Dzogchen

Prologue In Sanskrit, (this text) is called Dharma-chatur-ratna-mala. In Tibetan, it is called Chos-bzhi rin-po-che’i ‘phreng-ba. [In English, it is called A Precious Garland for the Four Themes (of Gampopa).] I prostrate to all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. (1) With a crown...

[For background, see: The Tibetan Buddhist and Bon Traditions: A Comparison] The Need for Dzogchen Dzogchen (rdzogs-chen, the great completeness) is an advanced system of Mahayana practice that brings enlightenment. It is found primarily in the Nyingma and Bon traditions, but...

Introduction Dzogchen (rdzogs-chen), the great completeness, is a Mahayana system of practice leading to enlightenment and involves a view of reality, way of meditating, and way of behaving (lta-sgom-spyod gsum). It is found earliest in the Nyingma and Bon (pre-Buddhist)...

[As background, see Dzogchen in Comparison with Other Buddhist Systems. See also: The Major Facets of Dzogchen] What is Mind? The four facts of life (four noble truths) may be formulated in terms of mind, which means in terms of an individual being’s experiencing of them: The...

The Different Lineages of Mahamudra In general, we could gain a decisive understanding of voidness with respect to any basis characterized by voidness, or having voidness as its nature, such as a vase. There is no difference in the abiding devoid nature itself of a vase or...

Realizing the Voidness of Mind Itself Once we have gained conviction in the lack of true and inherent identity on the basis of our own "self," we turn to the basis of other persons or individuals and then to the massive network of all other phenomena. We examine voidness...

The Authenticity of the Traditions of the Dohas and Dzogchen In the root text, the Fourth Panchen Lama states that the explanation of anuttarayoga tantra's complete stage level of mahamudra practice is in accordance with "The Seven Texts of the Mahasiddhas and The Three Core...

Different Presentations of the Four Types of Seals The text continues now with the next point in the outline, the actual methods of mahamudra. Although mahamudra practice can be explained in many ways, it divides it into two: the sutra and tantra levels of mahamudra methods....

Review We have been speaking about self- and other-voidness. We saw that self-voidness is a voidness or a total absence of impossible ways of existing, and we’ve seen that it’s very important to understand that fully, non-conceptually, because the habits of our unawareness of...