Next weekend Lama Lena will be leading a Dzogchen retreat. I know some of you may not be familiar with Dzogchen, so today I thought I would give a very basic explanation, but to learn more I encourage you to attend Lama Lena’s teachings next weekend. Even if it is something you don’t understand or you think it is beyond your capability - even so, I would encourage you to attend because you don’t know what kind of seeds may germinate in you in the future as a result of these teachings. This is such an incredible opportunity to connect with these amazing teachings - so you should come to find out more about what it is about.

Unless you come and make a karmic connection with these precious teachings you will never know if these teachings may help you and further your progress along the spiritual path.

The term Dzogchen or Ati Yoga translated means “great perfection” and are considered the highest tantric teachings of the Vajrayana. It is said by many senior Tibetan Rinpoches that Dzogchen is “the teaching for our time” because it is a profound, naked awareness practice applicable to any circumstance or situation, and easily integrated into modern life. It transcends Buddhism and culture; people of other religions practice these teachings, because it transcends even religious traditions.

History:

It is said the origin of Dzogchen was from Samantabhadra (primodial Buddha) in the aspect of Dharmakaya beyond space & time. It was directly transmitted to Vajrasattva in the aspect of the Sambhogakaya and through him came down to Garab Dorje (55 C.E.) in the Nirmanakaya. It is said that Garab Dorje wrote this teaching down for the first time in 6.4 million verses which he left to his disciples.

It is said later Padmasambhava received these teachings from the Dakinis. He then brought them to Tibet in the 8th century. In the 14th century Longchenpa synthesized Dzogchen into a unified system, later Jigme Lingpa in the 18th century condensed the system into what it is today.

In the Buddhist teachings, it is said that it takes many many lifetimes to achieve enlightenment. Whereas the Vajrayana (TIbetan Buddhism) is considered the quick path and it is said one can achieve enlightenment in only one lifetime. However, the practice of Dzogchen (it is said) is so powerful that one can achieve enlightenment in as little as one decade. But don’t confuse that to mean that it is easy - it is not. It requires much effort and practice.

So what exactly is Dzogchen?

Like the Buddhist concept of shunyata (emptiness), It is easier to say what Dzogchen is not….

What it is not:

  • It is not simply another teaching.

  • It is not even a practice.

  • It is not a philosophy.

  • It is not another elaborate system.

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche describes it this way:

“Just as a cloud originates from an empty sky, so all concepts and thoughts arise in our inner space, then vanish back into its emptiness. We have to try to understand ourselves, our true condition, to see that all our concepts and problems arise there, abide there, and disappear there. Discovering this condition is finding the primordial state. But in order to understand our condition we have to go beyond concepts and thoughts. Our original condition is thoughtless, and thought cannot touch what is beyond thought. There can be explanation in words to introduce the state, but the explanation is not realization of the state. Dzogchen is direct understanding, without thought, and not distracted by thought. Each individual must look within to discover the origin of thoughts. Then, when one has had the experience of this discovery, the master can introduce and explain the state since the student has already had the experience. The master does not introduce his own concepts to the student, but confirms and explains what the student has discovered - thoughts arise from emptiness, which is the true condition of the individual. Each individual has this basic condition, which is Buddhahood. It is not something one receives or gets from outside. This is the true condition of the individual.”

So Dzogchen then is recognizing the nature of one’s own mind - which is:

  • the state of primordial wisdom

  • the state of total awakening

  • the heart essense of all the buddhas

  • the summit of an individual’s spiritual evolution

  • the mind, of self existing intelligence, which is pure and undefiled

The Dzogchen teachings then are like a mirror that reflects the ground of our original nature - which is Buddhahood. Dzogchen is recognizing the nature of one’s own mind.

An integral part of the teachings are what as referred to as the “three words that strike the crucial point.” These are, view (glimpse) , path (practice) and fruition (result)

  1. View: To recognize one’s own nature.

  2. Path: To commit to resting in that nature

  3. Fruition: To gain confidence in liberation; to sustain that awareness.

Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of every sentient being, including every human being. Our ultimate nature is said to be pure, self-existing, all-encompassing awareness.

Lama Lena will give the pith instructions on these three words. So, if you want to learn more I again encourage you to attend the teachings and retreat next weekend. This is a rare opportunity to hear these precious teachings from an authentic teacher. You never know what karmic seeds will be sowed that may germinate later.