guru Rinpoche' -the 'Precious Guru' -as he is
affectionately known by the Tibetan people, is the Mahaguru who
introduced Buddhism to Tibet in the eighth century. Invited by King
Trisong Detsen upon the advice of the great I ndian Khenpo
Shantarakshita, Padmasambhava is said to have stayed in Tibet for
nearly fifty-five years. He travelled throughout the country, teaching
and practising, taming the forces that were inhibiting the buddhadharma, and infusing his blessing into the whole landscape of Tibet
and the Himalayas. As a result, the teaching of Buddha came to permeate the very fabric of the lives of the Tibetan people, and it is to
Padmasambhava's compassion, his blessing and his all-encompassing vision that Tibetan Buddhism owes its particular dynamism and
magic, its vitality and success. For the people of Tibet, the teaching of
Buddha pervades throughout every facet of their everyday life and
culture, almost like the very air they breathe. There lies the strength of
Tibetan Buddhism, and the reason why Tibet was renowned as such a
spiritual country.
Padmasambhava founded the first monastic university of Samye,
where many Indian pandits, such as Vimalamitra, came together with
TIbetan translators to translate the buddhadharma, and the first seven
TIbetans were ordained as monks. At Chimphu, he opened the mandala of the Mantrayana teachings to the twenty-five siddhas of TIbet (je
bang nyer nga), who included King Trisong Detsen, Yeshe Tsogyal and
Vairochana. For millions of practitioners down through the centuries,
Padmasambhava has continued to be the source of their realization,
and the inspiration which breathes life into the heart of their practice.
Padmasambhava's life story is extraordinary, but he is by no means
limited to a historical personality; in fact he defies history or chronology.
A number of prophecies, including one made by Buddha himself as
2
Introduction
he was passing into pariniivana (in perhaps the fifth century B.C.),
predicted that Padrnasambhava would be born, eight or twelve years
after him, to spread the teaching of t he MantraYana. Yet
Padmasambhava was still in TIbet in the eighth century A.D.
Padma�mbhava is the human embodiment of Dzogpachenpo, the
inspiration and spirit of Dzogchen, a cosmic principle, and embodiment of all masters. In the Tibetan tradition, he is the enlightened principle whose powerful energy is invoked as a source of protection
amidst the confusion and turmoil of this age. For today's world, the
practice and mantra of Padmasambhava are treasured as being particularly effective in creating peace and harmony.
As Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, the greatest living Dzogchen master, says:
There have been many incredible and incomparable masters from
the noble land of India and from TIbet, the Land of Snows, yet of
them all, the one who has the greatest c0I1:,passion and blessing
towards beings in this difficult age is Padmasambhava, who
embodies the compassion and wisdom of all the buddhas. One of
his qualities is that he has the power to grant his blessing instantly
to whoever prays to him, and whatever we may pray for, he has
the power to immediately grant our wish.
'lIn this dark age," continues Khyentse Rinpoche, lithe Idregs of
time', where beings are immersed in constant suffering from the three
poisons of ignorance, aggressionl and attachment, where the five negative emotions are more turbulent than ever before, and where terrible suffering comes from illnesses, poverty, famine, hungerl and the
threat of war, the blessings of Guru Rinpoche are even quicker to act.
He himself has pledged that in such an age, whenever a person prays
to him, he will immediately respond with his blessings. And these
were not just sweet words meant to please, but the true, undece�ving
words of Guru Rinpoche."3
3
DZOGCHEN VIEW, MEDITATION AND ACTION
The uniqueness of Dzogchen is the way in which it brings precise
experience of the awakened state, the direct experience of the absolute. In Dzogchen a very important distinction is made between the
ordinary mind, called sem in TIbetan, and the primordial or pure, pristine awareness of Rigpa. Dzogchen Perna Rigdzin, the first Dzogchen
Rinpoche, pOinted out:
All that appears and exists, the phenomena of samsara and nirvana are all gathered, perfect, within the state of the empty Rigpa.
That is why it is called TIzogpa'. There is no. other method greater
than this to gain liberation from samsara; therefore it is called
'Chenpo'. So it is called Dzogpachenpo.4
For the main principle in Dzogchen is to go beyond mind, to transcend the ordinary, thinking mind altogether and to reach the nature
of Rigpa. As Shantideva points out in the Bodhicaryavatara: IJThe
Absolute is beyond mind, that which is within the realm of mind is
called the �elative.'"
It is this Rigpa that the master introduces to the student, and recognizing it is the Dzogchen View. In Dzogchen, the Path is described in
terms of View, Meditation and Action, which encompass the practical
training, and specifically the practice of Trekcho and the subsequent
practices of Togal.5 In the words of Dudjom Rinpoche:
View is the comprehension of the naked awareness, within which
everything is contained: sensory perception and phenomenal
existence, samsara and nirvana. This awareness or Rigpa, has two
aspects: shunyata-emptiness as the absolute, and appearances
or perception as the relative.
Within the vast expanse of Dzogpachenpo, everything there is in
samsara and nirvana is perfectly complete. Although its essence is
empty, pure from the beginning (known in Dzogchen as ikad�k'), its
nature is rich in noble qualities, pregnant with all possibilities, a vast;
5
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
creative field, which is spontaneously perfect (called 'lhundrup').
Very simply, the essence of mind is empty, spacious and pure from
the beginning, like the open, blue sky ; its nature is luminous claritY,
unobstructed and spontaneously present, like the sun with all its
warmth and light; and its energy or manifestation is compassion,
unimpeded and all-pervasive, like the ray s of the sun that shine on us
all impartially. liThe empty nature of Rigpa", explains Dudjom
Rinpoche, Hand its luminosity, being non-dual, manifest themselves
functionally as compassion in all times/J
H. H. Dudjom Rinpoche
Introduction to the View, and resting in the state of Rigpa, is the
heart of Dzogchen practice. In other approaches the realization of the
nature of mind is arrived at through deduction and reasoning. In
Dzogchen the actual direct experience of the state of the wisdom mind
of the buddhas is transmitted through the blessing of a master who
embodies this complete realization-the mind direct transmissionto a student who .. as a result of past aspirations and purified karma,
has arrived at a point where they have both the openness of heart and
devotion to make them receptive to the true meaning of the teaching.
As Jigme Lingpa say s in his Senge Ngaro (The Lion's Roar):
First the student must find an accomplished Guru with whom he
has a good karmic link. The master must be a holder of the mind
direct transmission. The student must have single-minded devotion and faith, which makes possible the transmission of the
6
Dzogchen View, Meditation and Action
master's understanding.
When that powerful moment, the 'meeting of mind-hearts', takes
place, the student has a direct and undeniable experience, or glimpse,
of the nature of Rigpa. In that instant, the master introduces and the
student recognizes. As the great Dzogchen master Patrul Rinpoche
observed:
The nature of mind, the face of Rigpa, is introduced upon the very
dissolution of conceptual mind.
In Dzogchen, this direct introduction is preceded by a special meditative investigation into the empty nature of mind and phenomena.
Through the close analysis and examination of mind, the student
comes to a personal realization of the nature of emptiness, 'the nonexistence of samsara and nirvana', which leads to the realization of
dharmakaya. Once this is established, then it serves as a preliminary
to the introduction to the Rigpa by the master. Bu t if this were not realized, and one were just to remain 'leaving the mind in its natural
state', then one's practice would be mere shamatha and one's View
would fall into the state of alaya (kunshyD.6 In Dzogchen the main
point of the introduction is to go beyond the alaya, to reveal explicitly
the naked Rigpa. This is how the investigation into the View of emptiness faciJitates the introduction to the Rigpa.
Now, the true realization of the nature of mind is only possible when
transmitted from the heart of the master to the heart of the student, and
this is exemplified by the great figures of the Dzogchen lineage in the
extraordinary accounts of how, at that moment, their minds became the
Garab Dorje .
same as the wisdom mind of their master, for example
when Garab Dorje transmitted his last testament,
known as Hitting the Essence in Three Words, to
Mafijushrimitra, or when Shri Singha revealed the
nature of mind to Padmasambhava.
Mafijushrimitra was the only human disciple of
Garab Dorje, and studied with him for seventy-five
years. At the time of his parinirvana, Garab Dorje ascended into the sky
and dissolved into rainbow light. At this, Manjushrimitra cried out in
despair and distress ... and made a very beautiful plea: "What will become
of us now that you are passing away? You are the light of the world ... "
7
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
Whereupon Garab Dorje was moved, and his hand reappeared, in
which was a small golden casket, the size of a thumbnail, containing
the teaching of Hitting the Essence in Three Words, which he let fall into
the hand of Mafijushrimitra. As soon as he received it, his mind
became the same as the wisdom mind of his master Garab Dorje. As
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche explains, a highly realized Dzogchen master will entrust and transmit his entire wisdom mind, and the blessing
of his lineage to his foremost disciple, and thereby ensure the continuity of the transmission, unimpaired. Even though he dies, his wisdom
mind continues, without losing its purity, authenticity or power. At
the very moment that the disciple receives it, he becomes the same as
his master. Such has been the approach of Dzogpachenpo, says
Khyentse Rinpoche, from the Primordial Buddha to this very day.
This is why the fundamental basis of Dzogpachenpo is the introduction to Rigpa. Dzogchen begins with introduction, for, in Dzogchen,
meditation is simply abiding by the View of Rigpa. As Dudjom
Rinpoche points out:
Medita tion consists of being attentive to such a s tate of
Rigpa-free from all mental constructions, whilst remaining fully
relaxed, without any distraction or grasping, because it is said
that 'meditation is not striving, but naturally becoming assimilated into it'.
Out of the realization of the nature of one's mind radiates a deep
compassion for those who have not realized, and thus in Dzogchen,
meditation is described as the 'radiance, or union, of wisdom and
compassion' .
Abiding by the continual flow of Rigpa becomes a reality and
begins to permeate the practitioner's everyday life and Action. As
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche points out: ''When someone has realized the
union of wisdom and compassion, then whatever they do spontaneously benefits beings, even if they just wink or move their little finger."
Once the practice is truly integrated, it gives birth to a deep stability
and confidence, because whatever arises, thoughts or emotions, will
no longer delude one; they are liberated from their very basis. One can
look into them with composure and equanimity, confident that lithe
Dharmakaya's efflorescence of whatever arises is neither good nor
bad." As Dudjom Rinpoche says:
8
Dzogchen View .. Meditation and Action
Action is being truly observant of one's own thoughts, good or ,
bad, looking inwardly into the true nature of whatever thoughts
may arise, neither tracing the past nor inviting the future, neither
allowing any clinging to experiences of joy, nor being overcome
by sad situations. In so doing, one tries to reach and remain in the
state of Jgreat equilibrium', where all good and bad, peace and
distress are devoid of true identity. .
And this leads to the Fruition of Dzogpachenpo, which is complete
enlightenment and liberation: realizing the wisdom of dharmakaya,
and on a manifest level attaining the buddha body. Many Dzogchen
practitioners have attained the Jrainbow body', transmuting their
physical bodies into their light nature at the time of death?
Yet, "Until one attains the fully awakened enlightened state/' advises Dudjom Rinpoche, /lone should always value the relative aspect of
phenomena and be mindful of the non-duality of appearances and
their empty nature .... Though different forms are perceived, they are
in essence empty; yet in emptiness one perceives forms. Though
different sounds are heard, they are emptY; yet in the emptiness one
perceives sounds. Also different thoughts arise; they are empty, yet in
the emptiness one perceives thoughts./I
The View of Dzogpachenpo is the ultimate view of all; it is not just
another view in an ordinary philosophical sense, one which you can
arrive at through intellectual analysis or deduction. Rather it is the
fruition and culmination of all spiritual training of study, reflection
and meditation, and of all purification, that transcendent state in
which the obscurations of mind are eliminated. In fact, Sakya Pandita
maintained: IJ Atiyoga is not a mere view, but the fruition of all yanas./I
All teachings are seen within the all-inclusive vision of
Dzogpachenpo, and so, from that perspective, i t i s often said that the
Ground is Madhyamaka, the Path is Mahamudra, and the Fruition is
Dzogpachenpo. The View in which all the dharmas of samsara and
nirvana are realized to be, in their inherent nature, emptiness is the
Ground, the Madhyamaka. In order to realize that personally, within
the nature of your mind as the unity of emptiness and clarity, the Path
is Mahamudra. And the ultimate realization, which is tenned the Jnaturally arising Rigpa', or Iwisdom gone beyond the mind' is the
Fruition, Dzogpachenpo.
9
THE HEART OF DZOGCHEN PRACTICE
The practice of Dzogchen, though seemingly quite simple, is extremely profound; the more and more you practise, the deeper and more
vast it becomes and the more you realize that everything is gathered
into and radiates out of the essential �point' of Dzogpachenpo. In
Dzogchen practice, the main point is to be as mtural as poSSible, by
releasing and relaxing effortlessly into your nature, into Rigpa. You
just allow all confusion to dissolve into the absolute, and you assume
your sky-like nature. The spirit of this is expressed so well by Nyoshul
Khen Rinpoche:
Rest in natural great peace
This exhausted mind
Beaten helplessly by kanna and neurotic thought
Like the relentless fury of pounding waves
In the infinite ocean of samsara.8
With the confidence and humour of the View, you can afford to relax
the heart, in carefree abandon. And it may happen that you ask yourself the question, When is it Rigpa, and when is it not? As Dilgo
Khyentse Rinpoche points out: 111£ you are in an unaltered state, it is
Rigpa." This means that if you are not in any way contriving or
manipulating, but just leave your mind in its natural state then that is
Rigpa. When you are contriving or manipulating, that is not Rigpa.
This one simple difference points to the heart of Dzogpachenpo.
As you begin, you should sit very inspiringly, like a rocket rising ..
Rise up, undistracted, clear and awake! This inspiration is the key to
the quality of your sitting and to Dzogchen practice. If you sit very
inspiringly, you will find that even your body responds and becomes
more agreeable. In Dzogchen your posture should be like a
mountain-inspiring and majestic, yet without any rigidity or tension
at all. There is a quality of really letting your mind rise and soar and
fly. Many of the Dzogchen chants echo that feeling of rising up and
soaring into the sky/like an eagle or a garuda9 in flight and your body
expresses that state of your mind. If you are in an inspiring state of
mind,' even your posture will say so.
11
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
Tubten Chokyi Dorje; the Vth Dzogchen Rinpoche
In Dzogchen, in meditation it is said that not only one's posture, but
also one's View should be like a mountain. There is an interesting connection between the bodily posture and the View. You sit in the inspiration of the View, so that your View inspires your posture. It is almost
as if the View becomes the core of your being, and expresses it in your
posture. And however strong the wind blows, it does not topple the
mountain. It remains firm and steadfast, yet completely relaxed and at
ease with itself. It sits without sitting. A mountain just is, it needs no
confirmation. Look at the great Dzogchen masters, like Tubten Chokyi
Dorje, or Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, and the way that they sit: they are
like a mountain. Your trust, your View, your understanding, your attitude, and your spaciousness should be like the mountain. Or like a
Kathmandu cow. In India and Nepal the cow is so sacred that if you
kill a cow or knock one down it is more serious a crime than killing a
human being. The cows know that. So even if you keep sounding
your horn, they do not budge. They just move gracefully on their
12
The Heart of Dzogchen Practice
way, with confidence.
The eyes should be kept open. When you begin to practise, sometimes it can be helpful to close your eyes for a while and quietly go
into your 'soft spot', especially if you feel disturbance from outside.
Once you have established that centredness, then you gradually open
your eyes, because there is no intention in Dzogchen practice to run
away from anything. You should actually experience the nature of
everything, and not slip into some state of absorption or trance, nor
experience an altered state of consciousness, or 'hlissed-out' state.
In Dzogchen it is said your gaze should be like the ocean. Also it is
said that your Meditation should be like an ocean, vast and profound.
Your gaze and your Meditation, or how you leave your mind, are
linked; both are all-pervasive, like the ocean. Your gaze is your meditation, because in meditation you are expressing your View. Your eyes
are like those of the Buddha, long eyes which see and understand
everything. In the bodhisattva path it is said that compassion shines
out through the eyes, like Chenrezi, 'Lord of Compassion', whose
very name signifies 'the compassionate eyes which see the needs of
all'. Or His Holiness the Dalai Lama, for example, whose gaze, along
with his laughter and his very being, embody tha t compassion.
In Dzogchen, you do not shut off your senses; you just stay with
them, alive. As Dudjom Rinpoche advises:
You leave everything fresh, natural, vivid, and unspoiled. When
you leave each thing in its own state, then its shape does not
change, its colour does not fade, and its glow does not disappear.
Therefore you keep your eyes open. In Dzogchen, there is a practice
where you put your awareness into your eyes and your eyes into the
sky, unifying your Rigpa with space, and using the nature of the sky
to inspire YO\lr own sky-like nature.
Then there are other reasons why the eyes should not be closed.
First of all, if you close your eyes you can fall asleep more easily. Very
few people fall asleep with their eyes open. Yet the deeper significance
is that in Dzogchen, for example in the teaching of Togal, the practice
of luminosity, it is said that all the light of the wisdom-energy resides
in the heart centre. In fact, the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra,
with his complete mandala, is said to rest in the heart. But at the
moment this luminosity is obscured and hidden, as if a lamp were
13
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
placed inside a vase: the light cannot be seen from outside, but a little
light emerges from the top. The top is like your eyes, which are connected via ;wisdom channels' with your heart. So in the Togal practice
of Dzogchen, the eyes are used very much to work with the light,
which is why, generally, you keep your eyes open in order not to block
this wisdom channel. Although Togal is a very advanced practice,
only taught to a student who has accomplished the prac
'
Uce of
Trekcho, yet to practise in this way will create an auspicious condition
for the future practice of Togal.
Then, you keep your mouth slightly open, as if about to �
say a deep, relaxing U Aaaaaah." The syllable; N represents
) the Prajnaparamita-the Mother of all the Buddhas, and
also Dzogpachenpo. In certain guru yoga practices in
Dzogchen, you simply use just a white; N, unify your mind, and enter
into the state of Rigpa. ; N embodies all the Dzogchen masters, and IN
is Rigpa. Just say "Aaaaah." Your jaw is relaxed. This way you can
breathe through the mouth or through the nose. In Dzogchen you are
recommended to keep your mouth slightly open because then the obstacles that are provoked by the 'karmic winds' are less likely to arise. This
is a special method of Dzogpachenp'o.
Your hands are left relaxed, covering your knees. This is the posture
called ;mind in comfort and ease'.
Then, what about the mind? There is a well-known Tibetan saying
which goes:
Chu rna nyok na dang
Sern rna cho na de
meaning: if you don't stir the water, it will clear by itself; if you don't
alter or manipulate the mind, but leave it in its natural state, it
becomes spontaneously at peace.
Therefore if you do not alter your mind but leave it, as it is, there
is peace and bliss. All the different instructions given for meditation
are only so many means of arriving at a point of courage, a warm
atmosphere, from within which you can let go, and just leave your
mind in the state of Rigpa. In Dzogchen, the way we sit is even free
of sitting. As my master Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro says in his
Heart Advice:
14
The Heart of Dzogchen Practice
Remain is only an expressiot:\-
In reality it is totally free of that which remains and remaining itself.
Very naturally, leave your mind in the Rigpa. Let it settle and purify
itself. And simpHfy. Whilst you just remain present, focused, and
unal teredo TIlls serves as a meditative preliminary to the introduction
of Rigpa.
Now here there is a danger of misunderstanding the true meaning
of Dzogpachenpo. These days there is a rather naive and simplistic
tendency to misunderstand 'naturalness'. Many people imagine that,
by just being natural, they can expect the Rigpa to arise. Simply by
talking about the 'unaltered' or natural state, however, does not mean
at all that you will arrive automatically at the state of Dzogpachenpo.
In fact naturalness is stressed at all levels of the teaching, for the simple reason that when you are unnatural, it obscures the nature ofmind. So in all practices, the practitioner is advised not to follow past
thoughts, nor invite future thoughts, but to remain, attentively, in the
present moment. Whatever the focus of the practice, for instance in
shamatha or vipashyana, one is advised to remain 'naturally' in the
awareness of the present.
In Dzogchen the very same word, naturalness, ma chlJ pa in Tibetan,
is used, but it refers to something quite different: it refers to the natural and unaltered state of dharmata that was arrived at through the
meditative investigation and through the master 's introduction to the
wisdom of Rigpa which followed. Otherwise, when you simply
remain naturally, you are only resting in the nature of alaya, not
Rigpa. The difference, as is said in Dzogchen, is 'greater than that
between the earth and the sky.'
But ... this is easier said than done! It points to how important it is m
Dzogchen to actually realize directly the state of Rigpa. This is the crucial point, the dividing line. Otherwise there is always the danger of
falling into conceptual traps, even when we talk about Rigpa, and ending up like those of whom Patml Rinpoche remarked: "Even though
they might proclaim such terms as 'emptiness' and 'dharmakaya',
these are nothing more than mind-made concepts which they are just
repeating." Dudjom Rinpoche adds: "Plenty of people know how to
talk about it quite glibly, but they do not know how to practise it, and
it is just something they recite like a parrot saying its prayers."
15
THE SPIRIT OF DZOGCHEN
The spirit of Dzogchen is very much an attitude, one which springs
from a deep confidence and trust. The trust comes from the realization
of the true meaning of the teaching of Dzogpachenpo and from your
personal experience, through practice. It is a trust in your ultimate
nature, that you have the buddha, the wisdom of Rigpa, which exists
even in spite of all your confusion. It is there, self-present.
What hinders us from realizing the wisdom of our Rigpa is the
obscuration perpetuated by our thinking mind. So you send the thinking mind on holiday, or deport it, because it is an illegal immigrant.
You don't issue it a visa. If you just leave your mind quietly in its own
natural state, then out of that comes the real settling, calming, and
clearing, from which arises the nature of mind-whatever that may be!
For it is important as well not to have some idea about what the
nature of mind is, because when you do you will end up contemplating an idea, and that is not the point at all. Here you are simply in the
true nature of your being, rather than contemplating an idea about the
nature of mind, which becomes just a concept. That is why neither of
the terms Imeditation' or 'contemplation' are really so appropriate for
Dzogchen, because they both ultimately imply contemplating or meditating on something, rather than being in a particular state or view
and resting in that state. We have to use the word 'non-meditation', to
describe this non-dual meditation.
In Dzogchen practice, you go beyond the clouds, to reach your skylike nature, the non-conceptual, non-dual aspect of your mind. That
absolute state is the pure or pristine awareness of Rigpa, the state of the
wisdom mind of all the budd has. The main point of the practice is to
strengthen and to stabilize this Rigpa, and to let it grow to maturity. As
Dudjom Rinpoche used to say, at present our Rigpa is 1ike a little baby
left on the battlefield of arising thoughts'. We need to babysi t our Rigpa.
Our absolute state or the state of Dzogpachenpo is always perfect
and never spoiled by our confusion. As Dudjom Rinpoche says:
Such a state of ultimate awareness, the primordial nature of which
is empty, has never been ennobled by the buddhas, nor degenerated by beings in their confusion for it is uncreated, yet spontaneously accomplished.
17
Dzogchen and Padn1JlSllmbhava
From the Dzogpachenpo point of view, our inherent nature is the
Primordial Buddha Sarnantabhadra, just like the sky. Even though
there may be many clouds, the sky itself always remains unstained.
Or sometimes the nature of mind is likened to a mirror, open and
clear, which reflects everything, yet is never dirtied.or stained by the
reflections.
This mirror-like nature of our mind is what we have to be reminded
of, time and time again. When we remember the purity of the inherent
nature of our Rigpa, there arises a tremendous inspiration, hope, and
confidence, and in this state we can dissolve all confusion, because
confusion is cloud-like, only a temporary obscuration, and does not
have the quality of absolute reality. When you can remain in that skylike nature, it is like a trust, like the earth which can bear the weight of
eyerything.
With the inspiration of the teachings, and with that confidence of
the absolute, of the View in one's heart, one relaxes into one's nature
and rests there. And if you can find that kind of trust and confidence
in yourself, it allows you to relax more. It gives rise to a spaciousness,
contentment and generosity, which you could call the 'buddha
humour'. When the clarity of Rigpa dawns there is an all-pervasive
feeling of goodness and tremendo�s inspiration, a sense of transcendence and uplift, as if you were rising above everything.
Remaining in the confidence and clarity of Rigpa allows all our
thoughts and emotions to naturally liberate, like writing on water, or
painting in the sky. That kind of understanding is how the ocean itself
views the waves. Dudjom Rinpoche points out:
.. .If you do not recognize this thought for what it is the moment it
arises, then it will tum into just an ordinary thought, as before .
This is called the 'chain of delusion', and is the root of samsara. On
the other hand, if you are just able to recognize the nature of the
thought as soon as it arises, and leave it alone without any followup, then whatever thoughts arise all automatically dissolve back
into the vast expanse of the Dharmakaya Rigpa and are liberated.
Once the View of Dzogpachenpo is realized, then there is no longer
any doubt. In the story of the 'Six Blind Men and the Elephant' each of
the blind men, limited by their lack of vision, is only able to describe
the part of the elephant they can feel. Being able to see the whole
18
The Spirit of Dzogchen
elephant is like having the overall view, the sight of Rigpa. All
doubts are dispelled by the confidence and certainty that arise from
having directly realized the View of Rigpa, which is then stabilized
through the practice of Dzogpachenpo. T hrough this stability, as
Rigpa is brought into the open, you have a clear confidence that whatever arises is naturally liberated, like shining a light into darkness. /lIn
an instant", said Guru Rinpoche, "it clears away the darkness of
aeons." With the light of the View of Rigpa, you can see through to the
true nature of whatever rises; there is no longer any deception.
Many people find that by far the most important feature of
Dzogchen is its style, its attitude, and its feeling, qualities which grant
tremendous relief in the ease and freedom they bring, and the absolute humour they shine onto our relative reality. As Dilgo Khyentse
RiI)poche says, once you have this View of Dzogpachenpo, although
the delusory perceptions of samsara may arise in your mind, you will
be like the sky; when a rainbow appears in front of it, it is not particularly flattered, and when clouds appear, it is not particularly disappointed either. There is a deep sense of contentment. You chuckle
from inside, as you see the fa�de of samsara and nirvana; the View
will keep you constantly bemused, with a little, inner smile bubbling
away all the time.
The profOUndness of the Dzogchen teaching lies in its tremendous
clarity and vividness, its power to resonate the Truth as a living, vital
experience. In fact for someone who is a true vessel for the Dzogchen
teaching, and who has a very deep karmic connection with it, just to
hear about Dzogchen can inspire the View. For Dzogpachenpo itself is
not just a teaching, but a state, the absolute state. The teaching is a
means, and a very powerful one, which links the absolute with the
conditioned and relative. Yet the wonder of the Dzogchen path is that
it does not stain the absolute with concepts, but still speaks of it in
conventional terms, bringing the Truth here into this world, and into
our lives, even before we become completely enlightened. The spirit
of Dzogchen starts to penetrate and permeate the fabric of our everyday experience. Even though we may be imperfect at this point, we
can begin to glimpse our 'perfect-ness' . All the buddhas are embodied
within us, complete-that is why it is called Dzogpachenpo! They are
already there, so there is no need to go out looking for them elsewhere. That would be, just like Patrul Rinpoche said, to leave your
elephant at home and go out searching for its footprints in the forest.
19
THE PATH
Dzogchen is an extraordinary teachingl a path through whichl as
Dudjom Rinpoche says: I�ven the most hardened criminal can directly and speedily attain buddhahood ." Yet whilst it is said to be for
those of the highest capacity, even within Dzogchen there are
supreme, middling, and average categories. For the supre�e student,
it can bring about complete enlighte�ent in an instant. It is said, for
example, that when the first human Dzogchen master Garab Dorje sat
down to receive the teaching of Dzogpachenpo from Vajrasattva, he
was an ordinary being, and when he got up afterwards, he was
already a buddha. The second case was Padmasambhava, and the
third was Chetsiin Senge Wangchuk.10 These are the three great examples of chik charwa, beings who were enlightened directly without
even having to practise, simply by hearing the teaching once.
Yet for most of us it does not follow that if we hear the Dzogchen
teachings we will become spontaneously enlightened. It has a great
deal to do with the purification of karmal as well as with past aspirations and prayers, which, when they mature, enable a person to
understand� the true meaning of Dzogpachenpo. For example,
Vairochana taught the Dzogchen teaching to an old man, Pang Gen
Mipham Gonpo, who had reached the age of eighty-five, and had not
practised in his youth. On the very day he requested to be introduced
to the nature of mind, there and then he realized it, and he was so
beside himself with joy that he embraced Vairochana and held onto
him, refusing to let him go the whole day long. He lived to be one
hundred and twelve and attained the rainbow body. He played an
important part in the transmission of Dzogchen, and it is said that in
his lineage everyone attained the rainbow body. No doubt many old
folk received teachings from Vairochana, but he attained realization
because of the ripening of his past karma and aspirations!
Then again, in Dzogchen it is said the nature of mind is introduced
upon the dissolution of the conceptual mind, but this implies that it is
taken for granted that a student would have performed the practices
preliminary to this, such as the investigation of the mind, so that when
the introduction is made, they can truly realize the meaning of the
introduction. Otherwise, as Patrul Rinpoche points out:
21
Dzogchen and p'admasambhava
Amidst the turbulence of arising thoughts, the gross arising
thoughts which run after the objects of perception obscure the
actual face of mind itself. So, even if the nature of mind were
introduced, one would not recognize it.
Nyoshul Lungtok was a very great Dzogchen master, who followed
his teacher Patrul Rinpoche for about eighteen years)1 They were
almost inseparable, so great was the love and devotion between them.
Patrol Rinpoche, who was from the Dzachukha region of Kham in
East TIbet, always used to call him a-mi, an affectionate way of saying
'my son', Nyoshul Lungtok would keep telling Patrol Rinpoche that
he had not yet got the main point, of realizing the Rlgpa. Maybe he
had, but he really wanted to be sure, so he kept on asking him. Then
Patrol Rinpoche gave him the introduction. It happened one evening,
whilst Patrol Rinpoche was staying up in one of the retreat centres
above Dzogchen monastery. It was a very beautiful night; the sky was
clear, and the stars were very bright. It was very quiet, and the sound
of solitude was heightened by the distant barking of a dog from the
monastery down below.
Nyoshul Lungtok had not asked him anything that evening, and
Patrul Rinpoche called him over, saying: "Didn't you tell me that you
still hadn't got the main poi�t of the practice of Dzogchen?" Nyoshul
Lungtok replied: "Yes, that's right."
"It' s very simple", he said, and lying down on the ground, he beckoned to him: "My son, come and lie down here like your father./J So
Nyoshul Lungtok did so. Then Patrul Rinpoche asked him, in a very
affectionate way: liDo you see the stars in the sky?" "Yes." "00 you
hear the dogs barking from the Dzogchen monastery?" "Yes," liDo
you hear what I am saying to you?" "Yes." "Well, the nature of
Dzogpachenpo is just-simply this."
At that moment, everything fell into place, and instantaneously
Nyoshul Lungtok was completely realized. The words Patrul
Rinpoche used were by no means extraordinary or esoteric; in fact
they were very ordinary. But beyond the words, something else was
being communicated. When a disciple like Nyoshul Lungtok, who
had complete devotion and receptivity to the true meaning of
Dzogpachenpo, meets a master who is completely enlightened like
PatmI Rinpoche, then the nature of Dzogpachenpo can be introduced
in such an ordinary, and extraordinary way.
22
The Path
This is why there are preliminary practices und purification for
Dzogchen. In Mahamudra, for example, there is a lot of emphasis on
the practice of shamatha, through which the student develops the
insight of vipashyana. The great Dzogchen master Adzom Drukpa
made his students do thr� years of shamatlla practice which consisted
of simply considering the teacher as the Buddha. In general however in
Dzogchen, the preliminary is the ngondro practice,12 which purifies
and transforms the student's basic being, as well as having a parallel
effect to shamatha of focusing the llund and making it more stable.
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche stresses the importance of this practice:
Without the ngondro, the main practice will not resist deluded
thoughts, it will be carried away by circumstances, it will be
unstable, and it will not reach its ultimate point.
Therefore a person embarking on the practice of Dzogchen follows
a step-by-step path of study and practice, beginning with the outer
preliminary (ngondro) of contemplation on the precious human birth,
death and impermanence, karma-cause and effect, and the frustrations of samsara. In the inner preliminary, there follow the practices of
taking refuge, generating the awakened mind of bodhicitta, prostrations, Vajrasattva purification, manda1a offering and the thirteen hundred thousand recitations of the Vajra Guru Mantra as part of Guru
Yoga. Then the practitioner progresses to the practice of sadhana, the
generation'ilIi.d completion phases of kyenm and dzogrim, and then the
yoga practices of tsalung. Having been directly introduced by the
teacher to the nature of mind through the Rigpe Tsal Wang, the
empowerment of Rigpa, the student then follows the actual path o�
Dzogchen Atiyoga. As Patrul Rinpoche says:
From the difficulty of gaining fortunate human birth,
Up to Mantrayana, generation and completion phases,
T,.2 the direct approach of Dzogchen (Trekcho),
.
to strip the mind naked of its pretenses:
There is no dharma which is not included here.
Dudjom Rinpoche points out:
A full understanding and realization of the true essence of
Dzogpachenpo depends entirely on these preliminary practices of
23
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
ngondro. For as Je Drikhungpa said: "Other teachings stress th�
profoundness of the main practice, but we here stress the profoundness of the preliminary practice" -and that is just how it is.
It should always be remembered that Dzogchen cannot be studied
simply by reading books, but only through meeting and following a
qualified master who embodies the complete realization of
Dzogpachenpo, and who, once the preliminaries have been completed,
will introduce his student to the teaching of Dzogchen. His Holiness
the Dalai Lama underlines the paramount importance of this point:
In order to engage in the practices of Trekcho and Toga), first of all
the practitioner requires training in the preliminary practices. One
fact that you must bear in mind is that the practices of Dzogchen,
such as Trekcho and Togal, can only be achieved through the guidance of an experienced master, and through receiving the inspiration and blessing from a living person who has himself the realization. Only through such close contact with a perfectly realized
master can one accomplish the realization of Dzogchen practice.13
Even the great masters of the past, such as Padmasambhava and
Vimalamitra, also followed teachers. As it is said, 'Without the master, even the name 'Buddha' is not heard."
Even though Dzogchen itself is not a gradual path, one of 'sudden
enlightenment', yet in order to ripen the student it must be taught
step-by-step according to their capacity of understanding and their
experience. This is why it is transmitted through the great method of
Mengak Nyongtri Chenpo, the secret know .. how and direct method of
realizing the absolute, handed down from the wisdom mind of the
masters and related to the experience of the student to enable them to
realize their absolute nature.
Therefore the importance of meeting and following a qualified
teacher cannot be over-emphasized. For when the real meaning of
Dzogpachenpo is pointed. out, if there is no way that the student can
realize it, it leaves plenty of scope for falling into a conceptual misunderstanding, and thereby completely missing the point. Also, as
Dudjom Rinpoche observes: "It is because the Dzogpachenpo is so
very profound that there will be obstacles, just as making a great profit entails a great ri�k." The guidance of a qualified master is imperative.
24
The Path
O�erwise it might be easy for the practitioner to be led astray, especially when they reach a deeper, more advanced state and there is that
much more room for deception.
In the Dzogchen guidelines it is stressed that in order to fully realize
the true meaning of Dzogpachenpo, three authentics must be present:
an authentic master, an authentic student, and an authentic lineage of
the method of introduction. First the authentic master must meet an
authentic student. Then the method is of crucial importance. For a
master might give the introduction non-methodically, but if a student
does not catch on, he or she will misunderstand the point of the introduction entirely, and just be left totally baffled. Hence the true understanding of Dzogchen depends upon an 'authentic lineage of the
method of introduction', that very same method which made the masters of the past themselves attain realization.
The following prayer was spontaneously composed and given to me
by H. H. Dudjom Rinpoche on the occasion when he first taught Hitting
the Essence in Three Words in Europe, to an assembly of thirteen disciples
in Paris. It is reproduced in Dudjom Rinpoche's own hand:
May we obtain the great confidence of the View
Where both samsara and nirvana are one.
May we greatly perfect and strengthen Meditation
Which is naturally resting in the unaltered state.
May we greatly accomplish the Action
Of non-acti�n, which is naturally arrived at.
May we self-find the Dharmakaya
Which is free of obtaining and abandoning.
25
THE LOTUS-BORN GURU
Whereas Buddha is principally known for having taught the
Sutrayana teachings-even though he did teach the Tantras in secret,
Padmasambhava came to this world, and to Tibet in particular, in
order to teach the Tantra. So whilst Buddha Shakyamuni represents
the buddha principle, the most important element in the Sutrayana
path, Padmasambhava personifies the guru principle, the heart of
Vajrayana Buddhism, and is therefore known as sangye nyipa, the second buddha.
As Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche explains:
According to the general approach of the buddhadharma, the
story of the h istorical Buddha Shakyamuni begins from the
moment of his enlightenment in India at Vajrasana (Dorjeden), the
modem Bodhgaya. Buddha turned the wheel of dhanna on three
occasion s, and finally passed into parinirvana. Then Padmasambhava came to follow up his teachings, and especially to turn
the wheel of the Secret Mantra Vajrayana teachings. Whereas
Buddha gave the fundamental teachings, and opened up the
ground, it was Padmasambhava who introduced the teachings of
the Vajrayana.14
Padmasambhava, or Padma'kara in Sanskrit, Pemajungne in Tibetan,
means 'the lotus-born'. The lotus symbolizes the Padma or lotus family to which all human beings belong. Although the lotus grows in
muddy swamps, yet it always produces an immaculate, pure flower.
In the same manner, although we have negative emotions, such as
desire, their inherently pure wisdom-energy can be allowed to blossom. Therefore confusion does not have to be abandoned; it can be
transmuted into wisdom. The principle of the lotus represents this
power of transmutation.
So Padmasambhava is the embodiment of the vision of tantra and of
transmutationj he is the transformative blessing of all the buddhas.
He is therefore particularly powerful in this day and age, when negative emotions are stronger, and confusion greater than ever before. It
is said that the more confusion and difficulties there are, the more
27
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
powerful he is. When TIbetan people need blessing or protection, their
natural reflex is to invoke Padmasambhava, and when great masters
face crises, even they too call out to him, as if he were their saS.
Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche continues:
Now, according to the extraordinary path of Dzogpachenpo,
Buddha is actually the true nature of our own mind, our inherent
Rigpa or pure awareness. Where did he become enlightened? In
the all-encompassing space of dharmadhatu. From this point of
view, events such as his manifestation as the historical Buddha, in
Vajrasana, for example, are seen simply as an outer display.
The 'Primordial Buddha' dwells nowhere but in the nature of
our Rigpa, the realm of Akanishtha.15 From out of the space of '
dharmadhatu he manifests, for the benefit of bodhisattvas, as the
sambhogakaya buddhas of the five families: Vai rochana,
Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi. For
this world of ours, he manifested in a nirmanakaya form as the
historical Buddha Shakyamuni. In reality, though, he was no
other than an emanation of the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra
who is in our own heart, our o\;Vn Rigpa.
Later he manifested as Padmasambhava, the eigh ty-four
mahasiddhas, and the great masters of India, such as: Nagarjuna,
Asanga, Aryadeva, Vasubandhu, D ignaga, Dharmaki r ti,
Shakyaprabha, and Gunaprabha, known as the Six Ornaments and
Two Excellent Ones. For other worlds, he manifested in various
ways, for each different being in their own way, appearing as a
bird amongst the birds, as an animal amongst animals, and so on.
Whereas the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra is our Rigpa
on an absolute level, the nature or quaHty of the wisdom of Rigpa
is radiant and endowed with luminosity, like the sun with its
unchanging and unceasing radiance. This quality of the unceasing luminosity of the primordial nature is that Limitless Light or
Unchanging Light which we call Buddha Amitabha, Opame or
Nangwataye in Tibetan.
From his heart, the Buddha Amitabha, who is the
same as Samantabhadra, sent out tremendous rays of
light in the form of the syllable HRlH, which descended
into the north-western land of Oddiyana,16 and onto the
lake of Dhanakosha. In the same way as the essence of
28
The Lotus-born Guru
father and mother give birtl). to a child and form the seed of our
elemental body, Padmasambhava's birth generated from this seed
syllable HRIH.
'
At that moment all the buddhas of the ten directions, together
with hundreds of thousands of dakinis from different celestial
realms, invoked the blessings and the incarnation of all the buddhas for the benefit of beings. This invocation of theirs is known
as the "Seven Verses of the Vajra', or the "Seven Line Prayer.' It is
the Spontaneous Song of Peace of the Dharmadhatu. This is the most
important prayer, since it is the invocation through which Guru
Rinpqche came into this world of ours.
i,� -!!!Jl:"l!9n.t�q�CU� � • .m"�-;"",-;
Iq 'QI �"'t4iW-",\.1\t�...Y!J Q 'Q�3 w.,�"'ql� ��
n�'�G.t�q.��� ���Cq'41'�"�
"'� «II �'�"W,u���� .....!!)�.':l., .. ���
The Seven Line Prayer and the Vajra Guru Mantra
As Guru Rinpoche was born within a lotus flower upon the
waters of the lake, the dakinis called out to him from their hearts,
and their call spontaneously became the Vajra Guru Mantra. So
this mantra is his heart mantra, his life-core, his heart essencel and
to recite it is to invoke his very being.
Then the King of Oddiyana, Indrabodhi, took charge of him. As
Padmasambhava had manifested on a nirmanakaya level, he had
to act accordingly, and even though in reality he was already a
buddha, he pretended that he needed to receive teachings and
accomplish the practice, in order to demonstrate that he had come
as successor to the Buddha and to continue his work. As he was
born eight years a fter Buddha's. parinirvana, he went to
Vajrasana, where he studied under Buddha's closest� disciple
29
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
Ananda. Then he went to all the Eight Great Vidyadhara masters,
received the Secret Mantrayana teachings and practised them. In
particular, in a pure vision he met Garab Dorje, the first human
Dzogchen master, and went through the motions of receiving the
Dzogchen teachings. He manifested the display of attaining complete realization.
Padmasambhava came to this world to accomplish three main
aims. In general, he came to help the beings of the six realms.
Then, his historical mission was to bring the light of the Dharma
and the teachings of Dzogchen to the land of TIbet. It is owing to
his kindness and his single-handed efforts that the teaching in
Tibet has lasted for well over a thousand years. Now the teachings
of Padmasambhava have come to the West, where once he was
unknown, and this indeed is a sign of his blessing, a mark of his
compassion and power. Thirdly, each buddha has a particular
mission, and Padmasambhava's specific mission is to come in this
dark age, the 'dregs of time', the kaliyuga.
The Dzogchen teachings were transmitted in Tibet primarily by
Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, and Vairochana, and that this
transmission happened at .all was mainly as a result of
Padmasambhava's kindness. Under his guidance, at a retreat in
Chuwori sponsored by King Trisong Detsen, out of one hundred
retreatants, ninety-nine attained the rainbow body; the only one
who did not was Palgyi Dorje. Padmasambhava had twenty-five
close disciples who were the first mahasiddhas of TIbet, and of
these all attained the rainbow body except Trisong Detsen. At
Drak Yerpa, eighty students all became mahasiddhas, attained the
rainbow body and never came out of retreat; there were thirty siddhas of Yangzom who all attained realization, fifty-five tokden
(realized beings) of Sheldrak, twenty-five dakinis who attained
the rainbow body, and there were also the seven siddhas of Tsang.
All these, and so many more, attained the rainbow body and realization through the power and blessing of Padmasambhava. And
this is because Padmasambhava is the Buddha of this time; his
speciality is working with the negativity of this particular age, in
which he is the quickest to act and most powerful.
When the time came for him to depart from Tibet, Padrnasambhava
left for the land of Ngayab Ling in the southwest, and the Copper
30
The Lotus-born Guru
Coloured Mountain, Zangdo kpalri. ""There," writes Dudjom
Rinpoche, 'lle manifested the inconceivable Palace of Lotus Light,
and there he presides as king, with one of his manifestations in each of
the eight continents of the rakshasas, giving teachings like the Eight
Great Methods of Attainment of the Kagye, and protecting the people
of this world of Jambudvipa from fears for their life. Even to this day,
he reigns as the regent of Vajradhara, the 'Vidyadhara with spontaneous accomplishment of the ultimate path'; and thus he will remain,
without ever moving, until the end of the universe."
There are many forms of Padmasambhava. The first is called ,
Totreng De Nga: the five families of Padmasambhava: Vajra Totreng,
Raffia Totreng, Padma Totreng, Karma T6treng, and Buddha Totreng.
Then there are the Eight Manifestations of Padmasambhava: Tsokye
Dorje, Padmasambhava, Loden Chokse, Pema Gyalpo, Nyima Ozer,
Shakya Senge, Senge Dradok, and Dorje Drolo. There are the six Guru
Rinpoches that manifest to help the hell realms, the hungry ghost
realm, the animal realm, the human realm; the demi-god realm, and
the god realm. These six Guru Rinpoches work against the six nega":'
tive emotions. There are also twelve manifestations of Guru Rinpoche
(Nam trul Chu Nyi) against various obstacles and fears that arise in
our life, and many others)7
In the practice of Sampa Lhundrupma (The Spontaneous Fulfilment of
all Wishes),- there are thirteen emanations of Guru Rinpoche: against
war, against illness, against famine �nd deprivation, Guru Rinpoche
the same as the yidam, for travel, for protection against wild animals,
for the elements, against robbery, against assailants, for the moment of
death, for the bardo, against mental illness, and against suffering in
the world at large.
Buddha himself said: "I came in a dream-like manner and taught a
dream-like dharma, but in reality I did not teach at aU, it all arose simply out of the needs of beings." Just as whatever appears in front of a
mirror is reflected within it, so the teachings appeared according to
the need of beings. In the same way, the Eight Manifestations of
Padmasambhava are not different Padmasambhavas, but reflect his
ability to appear according to needs and demands. In fact, they are
called in Tibetan Guru Tsen Gye, (Eight Names of the Guru). So, for
example, for scholars he appeared as the learned pandita Guru
Padmasambhava; as a great buddha Guru 5hakya Senge, he proclaimed the Mahayana; as the prince who administered the kingdom
31
An aspect of Padmasambhava for Peacel withl abovel Padmasambhava of Great
Blissl Guru Dewachenpo. A visionary thangka commissioned by the great Jamyang
Khyentse ChiJkyi Lodrol and photographed recently in Tibet by
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
The Lotus-born Guru
with great statesmanship, he appeared as Guru Perna Gyalpo; as a
yogin he appeared as Guru Nyima Ozer, and so on: each manifestation demonstrating a different principle.
"If you pray to Guru Rinpoche fervently/' says Nyoshul Khen
Rinpoche, "there is no doubt that he will actually appear to you. For
there is no other buddha who has manifested in visions to practi tioners as often as has Guru Rinpoche. Some of the great tertons,18 Ratna
Lingpa for example, had as many as twenty-five visions of Guru
Rinpoche. Other major tertons had twenty, others ten, some six, and
all the thousand minor tertons had at least three visions each, making
many thousands of visions in all.
The details of these visions are very precisely recorded, for example:
the date, the p1ace, and the manner in which they occurred, and the
teachings and prophecies Padmasambhava gave. These teachings
have subsequently been written down very clearly, and practised later
by other masters, many of whom have attained the rainbow body
through their authentic power. This all demonstrates just how powerful Guru Rinpoche is, and how quick he is to act. If you practise him,
success on the path will corne more swiftly. No buddha or master has
appeared as many times as Guru Rinpoche; he seems to be the most
active of them all."
33
Jamyang Khyentse ChDkyi Lodro
THE GURU PRINCIPLE
When we talk about the lama, the master or the guru principle, it is
important to remember that the guru is not merely a person. The guru
represents the inspiration of truth; he embodies the crystallization of
the blessing, compassion and wisdom of all buddhas and all masters.
As my master Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro used to explain,
although our true nature is buddha, yet from beginningless time it has
been obscured by a cloud of ignorance and confusion. But despite this
obscuration, our buddha-nature, or the truth within, has never surrendered to ignorance, and rebels against its confusion. This is our
inner teacher or guru, the active aspect of our buddha-nature, which
from the very moment when we became confused has been working
for us to bring us back to our true nature. It has never given up on us;
in its infinite compassion, it has been tirelessly working for our evolution, not only in this life, but in all our past lives, using all kinds of
means and situations in order to teach us and guide us back to the
truth. Even from an ordinary point of view, we realize that life is
always teaching us. And though it may be a teaching that we often do
not want, we cannot run away from this truth, for life continues to
teach us. This is the universality of the guru.
As a result of our past aspirations and prayers, and our purified
karma, this inner teacher actually begins to manifest more clearly and
take shap� in the form of the outer teacher whom we actually encounter. In fact, the outer teacher is none other than the spokesman of
our inner teacher. He teaches us how to receive the message of our
inner teacher, and how to realize the ultimate teacher within, restoring
a belief and confidence in ourselves and thereby freeing us from the
suffering that comes from not knowing our true nature.
The outer teacher is a messenger, the inner teacher the truth. If
someone wants to reach you on the telephone, for example, they call
your number. In the very same way, the buddhas call you through
your buddha-nature, your inner teacher. He is the direct line, but until
you know how to listen and hear, it is your outer teacher who answers
the phone. They work through him, to you. It is important not to lose
the sense of this connection between the inner and outer teacher. The
outer teacher is teaching you how to find yourself, how to find the
35
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
buddha in you. He is introducing you to yourself, and until you find
the buddha within you, he is that substitute.
In the Dzogchen teachings Padmasambhava embodies this universal principle. He is regarded as the incarnation of the buddhas of the
past, the representative of the buddhas of the present, and the source
from whom all the future buddhas will come. He is the timeless guru,
within whose being all masters are embodied. Many of the great masters of the Tibetan tradition have drawn inspiration from him, and are
his emanations, like the rays that burst out from the sun. So if you connect with any one of them, they will eventually lead to him. His
human connection with you is your teacher. It is through your teacher
that you can recognize him.
For whatever you consider Padmasambhava to be, or whatever you
consider your master to be, is what Dzogchen is. That absolute state of
Dzogpachenpo is the wisdom mind of your teacher. So you do not
regard him as an erdinary human being. What he embodies is the
truth or wisdom that he touches and inspires in you. So for you he
comes to embody the wisdom mind, so much so that just to think of
him crystallizes all the teaching and practice into an essential flavour.
The master is not separate from the teaching; in fact, he is the energy,
truth, and compassion of the dharma� He is the embodiment of
Dzogpach enpo, so whenever you think of your mas ter or
Padmasambhava, it invokes this blessing into your presence. This is
the principal source of inspiration for Dzogchen practice.
As Kalu Rinpoche said in his last public teaching:
What we call the buddha, or the lama, is not material in the same
way as iron, crystal, gold, or silver are. You should never Hunk of
them with this sort of materialistic attitude. The essence of the
lama or buddha is emptiness; their nature, clarity; their appearance, the play of unimpeded awareness. Apart from that, they
have no real, material form, shape, or colour whatsoever-like
the empty luminosity of space. When we know them to be like
that, we can develop faith, merge our minds with theirs, and let
our minds rest peacefully. This attitude and practice are most
important,19
We need to humanize the truth in order to make it accessible to us.
Without that how could we possibly understand the absolute? For us,
36
The Guru Principle
the guru is the human face of the truth. And as Dilgo Khyentse
Rinpoche says, 'Pfhere is no buddha who became enlightened without
having relied upon a spiritual teacher.1I You cannot realize the absolute
within the domain of the ordinary mind. And the path beyond the
mind is through the heart and through devotion. As Buddha told
Shariputra, it is through devotion, and devotion alone, that one realizes the absolute. Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche pOints out:
According to Dzogchen and the special approach of the great
Dzogchen master, Shri Singha,,
_
there is a way of recognizing the
nature of mind solely through devotion. There are cases of practitioners who simply through their heart-felt devotion attained
realization, even though their teacher had already passed away or
was nowhere near them physically. Because of their prayers and
devotion, the nature of mind was introduced. The most famous
example is that of Longchenpa and Jigme Lingpa.20
Dzogchen cannot be realized merely with the intellect or the thinking of the ordinary mind, but only through the purity of the heart. For
Dzogchen is beyond mind; it is the wisdom of Rigpa, which can only
be transmitted via a closeness of the heart between master and disciple. Devotion is na�rally inspired when a teacher is able to open your
innermost heart and offer you a glimpse of the nature of your mind.
From this there comes a tremendous joy, appreciation, and gratitude to
the one who has helped you to see, and to the truth that he embodies.
That heartfelt, uncontrived, genuine feeling is true devotion. True
devotion is not some kind of adoration or worship on a mundane or
conventional level, but simply the natural ability to invoke the
warmth and blessing of the truth in times of need, through a genuine
and pure devotion. It comes from having seen the View, and from this
also comes tremendous compassion. As Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
explains: "Once you realize the true meaning of emptiness or
Dzogpachenpo, effortless compassion arises for all beings who have
not realized; if crying could express that compaSSion, you could cry
without end/' These three: the View, devotion, and compassion, are
indivisible, one flavour-the taste of dharma.
37
H. H. DilgD Khyentse RinpDche
GURU YOGA
The most powerful way to invoke the inspiration and view of
Dzogchen is through the practice of guru yoga, 'merging with the
mind of the guru.' That is why, throughout his tory, the great
Dzogchen masters, such as Jigme Lingpa, Jamyang Khyentse
Wangpo, and Patrul Rinpoche for example, have treasured guru yoga
as their innermost practice. Patrul Rinpoche would even recite the
words of the guru yoga involuntarily when he rolled over in his sleep.
liOn an ultimate level," says Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, "it is
through Padmasambhava that we can realize the nature of mind and
the meaning of Dzogchen or Mahamudra. For one cannot realize them
without the practice of guru yoga. Guru yoga is the key."
The practice of guru yoga is a very subtle, yet powerful, niethod of
relating to the truth in a human, personal way, and of opening one's
heart to reveal the wisdom of Rigpa. The guru is a medium and invoking him a means. Because when you think of your master it evokes the
very essence, the very flavour and feeling of enlightenment, of the
View, and of Dzogchen. And devotion disarms all your negative emotions. In guru yoga you open your heart and your mind to the truth
that the guru embodies.
Although the truth or the buddha is within us, when we are not able
to realize it ourselves, we need to invoke it. It is extremely difficult,
almost impossible, to enter into the state of the absolute without any
inspiration, and if you do not have the confidence of the wisdom guru
within you, then you need to find a way to inspire it through guru
yoga, which invokes that presence, to warm your heart and bless your
mind. As Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche points out: IIIf you look at your
mind, when a very strong devotion arises and you meditate inspired
by that devotion, what happens? You find that your meditation has
much more feeling, clarity, bliss, and realization. Whereas you can just
sit there dumbly meditating on emptiness, and think: 'I am meditating", but it will be quite flat."
Dudjom Rinpoche writes:
In particular, it is vital to put all your energy into the guru yoga,
holding onto it as the life and heart of the practice. If you do not,
39
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
then your meditation will be very dull, and even if you do make a
little progress, there will be no end to obstac1es, and no possibility
of true, genuine realization being born within the mind. Therefore
by fervently praying with uncontrived devotion, after a while the
direct blessing of the wisdom mind of the lama will be transmitted, thereupon empowering you with a unique realization,
beyond words, born deep within your mind. Lama Shyang
Rinpoche declared: "Continue the flow of relaxed stillness, continue the flow of inner experience, continue the flow of samadhi
meditation." Though there are many such words of advice, yet
rare indeed is that realization born within through the blessing of
the lama, invoked by the power and strength of devotion.
There are four stages in the complete practice of guru yoga:
• invocation
• merging your mind with the guru by means of the mantra, then
• the receiving of the blessing or empowerment, and finally
• uniting one's mind with Padmasambhava or with the guru and
resting in the nature of your Rigpa, the Absolute Lama.
1. Invocation
Invocation begins with arousing the View of true devotion. As you sit,
quietly, from the depth of your heart you invoke Padmasambhava, the
embodiment of all the buddhas and all the masters, in the sky before
you, in the person of your master. He should be visualized radiant,
like a rainbow, and not flat like in a picture, nor solid like a statue of
gold, nor empty. Consider that he has the blessings and qualities of
the wisdom, compassion, and power of all the buddhas. For as
Padmasambhava himself said: "Those who accomplish me accomplish all the buddhas; those who see me, see all the budd has." As you
invoke him, you call upon his help and inspiration to purify all your
karma and negative emotions, and bring about the realization of your
true nature. With that kind of plea, you invoke him very strongly, and
unite your mind with him.
If you have difficulty relating to the form of Padmasambhava, you
can simply consider that perfect presence, the presence of all the
buddhas and masters, and invoke the truth in the form of light.
Invocation is as if you were bringing Padmasambhava into your
40
Guru Yoga
presence and into your heart. As you invoke, your mind is occupied
with Padmasambhava or the feeling of Padmasambhava, transforming the whole environment of your heart and mind. Dilgo Khyentse
Rinpoche says:
It is as if Padmasambhava himself is actually present.
Recognizing this, visualize him and invoke him from the depths
of your heart, saying: 'Guru Rinpoche, you take care of me!' Then
there is no doubt that the blessing will enter your heart.
When we undertake a practice of visualization like this, we are
entering the dimension of a sacred realm. It is to remind ourselves that
the buddhas are there, for as Buddha himself said: "Whoever thinks of
me, I am in front of them." You are not fabricating something, instead
you are tuning in to the true nature of the pure environment, the buddha realm. You do not have to 'see' buddha realms, but simply let
your heart enter into them. Intrinsically, all realms are the pure realms
of the buddhas, yet at present on account of our karmic vision, we are
unable to see them purely. This is the pure perception (dag nang), the
sacred outlook.
When you invoke Padmasambhava you can do so by chanting the
Seven-Line Prayer, the prayer that is most commonly u sed in the
Nyingma and Dzogchen traditions. liTo this very prayer, you can give
your whole mind, in devotion," said Guru Rinpoche. He also said:
When a disciple calls upon me with yearning devotion,
And with the melodious song of the Seven-Line Prayer,
I shall come straightaway from Zangdokpalri,
Like a mother who cannot resist the call of her child.
Feeling the presence of the Buddha, Padmasambhava, or your master and just opening your heart and mind, without concepts, to the
embodiment of truth actually blesses and changes your mind. On the
one hand, whether Buddha was actually there or not does not really
matter as long as your feelings change and your mind is transformed;
at the same time, buddhas are limitless, and just as the quality of
water is to quench thirst and of fire to bum, so theirs is to come immediately whenever someone invokes them. Though on an absolute
level Buddha is the true nature of our mind, even so, on a relative
41
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
level, as long as there are confused beings, there will be buddhas to
help. Through the blessing of invocation, the buddha within you is
inspired to blossom, like a flower in the sunshine. Because at the same
time as you invoke all the buddhas, your buddha-nature is awakened.
2. Maturing the Blessing
The essence of the practice of guru yoga is to unify your mind with
Guru Rinpoche and say the mantra OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU
PADMA SIDDRI HUM as much as possible. As you recite the
mantra, you keep uniting your mind one with the guru, or you just
quietly rest your mind in the nature of your guru. This is called
'maturing the blessing'. Through the blessing, your ordinary mind is
realized into the wisdom mind of Guru Rinpoche. Your feelings and
perception are transformed, as if suddenly the heavy clouds had lifted
and everything had become clear.
The Vajra G uru Mantra is the very heart essence of
Padmasambhava. It is also the mantra of all the masters, buddhas,
yidams, dakas, dakinis, and protectors. When you chant it, you are
invoking the very embodiment of Padmasambhava.
If you enter into the right inspiration and chant the mantra it can
really transform your energy, and through that transform your mind
and emotion. The definition of mantra is 'that which protects the
mind'; it protects it from its own negativity. In other words, it protects
you from your own mind. Even if you are not able to actualize the
meaning of the mantra each time you chant, it is fine. You simply rest
in the natural sound of the mantra, the 'natural sound of the vajra', as
is done in Dwgchen practice. Your breath, your mind, and the mantra
are one. You are working with prana, the breath, which is the most
important medium of energy. If you chant inspiringly, all the subtle
channels of your body resonate and vibrate with the sound of the
mantra, and through this a great transformation of energy takes place.
For the emotions are very closely connected with energy, and through
chanting the mantra one can slowly find balance, poise and integration. In the Dzogchen tradition, mantra is often used as a preliminary
to sitting meditation, to inspire samadhi, to ease nervous tension, and
to defuse volatile emotions.
42
Khyentse Sangyum, Khandro Tsering ChiidriJ"n
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
As you say the mantra, you invest your mind and heart in the wisdom mind of Padmasambhava. You offer your Jheart and soul', and
merge and mix your mind with your master. As you do that, something fennents, and what encourages that is the mantra. IJ'Samadhi
meditation is like a fire," it is said, lJ'and mantra is like the wind." The
wind of tne mantra fans the fire of your ' meditation and fuels your
realization. As this is the main part of the practice, you should spend
time on this, to mature the blessing.
The main feeling is of gradually coming closer, and dosing the gap
between you and the wisdom mind of Guru Rinpoche. A simple practice like this is very important: simply focusing on the mind of the
Guru. And if you keep merging your mind with him and saying the
mantra, whatever problems you have will be dissolved-of that there
is no doubt. As you unite your mind with Guru Rinpoche, sometimes
it is almost as if you forget your mind ... and it is when you forget your
mind that you can find yourself in a state of Rigpa Guru Rinpoche.
Your mind has matured and ripened into the wisdom mind of Guru
Rinpoche, and in the state of his wisdom mind, are there really any
problems?
The Vajra Guru Mantra
The essential meaning of the Vajra Guru Mantra is: I invoke you, the
Vajra Guru, Padmasambhava, by your blessing may you grant us ordinary
and supreme siddhis.
The complete meaning, as explained by Dudjom Rinpoche and
DiIgo Khyentse Rinpoche, is as follows:
Externally, they are aI,so the vajr� body, vajra speech, and vajra mind
of the buddhas. OM represents the blessing of the body of the buddhas, AH the blessing of the speech of the buddhas, and HUM the
blessing of the wisdom mind of all the buddhas. OM is the essence of
form, AH the essence of sounds, and HUM the essence of mind. OM
purifies all negative actions committed through your body, AH purifies all negative actions committed through your speech, and HUM
purifies all the negative actions committed through your mind.21 You
are empowered with the blessing and transformation of the body,
44
Guru Yoga
speech, and mind of all the buddhas.
Internally, OM purifies tsa, the channels or nadis. AH purifies lung,
the prana, inner air or flow of energy. HUM purifies tikle, bindu, the
energy or creative essence. OM purifies all perceptions, AH purifies
all sounds, and HUM purifies mind, thoughts, and emotions.
Secretly, OM AH HUM represent the three kayas: OM represents
the dharmakaya aspect of the lotus family, Buddha Amitabha; AH
represents the sambhogakaya aspect, Avalokiteshvara, and HUM represents the nirmanakaya aspect, Padmasambhava. This in�icates that
the three kayas are all embodied in the person of Guru Rinpoche.
Even more secretly, OM is compassion or energy (tukje), AH is
nature (rangshyin) and HUM is essence (ngowo).
VAJRA, or 'dorje' in TIbetan refers to the diamond, the hardest and
most precious of all stones. The diamond can cut through all other
substances, yet itself cannot be cut by any of them. In the very same
way: the unchanging, non-dual wisdom of the buddhas cannot be
affected or destroyed by ignorance; this wisdom can cut through all
delusions and obscurations; and the qualities and activities of the
body, speech and mind of the buddhas benefit beings without any
hindrance from negative forces. Like a diamond, the vajra is free of
any defects; its strength comes from the realization of the dharmakaya
nature-the nature of Buddha Amitabha.
GURU means Jweighty', someone replete with all the wonderful
qualities of wisdom and knowledge, who has tremendous presence
and also fully embodies this wisdom. Just as gold is the most substantial and precious of metals, so the guru is the most substantial figure
because of his inconceivable and flawless qualities, and also he is the
most precious of all beings. Here the guru corresponds to the sambhogakaya and to Avalokiteshvara, JLord of Compassion',
Since it was Guru Rinpoche himself who showed us the path of the
Secret Mantra Vajrayana, and through its practice attained supreme
realization, so he is the VAJRA GURU.
PADMA indicates the lotus family or speech aspect of the buddhas.
As Padmasambhava is the direct emanation or nirmanakaya of the
primordial Buddha Amitabha, who belongs to the lotus family, he is
known as JPadma', as in Padmasambhava or Pemajungne.
VAJRA also means the indestructible energy of enlightenment, the
truth, which we pray that we may realize in our View. GURU represents the luminosity or perfection of the nature of mind, which we
45
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
pray that we may actualize in our Meditation. PADMA stands for
'compassion' or 'action', and we pray that we may accomplish the
compassion of Action.
So: VAJRA is the View, GURU is Meditation, and PADMA is compassion in Action. VAJRA is dharmakaya, GURU is sambhogakaya
and PADMA is nirmanakaya. VAJRA is essence, GURU is nature and
PADMA is energy .
In short, we pray that we realize the confidence of the View of
VAJRA, perfect the great skill of Meditation of the GURU and accomplish the compassionate Action of PADMA.
SIDDID means 'real accomplishment', attainment, blessing and
realization. There are two kinds of siddhis: ordinary and supreme.
Through receiving the blessing of ordinary siddhis, all obstacles in our
lives, such as ill-health, are removed, an our good aspirations are fulfilled, we obtain benefits like wealth and prosperity, and all life' s circumstances become conducive to the realization of enlightenment.
The blessing of the supreme siddhi brings about enlightenment itself,
the state of complete realization of the Lotus-born Guru, for the benefit of both ourselves and others. By remembering and praying to the
body, speech, mind, quality, and .activity of the Lotus-born Guru, one
will attain both ordinary and supreme accomplishments.
Siddhis can be divided into the outer accomplishment of the four
kannas, the inner accomplishment of the eight siddhis, and the secret
accomplishment of the supreme siddhi. Also they can be the outer
accomplishment of the development stage (kyerim), the inner accomplishment of the tsalung practice of channels and winds, and the
secret accomplishment of the realization of the nature of mind.
SIDDHI HUM is said to draw in all the siddhis like a magnet that
attracts iron filings. HUM is the wisdom mind of the buddhas, and the catalyst for the
mantra. So be it[
By the infinite truth of the dharmadhatu and the power and blessing of the wisdom mind of all the buddhas, may we actualize this
mantra and may its power be accomplished: OM AH HUM
VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM.
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche goes on to explain:
46
Guru Yoga
It is said that the twelve syllables OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU
PADMA SIDDHI HUM carry the entire blessing of the twelve
types of teaching taught by Buddha, which are the essence of his
84,000 dharmas. Therefore to recite the Vajra Guru Mantra once is
equivalent to the blessing of reciting the whole of the Tripitaka,22
or practising the whole teaching of the Buddha. These twelve
branches of the teaching are the antidotes to free us from the
twelve links of interdependent origination, which keep us bound
to samsara: ignorance, karmic formations, discursive consciousness, name and fonn, senses, contact, sensation, craving, grasping, existence, birth, old age, and death. They are the mechanism
of samsara. Through reciting the Twelve Syllable Mantra, these
twe1ve links are purified, and one is able to completely remove
and purify the layer of karmic emotional defilements (kleshas),
and be liberated from samsara.
Although we are not able to see Guru Rinpoche in person, his
wisdom mind has manifested in the fonn of mantra; these twelve
syllables are actually the emanation of his wisdom mind, and they r
are endowed with his entire blessing. The Vajra Guru Mantra is
Guru Rinpoche in the form of sound. So when you invoke him
with the recitation of the twelve syllables, the blessing and merit
you obtain is tremendous. In these difficult times, just as there is
no buddha or refuge that we can call upon who is more powerful
than Padmasambhava, so there is no mantra that is more fitting
than the Vajra Guru Mantra.
Further explanations of the Vajra Guru Mantra can be found in the
terma revelation of Karma Lingpa, and in the writings of Dodrup
Jigme Tenpe Nyima.
3. Empowerment
When you reach the end of the mantra practice, maturing the bleSSing,
and uniting with the wisdoDl mind of the guru, it culminates in the
receiving of the empowerment, abhisheka in Sanskrit, which is the
third phase of the guru yoga practice. It is explained here according to
the practice of guru yoga in Longchen Nyingtik.
From a crystal white syllable OM in the forehead of Padmasambhava, stream out rays of white light which enter your forehead and
47
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
fill your whole body. This purifies all the negative
karma accumulated through negative acts of the body,
and purifies the channels (nadi, Skt.; tsa, Tib.). Thus
you receive the blessing of the vajra body of Guru
Rinpoche. This is the 'vase empowerment' (bum
wang), which empowers you for the practice of visualization (kyerim), and sows the seed for the attainment of the state of
'fully matured vidyadhara' and nirmanakaya realization.
From a ruby red syllable AH at Padmasambhava's
throat stream out rays of red light which enter your
throat and fill your whole body. This purifies all the
negative karma accumulated through negative acts of
the speech, and purifies the inner air (prana, Skt.; lung,
TIb.). Thus you receive the blessing of the vajra speech
of Guru Rinpoche. This is the 'secret empowerment'
(sang wang), which empowers you for the practice of mantra recitation, and sows the seed for the attainment of the state of 'vidyadhara
of etemal life' and sambhogakaya realization.
Thirdly, from a lapis-lazuli coloured blue syllable
HUM at PadmasaIl.lbhava's heart stream out rays of
blue light, entering your heart and filling your whole
body. This purifies all the negative karma accumulated
through negative acts of the mind, and purifies the creative essence or energy (bindu, Skt.; tikle, Tib.). Thus
you receive the blessing of the vajra mind of Guru
Rinpoche. This is the 'wisdom (prajna-jnana) empowerment' (sherab yeshe kyi wang), which empowers
you for the yoga practice of 'bliss and emptiness' of tummo23, and
sows the seed for the attainment of the state of 'mahamudra
vidyadhara' and dharmakaya realization.
Finally, from the syllable �UM at Padmasambhava's heart another lapis-lazuli coloured blue HUM
emanates, and 'like a shooting star' enters your heart,
filling yo�r whole body with light and merging indistinguishably with your mind. As Dilgo Khyentse
Rinpoche says:
All the subtle defilements masking realization are
dispelled. Deluded perceptions, dualistic clinging
48
Guru Yoga'
to subject and object, as well as all latent tendencies, are cleared.
The subtle defilements upon the 'universal ground' (kunshyD are
purified. The universal ground is where the residue of past
actions, one's habits and tendencies, which create obstacles on the
path to enlightenment, are stored. According to the Sutrayana, the
subtle obscurations that veil realization are only cleared when one
reaches the tenth bhumi.24 According to Secret Mantrayana, when
one's awareness is seen as immaculate and vast as the sky, all the
subtle defilements veiling the knowable are cleared.
Tlius you receive the blessing of the vajra wisdom of Guru
. Rinpoche-his body, speech and mind inseparable. This is the 'symbolic empowerment' (tsik wang)/25 which empowers you for the practice of kadak Dzogpachenpo, and sows the seed for the attainment of
the state of 'spontaneously accomplished vidyadhara' and svabhavikakaya realization.
Essentially, as the rays of light emanating from the OM AH HUM at
Guru Rinpoche's three centres touch your three centres, they purify
the negativity and obscurations accumulated through the body,
speech and mind, and purify the channels (nadi, tsa), inner air (prana,
lung) and creative essence or energy (hindu, tikle). Your body, speech
and mind are transformed into the vajra body, speech and mind of
Padmasambhava.
4. The Absolute Guru Yoga
At the end of the empowerment, Padmasambhava dissolves into light
and becomes one with youl in the nature of your mind. Or you can
consider that rays of light emanate from Guru Rinpoche, and as they
touch you, you dissolve completely into light and become one with
him. At that moment, you recognize that the nature of your mind is
the Absolute Lama, inseparable from you. In that state of indivisibility, you quietly rest, realizing this to be the nature of Dzogpachenpo.
This is why guru yoga is said to be so powerful, because, if you
open your heart and merge your mind with the wisdom mind of the
Guru, your mind is realized into his wisdom mind. Then no longer is
the teacher outside of you; you realize that he is actually in the nature
of your mind. Your mind, now that it has become one with the t ruth,
is no longer your ordinary mind; it has become one with the wisdom
49
'
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
mind of Guru Rinpoche and all the buddhas. As Dilgo Khyentse
Rinpoche says, it is like throwing a pebble into a lake; it plunges right
down to the bottom. In the same way, at the moment that you invoke
the presence and blessing of Guru Rinpoche, they enter into you and
merge, one with you, in the very depths of your heart.
/I According to Dzogchen/' says Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, IIguru
yoga is to unify your mind with Guru Rinpoche. If you put your
whole reliance on him, so his vajra body, vajra speech and vajra mind
enter your body, speech and mind, they effect a transformation.
Outer, inner and secret obstacles are removed, and the supreme siddhi can be accomplished. It is only through this that the wisdom of
Rigpa can be actualized."
This is also the Guru Yoga Phowa, the most powerful practice for
the moment of death.
The Essential Practice
The really essential practice of guru yoga is just to unify your mind
quietly with the Guru, and say the mantra. Yet although it may be
simple, this is a complete practice of guru yoga. Dudjom Rinpoche
used to explain the TIbetan word naljor which means 'yoga' as: nal,
resting in the nature of �nd, and jor, flowing with, or radiating that
View. You merge your mind one with the wisdom mind of Guru
Rinpoche and flow with the mantra, letting the mantra mature and
ri pen your Rigpa.
This is the essence of guru yoga practice: as you chant the mantra,
and �it in the state of Rigp a, you recognize that Rigpa is
Padmasambhava. As Padmasambhava himself said:
Mind itse1f is Padmasambhava; there is no practice or meditation
apart from that.
When you rest in a state of Rigpa, you recognize that to be the
Absolute Lama. Then the more you invoke the blessing, the stronger
your Rigpa becomes. Your Rigpa gets more and more blessed by the
Rigpa Lama. And so we invoke, with this kind of understanding:
Recognizing and remembering that my own Rigpa is the Lama, through
this may my body, speech and mind be empowered by the blessing of
50
Guru. Yoga
your Vajra body, speech, and mind, and thereby may your mind and
mine merge as one.
As you just sit quietly, you inv:oke the blessings of all the masters
and all the buddhas in the person of Padmasambhava, in the fonn of
light. Then you unite your mind with him whilst you quietly say the
mantra .. whereby your ordinary mind is realized into the wisdom
mind of the buddhas.
At the end you realize there is no buddha outside of yOUj the buddha is nowhere but in the nature of your own mind. In the confidence
of that non-duality, you simply rest and abide by it. At the beginning,
the mantra is an invocation and a way of maturing the blessing. By the
end, when you realize non-duality, it has become just a declaration of
confidence, a vajra proclamation. TIlls is how you unify guru yoga
and Dzogchen.
In Dzogchen it is said that to practise, recognizing that the lama is
none other than the true nature of one's mind, embodies the whole
practice of View, Meditation and Action. Dudjom Rinpoche explains
that once you recognize the Lama is inseparable from the true nature
of your mind, then to simply rest and abide by this recognition is 'the
natural homage that arises from seeing the View�. For true homage is
not an external homage, but the inner realization of the View of Rigpa.
Once you discover that the true nature of all the buddhas and masters
is the very same as your own Rigpa, in the confidence and blessing of
that recognition, there comes a tremendous sense of joyful celebration
and deep gratitude. Such a homage, the expression of that profound
realization of absolute devotion, is full of dignity and grace.
51
Longchen Nyingtik Refuge Tree
THE NINE YANAS
As we have seen, the natural expression of the Buddha's great compassion and skilful means was to teach spontaneously and appropriately according to the minds and capacities of different individuals, so
that each one might be able to practise the teachlng. Thus, there are
many kinds of teaching, for beings of a wide spectrum of experience
and capacity for spiritual development. Just as there are practitioners
at varying levels of spiritual development, varying levels of paths are
taught, and these paths reflect the type of practice emphasized at such
levels. However, all these paths are equally precious, and share the
common aim of attaining enlightenment, the awakened mind of a
buddha.
Within the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism as a whole three yanas or
vehicles of Buddhlst teachings are taught. As His Holiness the Dalai
Lama explains:
Owing to the historical sequence of the dissemina tion of the
Buddhist teaching in TIbet, and as a result of certain differences in
emphasis placed on particular scriptures by great masters of the
past, there arose in TIbet four major traditions, which are known
as Nyingma, Kagyii, Sakya, and Gelug. They are called the
"earlier' and 'later' transmissions of the teachings of Buddha in
TIbet, and they differ for the reasons mentioned above, as well as
in the different importance given to particular techniques of meditation, or in some cases also in the different terminology used to
express, for example, experiences developed by the masters ...
What is common, however, to all four of these major traditions, is
their emphasis on the practice of the entire structure of the
Buddhist path, which comprises the essence of both Sutrayana
and Tantrayana. In India, based on differences in philosophical
standpoint, there were four distinct schools of thought,26 but the
four traditions found in TIbet do not have such fundamental differences, for they all follow the philosophical standpoint of the
Madhyamika SchooI.27
53
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
The Nyinglna, or Ancient, School of TIbetan Buddhism is the name
given to the followers of those original translations of the teachings of
Buddha into Tibetan which were carried out up until the time of the
Indian translator Smrtijfianakirti in the late t�nth century. They are
known as the 'Earlier Translation School', Ngagyur Nyingma, distinguishing them from the New Schools, Sarma, such as the Kagyii,
Sakya, Kadam, and eventually Gelug, which followed the later translations made from the time of the great translator Rinchen Zangpo
(958-1055) onwards.
Within the Nyingma tradition the full spectrum of spiritual paths is
divided into nine yanas, which is taught as a system of practice bringing together all the approaches of the Buddha's teaching into a single
comprehensive path to enlightenment. To begin this explanation of
the Nyingma system of nine yanas it is first important to discuss the
three yanas as a general context of view and practice shared by all
TIbetan traditions. Each of the nine yanas will then be summarized
according to the division of spiritual paths into Sutra and Tantra, and
within Tantra, into the paths of Outer and Inner Tantra.
The Three Yanas
'Yana' means vehicle, a means of evolution or spiritual development.
In general there are three yanas or vehicles of Buddhist teachings:
Hinayana, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. With Hinayana as the ground
for beginning the path, Mahayana opens an expansive vision of the
journey to enlightenment. As a special vehicle of the Mahayana,
Vajrayana actualizes the enlightened state within one's own present
experience.
Hinayana, often known in Dzogchen as the Fundamental Vehicle, is
the path based on the aspiration for individual liberation. The main
practice of Hinayana is the realization of the Four Noble Truths: suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the paths
leading to the cessation of suffering. All beings want happiness and
do not want suffering. In order to bring about happiness and to eliminate suffering three trainings are practised: discipline (shila), meditative concentration (samadhi) and discriminative awareness (prajna).
Through the discipline of upholding the vows of individual liberation
(pratimoksha) one protects the mind from circumstances which generate emotional entanglements and negativity. Through the one54
The Nine YaMS
pointedness of mind attained through shamatha and the special
insight of vipashyana meditation, discriminative awareness of selflessness is realized. By practising these disciplines, both in meditation
and throughout one's life, one can actually be freed from causing
harm to oneself and others. The meditative experience of Hinayana
forms a basis for practice in all the yanas.28
Mahayana or the Great Vehicle expands the scope of concern beyond
one's own experience to the end of suffering for all beings. The
essence of Mahayana is the aspiration to attain buddhahood as the
only means to help all beings find liberation from suffering. This aspiration is called bodhicitta, the 'heart of enlightened essence', and is
realized on both an ai?,solute and relative level. Absolute bodhicitta is
the realization of emptiness, that all phenomena of self and other are
dependent arisings which have no inherent or permanent characteristic of their own, and do not arise under their own power. This is the
realization of absolute truth. Relative bodhicitta is both the aspiration
to enlightenment for the benefit of beings and the application of practice to bring this about. Aspiration is developed in meditation on the
four immeasurable qualities of love, compassion, joy, and equanimity.
Application is practised through the six perfections of generosity,
ethics, patience, exertion, meditative concentration, and discriminative awareness.
Through this practice of spiritual training the two accumulations of
merit and wisdom are completed. Merit is based on the view of relative truth and cultivated through the six perfections. Wisdom is based
on the view of absolute truth, the emptiness of all phenomena, and is
realized in meditation free from conceptualization. The completion of
the collection of wisdom results in the dharmakaya (the truth body of ,
the Buddha), while the completion of the collection of merit results in
the rupakaya (the form body). The achievement of dharmakaya is the
fulfilment of one's own welfare, while the achievement of rupakaya,
in its two aspects of the sambhogakaya (complete enjoyment body)
and the nirmanakaya (emanation body), is for the sake of fulfilling the
welfare of others.
Vajrayana, also known as the Secret Mantra Vajrayana (Sang Ngak
Dorje Tekpa), is not a separate vehicle from Mahayana, but actually
belongs within Mahayana as a distinctive vehicle of skilful means. In
fact, Mahayana is divided into two vehicles: Sutra and Tantra. The
fundamental intention of bodhicitta as well as the absolute view of
55
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
emptiness do not differ between the two, yet Tantra employs special
techniques appropriate to the capacity of the practitioner, to quickly
arrive at a profound realization of emptiness and great compassion.
Amongst the qualities which mark the superiority of the Tantrayana
are: i ts vast range of skilful means, the fact that buddhahood is quickly accomplished without hardships, and that it is suitable for those of
a superior capacity.
The Sutrayana, which encompasses the teachings of both Hinayana
and Mahayana, is known as the 'Causal Vehicle', because the path is
followed in order to establish the cause for attaining enlightenment.
The six perfections, thirty-seven bodhisattva practices, and a variety
of ethical and i ntellectual disciplines are practised as causes for
achieving the final result. Buddhahood emerges as the result when all
such causes are complete. In Sutrayana the mind will accumulate the
two collections of wisdom and merit, which are the respective causes
for the attainments of dhannakaya and rupakaya. The mind is thus
considered the cause of this attainment.
Tantrayana is known as the 'Fruitional or Resultant Vehicle', because
the path is no longer based on establishing the cause, but identifying
directly with the fruition. The fu�damentally pure essence of mind, or
buddha-nature, was seen in Sutrayana as the seed of enlightenment.
Tantra begins with the view that the final attainment or result has ·
been within the mind from the very beginning, but has been obscured
by ignorance and adventitious defilements_
Both Sutra and Tantra share the same ultimate goal of buddhahood;
the greatest difference between them lies in the methods employed.
Al though in the Sutrayana there exists the practice of meditation on
emptiness, said to be 'similar in aspect to dharmakaya', there is not the
practice of I dei ty yoga', which is called 'similar in aspect to rupakaya',
and which is quite unique to Tantra.
In deity yoga one first meditates on emptiness and then uses that
consciousness realizing emptiness as the basis of emanation of a buddha. The wisdom consciousness itself appears as the fonn of a buddha. This single consciousness thus has two aspects-one of wisdom
and one of method. Therefore, through the practice of deity Y9ga, one
simultaneously accumulates the collections of wisdom and merit.
This special method of deity yoga is called 'fruitional', because seeing
oneself in the form of a deity in which wisdom and method are
simultaneously present is a method which takes the result of the
56
The Nine YaMS
path, buddhahood, as the example and means by which the result is
attained.
The essence of the tantric approach is the-all-encompassing vision of
pure perception (dag nang). Through empo�erment into the mandala
of deities, one actualizes the world as a pure land and all beings as
enlightened buddhas. Through the yoga of channels, winds, and energy (tsa lung tikle) of the vajra body, the tantric practitioner generates
the experience of the union of bliss and emptiness, bringing the mind
directly to realization. In tantric practice negativity is not to be abandoned, but rather transformed as the fuel of wisdom. All experience is
transformed into wisdom itself, the fruition of the path. Therefore,
Vajrayana is known as the "fruitional vehicle', for it truly takes the
fruition itself as the path of training.
The Nine Yanas
In the Nyingma tradition, the three yanas of Hinayana, Mahayana
and Vajrayana are divided further into:
• three causal vehicles of Sutra-Shravaka, Pratyekabuddha, which
together form the Hinayana, and Bodhisattva or Mahayana; and
• six fruitional vehicles of Tantra-three Outer Tantras known as
Kriyayoga, Charya- or Upayoga, and Yogatantra; and three Inner
Tantras known as Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga.
The Sarma tradition recognize four classes of tantra: Kriya, Charya,
Yoga, and Anuttara Yoga Tantra (Highest Yoga Tantra). The latter is
divided into three: Father Tantras, such as the Guhyasamaja, the King
of Tantras; Mother Tantras, such as Heruka Chakrasamvara; and Nondual Tantras, such as Kalachakra.29
The C;:ausal Vehicles
In the first vehicle of the Hinayana, the Shravakayana or Vehicle of
Hearers, one listens to the teachings of the Four Noble Truths, hears
the self-evident problems of life-the truth of suffering-and looks
further to find the origin of pain. One is inspired to take refuge in the
Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, and search out a master who can show one the path towards the cessation of suffering. The
shravaka realizes the selflessness of persons, understanding that there
is no abiding substance to be found in the personality, but maintains ·
57
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
that phenomena have their basis in indivisible atomic particles and
moments of consciousness which are held to be real.
In the next vehicle of the Hinayana, the Pratyekabuddhayana or
Vehicle of Solitary Realizers, there begins a deeper analysis of suffering and its origin. Experience is analyzed in minute detail, with the
ego shown to be a mere collection of the five aggregates (skandha),
and using the twelve links (nidana) of interdependent origination
(pratityasamutpada) to trace suffering back to its origin in ignorance
of the true nature of reality. The pratyekabuddhas understand the selflessness of persons as well as phenomena; however they still maintain
the indivisible moment of consciousness as the substantial basis of all
experience. The pratyekabuddhas are called 'solita ry realizer-s'
because they find the view and path on their own.
The third vehicle, the Bodhisattvayana or Vehicle of Enlightened
Beings, begins with the intention to attain enlightenment not merely
for oneself but for the benefit of all beings. The bodhisattva realizes
the selflessness of both persons and phenomena, finding that all phenomena are in fact empty of any inherent identity. Central to the realization of a bodhisattva is an understanding of the indivisibility of the
two truths, the union of wisdom. (prajfia) and skilful means (upaya).
The practice of a bodhisattva is to apply transcendental knowledge or
wisdom (prajfiaparamita) through the six perfections, bringing
together the insight into the ultimate truth of emptiness, and the relative means of appropria te action. The practices of shamatha and
vipashyana are employed to gradually remove obstructions to
insight. Both the obscuration of conflicting emotions and the obstructions to omniscience are removed, and the realization of emptiness is
discovered in the non-duality of experience, free from conceptualization of subject and object.
The teachings of the Hinayana, such as the Four Noble Truths and
the Eightfold Path, derive from Buddha's 'Pirst Turning of the Wheel
of Dharma' at Samath. The teachings practised in the Mahayana represent those given in the 'Second' and 'Third Turnings of the Wheel of
Dharma', which Buddha gave at the Vulture Peak and elsewhere.
They include the Prajfiaparamita and Cittamatra (Mind-only) teachings, which subsequently gave rise to the Madhyamika and Yogacara
schools of philosophy.
58
The Nine Yanas
The Fruitional Vehicles
The Outer Tantras
The union of skilful means and wisdom which is expressed in the
action of the bodhisattva becomes in tantra the inseparability of
appearance and emptiness, manifesting in the form of a tantric deity.
The tantric path begins with empowennent into the mandala of a deity
and taking the commitments of samaya to regard all of one's experience as the primordially pure appearance of the mandala. In tantric
practice, one visualizes oneself as the samayasattva or 'commitment
being' and the deity as the jiianasattva or 'wisdom being'. One merges
the absolute nature of the jnanasattva into one's own perception and
experience. Thus the absolute truth of phenomena as primordially
pure is discovered within the relative appearance of oneself in the form
of the deity. In the practice of visualization, the creation of the deity out
of the pure st�te of emptiness or absolute truth is called the generation
or development stage (kyerim). The appearance of the deity is then
dissolved back into emptiness, and one rests the mind in its ultimate
nature. This is the completion or perfection stage (dzogrim). These two
phases of meditation form the basis of all tantric practice.
The view of Kriyayoga, the first vehicle of Outer Tantra, is that in
absolute truth all phenomena are perceived as the inseparable nature
of appearance and emptiness; however, in relative truth the appearance of deity and mandala becomes an overwhelming experience of
purity. There is a clear division between the purity of the deity and the
impurity of one's own being. Thus, the deity or jnanasattva is viewed
as external and superior to oneself, the samayasattva. Kriya means
action, so in Kriyayoga the emphasis is upon external actions, such as
ritual purification, in order to be able to receive blessing and wisdom
from the realized being.
The practice of Charya- or Upayoga is the same as in Kriyayoga; however, the View is that of Yogatantra. While the deity is still viewed as
external to oneself, one now relates to the deity as friend, both equally
pure in appearance. In Upayoga one balances internal practice of yoga
with external actions of purification. It is thus considered a transitional vehicle between Kriya and Yoga.
The view of absolute truth in Yogatantra, the third vehicle of outer
tantra, is that all phenomena arise as the inseparable nature of
59
The Nine Yanas
luminosity and emptiness. Yoga means 'union'; thus, this nature is
expressed in relative truth as the union of the jnanasattva with the
samayasattva. One visualizes oneself as the samayasattva and invites
the jiianasattva, which merges into oneself as Iwater poured into
water.' In Yogatantra the emphasis is placed on the internal practice of
yoga.
The Inner Tantras
The tantric texts relating to the three Outer Tantras are common to
both the Old and New Translation School traditions. Unique to the
Nyingmapas are the three Inner Tantras: Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and
Atiyoga or Dzogchen. Some of these appear in the Kangyur, the Word
of Buddha, but there is a separate collection, the Nyingma Gyubum, the
Collected Tantras of the Nyingmapas.
In the practice of Outer Tantra one maintains the relative distinction
between the,� two truths, and practi�es them sequentially, rather than
simultaneously in union. However, in the practice of Inner Tantra the
two truths are seen as inseparable from the beginning. As Dudjom
Rinpoche explains, the distinctive feature of Inner Tantra is that:
... You realize pristine awareness (jfiana, yeshe), which is an undivided unity of method and wisdom-the unity of relative and
ultimate realities. Through the totality of this pristine awareness,
those things to be abandoned, such as the defilements together
with their suffering, are utilized as aspects of the path through the
application of appropriate means. This does not mean that you
encourage the arisal of defiled states of mind. Rather, there is no
need for the deliberate act of 'abandoning' delusions; they are
automatically transcended with such awareness.3D
In Outer Tantra, the development and completion stages are practised separately; however, in Inner Tantra one meditates on these two
stages in union. Visualization of oneself in the form of a deity is generated as the inseparable nature of appearance and emptiness. One
rests in the vajra samadhi of the deity, the vajra dignity of onels own
pure nature. One then dissolves this appearance back into emptiness
, and rests in the pure awareness of the nature of mind. Dudjom
Rinpoche further explains that:
61
Dzogchen and PadmasambJuzva
... In fact, all three inner tantras are mutually pervasive, incorporating aspects of one another. A certain practice is classified as
Maha-, Anu- or Atiyoga in reference to what is emphasized or is
foremost in it. The prominent feature of a Mahayoga practice is the
development stage, that of Anuyoga is the completion stage, while
that of Atiyoga is the cultivation of the realization of the void
sphere of all things. Each of these practices .. however .. has development (Maha), completion (Anu) and Dzogchen (Ati) stages.31
Mahayoga, the first vehicle of Inner Tantra, focuses mainly on the
development stage, and emphasizes the clarity and precision of visualization as skilful means. The development stage consists of three
phases, known as 'the three samadhis'.
The practice of Mahayoga begins with meditation on emptiness, the
'samadhi of as-it-isness' (deshyin nyi kyi ting nge dzin) where all phenomena are realized as empty in their pure nature. This is the realization of absolute bodhicitta. From this state arise exuberant waves of
compassion in what is known as the 'samadhi of all-perceiving compassion' (kuntu nangwe ting nge dzin). This is the realization of relative bodhidtta. The union of these two is known as the samadhi of ,
cause (gyui ting nge dzin), in which state arises a �-syllable, from
which rays of light emerge, purifying the entire environment of samsara and the beings within it into the nature of emptiness. One's mind
becomes this seed-syllable, which in tum transforms into the pure
appearance of the deity. The mandala is seen as the palace of the deity.
The form of the deity is the indivisible appearance of skilful means
and wisdom. All experience is perceived as the retinue and activity of
the deity. As one realizes that all perceptions, sounds and thoughts are
the vajra-nature .. one rests in this state of vajra dignity.
'''To practise the Inner Tantra", says Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, "one
should realize that everything is primordially pure. Accordingly all
outer elements are not perceived as ordinary, but as the five female
buddhas. The five aggregates within the body are also not perceived
as ordinary, but as the five male buddhas. In the same way, the eight
consciousnesses as well as their eight objects are perceived as the eight
male and eight female bodhisattvas. In this way one will not only see
the purity of all phenomena, but one will also perceive the 'great
evenness of samsara and nirvana'. So samsara is not considered to be
something to be discarded and nirvana something to be achieved, but
62
The Nine Yanas
as the -'great union' of purity and evenness. Such a state is not something which has to be fabricated anew; it has been there since the very
beginning.
-'The essence of kyerim, or Mahayoga, is to recognize all appearances
as the deity, all sounds as the mantra, and all thoughts as the dharmakaya. This is the most profound path, through which one can actualize aU of the quali�ies of the body, speech, and mind of the Buddha."
A central figure in the transmission of the Mahayoga tantras was
King Dza, who was empowered with their understanding through
visions of Vajrasattva and Vajrapani. He received the oral transmission from the Vidyadhara Vimalakirti, who had been given the tantric
teachings by Vajrapani at Mount Malaya in Sri Lanka. The lineage
passed to the great siddha Kukkuraja, and then via Buddhaguhya to
Vimalamitra and Padmasambhava, who taught them to their Tibetan
disciples.
Mahayoga is divided into Tantra and Sadhana. There are eighteen
Tantras, the root tantra being the Guhyagarbhamayajalatantra (Dorje
Sempa Gyutrul Drawa Tsaw"'e Gyii Sangwa Nyingpo), the Tantra of the
Magical Net of Vajrasattva. The sadhanas are the Eight Great Mandalas of
Kagye (Drubpa Kagye), which appear in both Kama and Terma.32
Anuyoga focuses mainly on the completion stage, and emphasizes
the inner yoga of channels, winds, and energy (tsa lung tiklc.�).
Visualization of the deities is generated instantly, rather than through
a gradual process as in Mahayoga. In their relative appearam::e, all
phenomena are seen as the mandala of the male Primordial Buddha
Samantabhadra (Kuntuzangpo), the mandala of spontaneous accomplishment. In their absolute nature they are seen as the mandala of the
female Primordial Buddha Samantabhadri (Kuntllzangmo), the ma�
dala of primordial emptiness. To realize that all phenomena abide
equally, without separation or joining, in the union of these mandalas
is the realization of the mandala of great bliss, also known as the mandala of bodhicitta.
The Anuyoga tantras were also received by King Dza, from
Vajrasattva and Vimalakirti. He transmitted them to the siddha
Kukkuraja, and they then passed to Nubchen Sangye Yeshe who
taught them in Tibet. The tantras are classified as: four -'root tantras',
six -'branch tantras', and twelve -'rare tantras', and are exemplified by
the Sutra which Gathers All Intentions (Do Gongpa Diipa), the Dupa Do.
63
DzogcJren and Padmasambhil.va
Dzogchen Atiyoga
The ultimate source of the teachings of Atiyoga or Dzogchen is the
Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra. Whilst the root of Dzogchen is
the 6,400,000 verses or shlokas, the actual tantras are said to number
22,000. Dzogchen can be categorized into gyu, lung and rnengak. Gyii is
the tantras, lung (agama) the clarification of the tantras, and mengak
(upadesha) the experiential instruction given by the master.
The lineage of Dzogchen is traced from the dharmakaya
Samantabhadra to the sambhogakaya-the five buddha families and
Samantabhadra
Vajrasattva, who are Samantabhadra's own selfreflection. This is the mind direct transmission (gyalwa gong gyii). Vajrasattva appeared to the first
human master G arab Dorje, who was born in
Oddiyana, empowered him, and instructed him to
write down the Dzogchen tantras. The transmission
then passed to Mafijushrimitra, Shri Singha and
Jfianasutra through the sign transmission of the vidyadharas (rigdzin da
gyii), and was continued in Tibet by Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra,
and Vairochana. From Padmasambhava onwards is counted as the
oral transmission (gangzak nyen gyii).
The 6,400,000 verses of Dzogpachenpo were d ivided by
Mafijushrimitra into three categories or series: the category of Mind
(Semde), the category of Space (Longde), and the category of Secret or
Pith Instruction (Mengakde). Shri Singha further divided the
Mengakde into four cycles: outer, inner, secret, and innermost, unexcelled. The core of the Mengakde are the teachings of Nyingtik, 'Heart
Essence', and amongst the most important Nyingtik cycles are the
Virna Nyingtik, taught in Tibet by Vimalamitra; the Khandro Nyingtik,
taught in Tibet by Padmasambhava; and the Longchen Nyingtik, the
essence of the Dzogchen teachings of the great master Longchenpa,
revealed by Jigme Lingpa. Many practitioners of Nyingtik in Tibet
a ttained the rainbow body. The Semde and Longde were transmitted
in Tibet mainly by Vairochana and Vimalamitra, and the Mengakde
by Vimalamitra and Padmasambhava. The three categories are taught
to suit the capacities or disposition (khan1) of individual students. For
example, for someone who is more intellectually inclined or analytical, there is the teaching of Semde, and for a person who is drawn
more to nature and inclined towards simplicity, there is Longde.
64
The Nine Yanas
Mingyur Namkhi Dorje, the IVth Dzogche:n Rinpoche 33
The teachings which place more emphasis on the natural condition
of the mind (sem kyi ne I uk), were classed by Mafijushrimi tra as
Semde, the category of mind. There are twenty-one main tantras of
Semde, exemplified by the Kunje Gyalpo. Five were translated into
Tibetan by Vairochana, and thirteen translated later by Vimalamitra,
Nyak Jfianakumara and Yudra Nyingpo. Longde teachings are characterized as those that emphasize 'freedom from effort'. Chief
amongst the tantras of Longde is the Longchen Rabjam Gyalpo. In
Mengakde, which is superior to both Semde and Longde, there are
many texts, mainly the seventeen tantras of the Innennost Unexcelled
Cycle in the Nyingma Gyiibum; principal amongst these is the Root
Tantra, the Dra Thai Gyur Tsawe Gyu.34 In Mengakde, there are two
65
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
paths of training: Trekcho and Togal.35 Trekcho is translated as 'thoroughly cutting through' (resistance, stut>bornness, toughness, and
closedness), or 'breakthrough'. The practice of Trekcho reveals the
View of kadak trodral. Togal, translated as Jdirect crossing', 'the direct
approach' or 'leapover', can bring very quickly the actual realization
of the three kayas i!l this lifetime, and thus is a more rapid way of
bringing about the dissolution of the practitioner's karmic vision. The
practice of Togal brings the r�alization of Ihundrup, 'spontaneous presence', and it can only be undertaken by a practitioner who has first
gained stability in the practice of Kadak Trekcho. There is a saying:
"Trekcho trek rna cho na, togal to mi gal, .... which means: "If the practice of Trekcho is not accomplished, then the Togal cannot transcend."
The ground in Dzogchen therefore, is the indivisibility of kadak, primordial purity and 1hundrup, spontaneous presence. The path is the
practice of Trekcho, through which kadak is realized, and Togal,
through which lhundrup is realized. The fruition is to attain the buddha body (ku) and wisdom (yeshe).
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche outlines the whole path of Dzogchen:
The practice of Dzogchen or Atiyoga, is to realize the tathagatagarbha, or buddha-nature, which has been present in our nature
since the very beginning. Here it is not sufficient to concentrate on
contrived practices that involve intellectual efforts and concepts;
to recognize this nature, the practice should be utterly beyond
fabrication. The practice is simply to realize the radiance, the natural expression of wisdom, which is beyond all intellectual concepts. It is the true realization of the absolute nature just as it is,
the ultimate fruition.
At the present moment our awareness is entangled within our
mind, completely enveloped and obscured by mental activity.
Through the practice of Trekcho, or 'cutting through all attachment', and the 'direct realization' of Togal, one can unmask this
awareness and let its radiance arise.
To accomplish this it is necessary to do the practice of 'the four
ways of leaving things in their natural simplicity' (chokshyak)
and through these, to acquire perfect stability in the Trekcho practice. Then win come the 'four visions of Togal' which are the natural arising of visions of discs and rays of light, deities, and buddhafields. These visions are naturally ready to arise from within
66
The Nine Yanas
the central channel that joins the heart to the eyes. Such an ariSing
from this channel will appear in a gradual process. In the same
way that the waxing moon will increase from the first to the fifteenth of the month, these visions will gradually increase-from
the simple perception of dots of light to the full array of the vast
expanse of the sambhogakaya buddhafields. The manifestation of
space and awareness will thus reach its culminating point.
These experiences are not linked with consciousness or intellect
as the former experiences were; they are a true manifestation or
radiance of awareness. After this, in the same way that the moon
decreases and disappears from the fifteenth to the thirtieth of the
month, all of these experiences and visions, all phenomena, will
gradually come to exhaustion and reabsorb themselves in the
absolute. At this time the deluded mind which conceives subject
and object will disappear, and the primal wisdom, which is
beyond intellect, will gradually expand. Eventually one will
attain the perfect enlightenment of the Primordial Buddha,
Samantabhadra, endowed with the six extraordinary features.
This is the path intended for people of superior faculties who
can achieve enlightenment in this very lifetime. For those of medium faculties, there is instruction on how to achieve liberation
within the bardo or lintermediate state'. When we say �ardo', in
fact we recognize four bardos: the bardo from conception to
death; the bardo of the moment of death; the bardo of the absolute
nature; and the bardo of coming into the next existence.36 '
The bardo between conception and death is our present state. In
order to destroy all deluded perceptions or deluded thoughts in
this bardo, the ultimate practice is Dzogchen Atiyoga. In this there .
are the two main paths of Trekcho and Togal, as described above.
As the ultimate fruition of this practice, the ordinary body made
of gross aggregates will dissolve into the Irainbow body of great
transference' or 'vajra-body', or dissolve without leaving any
remnants.
But if one cannot achieve such ultimate attainment within a lifetime, then there is stilI the possibility of achieving enlightenment
at the time of death. If our teacher or a close dhanna brother is
near to us at the very moment of our death, he will remind us of
the instructions-the introduction to the nature of mind. If we can
recall our experience of practice and remain in this nature, then
67
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
H. H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
we achieve realization. It is then possible to depart to a buddhafield straightaway with no intermediate state. If this is not
accomplished, then the bardo of the absolute nature, or dharmata,
will arise. At this time the ground luminosity of the dharmakaya
will appear. If one can unite the ground luminosity (mother
luminosity) with the luminosity which one has recognized whilst
practising during one's lifetime (child luminosity), then one will
be liberated into the dharmakaya.
If one is not liberated at this time, then countless manifestations
will appear: sounds, lights, and rays. Great fear will arise because
of these emanations and visions, but if one is a good practitioner
one will realize that there is no point in being afraid. One will
68
The Nine Yanas
know that whatever deities appear, wrathful or peaceful, they are
one's own projections. The recognition of this assures liberation in
a sambhogakaya buddhafield. But if this is not accomplished,
then the bardo of coming into a new existence will occur. If one
practises in the right way at this time one can be liberated into a
nirmanakaya buddhafield.
In essence, the primordial nature of the Buddha Samantabhadra
is like the ground or mother-nature of reaHzation. The nature
which has been introduced to us by the teacher is like the childnature. When these two meet, one will attain full realization and
seize the fortress of enlightenment.
For ordinary beings unable to achieve liberation either in this
life or in the intermediate state, liberation can be attained in the
ninnanakaya buddhafields.
In brief, through the practice of the path of Trekcho and Togal,
one will reach the ultimate realization of the dhannakaya, the
enlightened state of the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra,
within this very lifetime. This is the best case. If not, then one can
be freed in the other three bardos: the bard os of the moment of
death, dharmata, and becoming. Even if this does not happen, one
can stilI be relieved of suffering and be liberated by the virtues or
blessings of the Dzogchen teachings. Whoever has a connection
with these teachings is: liberated by sight, on seeing the teaching
or the teacher; liberated through hearing, on hearing the teacher
or teaching; liberated through contact, on wearing the precious
mantras and scriptures of Dzogchen; or liberated through taste,
and so forth. As a resul t, one will be liberated into one of the five
ninnanakaya buddhafields."37
Dzogchen and the Other Yanas
From the perspective of the Dzogchen teachings, the paths included
within the system of nine yanas can be summarized into three: renunciation, purification, and transforma tion. The paths of Sutra are
known altogether as paths of renunciation, and work primarily on the
level of body, or ninnanakaya. Tantra works primarily with energy or
speech, the level of sambhogakaya. It is divided into paths of purification, the two Outer Tantras of Kriya and Upa, and transformation,
which begins with Yogatantra and includes Mahayoga and Anuyoga
69
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
in the Inner Tantra. Dzogchen itself is the path of self-liberation, and
works at the level of mind, or dhannakaya.
The path of renunciation relies on reasoning to establish the meaning
of ultimate truth, and on the practices of shamatha and vipashyana to
gradually develop insight. Renunciation means
'
that there is adoption
or rejection of states of mind, such that positive states are cultivated
and negative states are countered with antidotes. In the path of purification the negative is purified rather than rejected, revealing its primordially pure nature. Purification prepares one to receive the blessing of the wisdom being, through which the entrance of purity into
oneself is effected. In the path of transformation one uses the energy of
negative states as an aid to transform them into their enlightened
aspects. Here neither is negativity abandoned, nor is it purified, for its
nature is already pure, the realization which comes through the transformation of oneself and one's environment into the appearance of a
deity and mandala.
Self-liberation means that whatever manifests in the field of experience is allowed to arise just as it is, abiding by the unaltered state of
Rigpa. Without clinging, without att�chment, without effort, whatever arises spontaneously liberates itself. Relative appearances are naturally freed in themselves, where they arise, and thus, there is no need
for renunciation. Since this primordial state cannot be stained by relative appearances, there is nothing to be purified. Since appearances
are already pure, there is no need to transform the relative into pure
perception through visualization. Thus, Dzogchen encompasses and
transcends the paths of renunciation, purification, and transformation. Jigme Ungpa speaks of the path of Dzogpachenpo:
This is the path taken by the buddhas of the past, the practice of all
future buddhas, and the one path which all the present buddhas
tread. The peak of everything, it is not touched by the views of the
eight pure vehicles, which rely upon the mind as the path.
For Dzogpachenpo, which transcends the mind, relies upon Rigpa
as its ultimate vehicle.
To illustrate the differences in method taught in the various yanas,
Dudjom Rinpoche always used to recount the story of the poisonous
plant. The plant is a symbol for emotional defilements or negativity. A
70
The Nine YaMs
group of people discover that a poisonous plant is growing in their
backyard. They begin to panic, as they recognize that this is very dangerous. So they try to cut down the plant. This is the approach of
renunciation, which is taught in Hinayana as the method to eradicate
the ego and the negative emotions. Another group of people arrive,
and, realizing that the plant is dangerous, but that simply cutting it
. down will not be sufficient since its roots remain to sprout anew, they
throw hot ash or boiling water over the roots to prevent the plant from
ever growing again. This is the approach of the Mahayana, which
applies the realization of emptiness as the antidote to ignorance, the
root of ego and negativity. The next group of people to appear on the
scene are doctors, and when they see this poison they are not alarmed;
on the contrary, they are very pleased, since they have been looking
for this particular poison. They know how to transfonn the poison
into medicine rather than destroying it. This is the tantric approach of
the Vajrayana, which does not abandon the negative emotions, but
through the power of transformation uses their energy as a vehicle to
bring realization.
Finally, a peacock lands, and dances with joy when it sees the poison. It immediately consumes the poisonous plant and turns it into
beauty. It is a TIbetan belief that the peacock owes its beauty to the fact
that it eats a particular species of poisonous plant. The very nature of
the peacock is such that it can actually consume poison, and thrives on
iti hence it does not have to transform the poison, but eats it directly.
The peacock represents Dzogchen, the path of self-liberation, the
fruition and essence of all the nine yanas.
71
Guru Rinpoche
A "Looks Like Me" image made by Vairochana
72
THE ANCIENT TRANSMISSION
OF THE NYINGMAPAS
The Nyingma teachings are divided into the long transmission (ring
gyii) of Kama and the short transmission (nye gyii) of Terma; other
teachings were received by masters directly in pure visions (dag rulng)
from deities or gurus, in experiences or in dreams.
The Kama, or canonical teachings, have been transmitted in an
unbroken lineage from the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra down
to the present day. E arlier on they were maintained in Tibet by
Padmasatnbhava's disciples Nyak Jnanakumara and Nubchen Sangye
Yeshe, and later (from the eleventh century onwards) by the masters of
the Zur family. There developed two kama lineages in Tibet, the Rong
lineage of Central Tibet and the Kham lineage of Eastern Tibet, which
were brought together by Terdak Lingpa (1646-1714) in the late seventeenth century. The kama teachings collected by Terdak Lingpa and his
brother Lochen Dharmashri (1654-1717/8) were later expanded in the
monasteries of Dzogchen and Palyul, and finally published in forty
volumes by H. H. Dudjom Rinpoche.
The three Inner Tantras are categorized in the kama tradition under
three headings: Do Gyu Sem (sutra, maya and mind). These refer to the
Anuyoga Do Gongpa Dupa, the Mahayoga Gyii Sangwa Nyingpo, and
the mind class, Semde , of Atiyoga.
Terma are teachings concealed mainly by Padmasambhava and
Yeshe Tsogyal, to be revealed at the time most appropriate for their
discovery by treasure revealers (tertons), a continuing series of emanations of Padmasambhava and his twenty-five diSciples. Many of
these ter were collected by Jamgon Kongttul and Jamyang Khyentse
Wangpo into more than sixty volumes, the Rinchen Terdzo, Precious
Treasury of Terma. Termas can be divided into earth tennas (sa ter),
which employ physical objects, and mind termas (gong ter), discovered within the mindstream of the terton.
In addition to the three transmissions mentioned above (mind
direct, sign and oral}, three special terma transmissions also exist:
authorization through prophesy, empowerment through aspiration,
73
Dzogchen and Padmasambhava
and entrustment to the dakinis. Tercho literature can be in three parts:
Lama, Dzogchen and Tukje Chenpo (La dzog tuk sum), i.e. the peaceful and wrathful sadhanas on the guru, teachings on Dzogchen and
sadhana cycle on Avalokiteshvara. Another division is into Kagye,
Gongdii, and Phurba.
Examples of gongter are: the Seven Treasuries of Longchenpa