Dzogchen

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Topic: Dzogchen

Books

Book
Approaching the Great Perfection
A study and translation of ten Dzogchen texts from Jigme Lingpa's Longchen Nyingtik revelations.
Schaik, Sam van. Approaching the Great Perfection: Simultaneous and Gradual Approaches to Dzogchen Practice in Jigme Lingpa's Longchen Nyingtig. Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2004.
Book
Buddhahood Without Meditation
Buddhahood Without Meditation, widely known by its subtitle, Nang-jang (Refining Apparent Phenomena), presents the view of the Great Perfection through the approach known as t'hreg-chhod (cutting through solidity). It is a direct transmission so powerful that just hearing it read aloud ensures that the listener will escape the suffering of cyclic existence. The nineteenth-century master Dudjom Lingpa received these teachings in visionary dialogue with fourteen enlightened beings, including Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani, Longchenpa, and Saraha.

The Dudjom lineage, based on the terma, or hidden treasures, revealed by Dudjom Lingpa and his immediate rebirth, His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche (1904–1987), late head of the Nyingma school of Buddhism, is one of the principal modern lineages of Dzogchen transmission.

This new paperback edition includes the Tibetan text as edited by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche and features an expanded glossary that incorporates equivalent English terms of present-day teachers and translators of Dzogchen. (Source: Back Cover)
Barron, Richard, and Susanne Fairclough, trans. Buddhahood Without Meditation: A Visionary Account Known as Refining One's Perception (Nang-jang). By Dudjom Lingpa (bdud 'joms gling pa). Junction City, CA: Padma Publishing, 2006. Reprint of revised edition, 2002. First edition 1994.
Book
Carefree Dignity
In this book I will outline ground, path and fruition in the hope of helping you gain some understanding about your basic nature, your own mind. This nature of mind is always present, and it can be called different names: the natural state, the basic nature, the real condition, the enlightened essence, or buddha-nature. This basic nature is what is meant by ground.
      Path is a state of confusion which is not recognizing this ground, our basic state, to be as it is. Conceptual mind and time are both present during the path. But when your mind is pure, free of these, that is called fruition, and that is what is to be attained. To reiterate, confusion is called path. This confusion can be cleared up. There are three methods to clarify confusion: view, meditation and conduct. By means of the view, meditation and conduct we reveal what is already present. Slowly and gradually, we uncover more and more of the basic state. This process is what I will try to explain. (Tsoknyi Rinpoche, chapter 1, 20–21)
Tsoknyi Rinpoche. Carefree Dignity: Discourses on Training in the Nature of Mind by Drubwang Tsoknyi Rinpoche. Compiled and translated by Erik Pema Kunsang and Marcia Binder Schmidt. Edited by Kerry Moran. Hong Kong: Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1998. https://archive.org/details/carefreedignitydiscoursesontraininginthenatureofmindbytsoknyirinpocheed.keerrymoranrupaco._107_f.
Book
Dusting Off Your Buddha Nature
Dusting Off Your Buddha Nature derives principally from a series of Dharma teachings given in Italy on the Dzogchen Namchö Cycle of Ngöndro, known as "Buddha in the Palm of Your Hand." As taught in the Palyul lineage of the Nyingma sect of Tibetan Buddhism, these teachings include the Ten Steps to Buddhahood, the Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind Toward Dharma, the Four Uncommon Preliminary Practices of Refuge/Bodhicitta, Mandala, Vajrasattva, and Guru Yoga, as well as the supplemental practices of Phowa and Kusali Chod. The work culminates in a teaching on the dangers of skipping these preliminary practices, lest the Vajrayana practitioner misconstrue the higher teachings of Dzogchen and inadvertently "turn the medicine into poison." The key to understanding the higher teachings, explains Khenpo Norgay, is to "dust off" your Buddha Nature through these purification practices. As a bonus, a guided practice of the long Guru Yoga is appended for those new to Palyul practices. (Source: Back Cover)
Norgay, Tenzin. Dusting Off Your Buddha Nature: The Purpose of the Dzogchen Preliminaries. Pensacola, FL: Reallusion Productions, 2014.
Book
Entering the Way of the Great Vehicle
Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo wrote this treatise in the eleventh century during the renaissance of Buddhism in Tibet that was spurred by the influx of new translations of Indian Buddhist texts, tantras, and esoteric transmissions from India. For political and religious reasons, adherents of the “new schools” of Tibetan Buddhism fostered by these new translations cast the older tradition of lineages and transmissions as impure and decadent. Rongzompa composed the work translated here in order to clearly and definitively articulate how Dzogchen was very much in line with the wide variety of sutric and tantric teachings espoused by all the Tibetan schools. Using the kinds of philosophic and linguistic analyses favored by the new schools, he demonstrates that the Great Perfection is indeed the culmination and maturation of the Mahāyāna, the Great Vehicle. The central topic of the work is the notion of illusory appearance, for when one realizes deeply that all appearances are illusory, one realizes also that all appearances are in that respect equal. The realization of the equality of all phenomena is said to be the Great Perfection approach to the path, which frees one from both grasping at and rejecting appearances. However, for those unable to remain effortlessly within the natural state, in the final chapter Rongzompa also describes how paths with effort are included in the Great Perfection approach. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Sur, Dominic, trans. Entering the Way of the Great Vehicle: Dzogchen as the Culmination of the Mahāyāna. By Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo (rong zom chos kyi bzang po). Boulder, CO: Snow Lion Publications, 2017.
Book
Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind
Longchenpa’s classic Buddhist manual for attaining liberation teaches us how to familiarize ourselves with our most basic nature—the clear, pristine, and aware mind. Written in the fourteenth century, this text is the first volume of Longchenpa’s Trilogy of Rest, a work of the Tibetan Dzogchen tradition. This profound and comprehensive presentation of the Buddhist view and path combines the scholastic expository method with direct pith instructions designed for yogi practitioners.

This first part of the Trilogy of Rest sets the foundation for the following two volumes: Finding Rest in Meditation, which focuses on Tibetan Buddhist meditation practice, and Finding Rest in Illusion, which focuses on post-meditation yogic conduct. The Padmakara Translation Group has provided us with a clear and fluid new translation to Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind along with selections from its autocommentary, The Great Chariot, which will serve as a genuine aid to study and meditation.

Here, we find essential instructions on the need to turn away from materialism, how to find a qualified guide, how to develop boundless compassion for all beings, along with the view of tantra and associated meditation techniques. The work culminates with pointing out the result of practice as presented from the Dzogchen perspective, providing us with all the tools necessary to traverse the Tibetan Buddhist path of finding rest.

Shambhala Publications
Fletcher, Wulstan, and Helena Blankleder (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind. Volume 1 of The Trilogy of Rest. By Longchenpa (klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer). Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2017.
Book
From Reductionism to Creativity
Writing in the language of the new sciences, Herbert Guenther traces the evolution of Buddhist views on cognition and points to their relevance in the contemporary world. The history of Buddhist thought is a unique example of the interplay between reductionism and creativity, between conservatism and innovation, and it is the author's purpose to examine the interaction between these complementary movements. Of decisive importance in this context is the idea of "mind," which Buddhism recognized early on as a process rather than a thing. This recognition marked the transition from structure-oriented thinking to a vigorous process-oriented thinking, which climaxed in the holistic movement known as rDzogs-chen. Based on original texts in the Pali, Tibetan, and Sanskrit languages, the book develops the Buddhist ideas out of the context in which they originated. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Guenther, Herbert V. From Reductionism to Creativity: rDzogs-chen and the New Sciences of Mind. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1989.
Book
Jamgön Mipam: His Life and Teachings
Jamgön Mipam (1846-1912) is one of the most extraordinary figures in the history of Tibet. Monk, mystic, and brilliant philosopher, he shaped the trajectory of Tibetan Buddhism's Nyingma school. This introduction provides a most concise entrée to this great luminary's life and work. The first section gives a general context for understanding Mipam's life. Part Two gives an overview of Mipam's interpretation of Buddhism, examining his major themes, and devoting particular attention to his articulation of the Buddhist conception of emptiness. Part Three presents a representative sampling of Mipam's writings. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Duckworth, Douglas S. Jamgön Mipham: His Life and Teachings. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2011.
Book
Lion of Speech
A traditional biography on the life of Mipham Rinpoche—one of the greatest 19th-century masters—from Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche—one of the greatest 20th–century masters.

Lion of Speech: The Life of Mipham Rinpoche offers a translation of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche’s biography of Mipham Rinpoche, left behind in Tibet when Khyentse Rinpoche went into exile in 1959 and lost for eighty years before its discovery by an extraordinary stroke of good fortune. The biography is written as a traditional namthar, an account of the “life and liberation” of a man who is widely considered to be among the greatest scholars and accomplished masters in the history of Tibetan Buddhism. One of the striking features of Khyentse Rinpoche’s account is that it downplays the “miraculous” aspects of Mipham’s life and activities—perhaps as a means of bringing into sharper focus the effect that Mipham had on his contemporaries as a spiritual master, scholar, and teacher.

The second half of the book offers selected translations of Mipham Rinpoche’s works that provide readers with a taste of his enormous and extremely varied output. The translations are from his works on Madhyamaka, buddha-nature, tantra, and the Great Perfection. Some are new translations and some are striking passages from works that have already been published, including passages from Guide to the Wheel of Analytical Meditation, The Adornment of the Middle Way, The Wisdom Chapter, The Lion’s Roar, and White Lotus. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Fletcher, Wulstan, and Helena Blankleder (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. Lion of Speech: The Life of Mipham Rinpoche. By Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2020.
Book
Mind in Comfort and Ease
The Dalai Lama delves deep into the teaching of the Great Perfection, or Dzogchen. His enthusiasm and admiration for this profound tradition shine through as he comments on an important work by the great Dzogchen master Longchen Rabjam, Finding Comfort and Ease in Meditation on the Great Perfection. This teaching, with its remarkable breadth and richness, was originally given to an audience of ten thousand in France in 2000, and this book perfectly captures the majesty of the occasion. As Sogyal Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama’s host for the occasion, said, "All of us were moved by the depth, relevance, and accessibility of these teachings; there were those who said that they were among the most remarkable they had ever heard him give. To receive these teachings from him was the opportunity of a lifetime." (Source: Wisdom Publications)
Dalai Lama, 14th. Mind in Comfort in Ease: The Vision of Enlightenment in the Great Perfection. Translated by Matthieu Ricard, Richard Barron, and Adam Pearcey. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2007.
Book
Mipam on Buddha-Nature
A comprehensive overview of Tibetan Buddhist thinker Mipam’s work on emptiness and Buddha-nature.



Mipam ( 'ju mi pham rgya mtsho, 1846–1912) is one of the most prolific thinkers in the history of Tibet and is a key figure in the Nyingma tradition of Buddhism. His works continue to be widely studied in the Tibetan cultural region and beyond. This book provides an in-depth account of Mipam’s view, drawing on a wide range of his works and offering several new translations. Douglas S. Duckworth shows how a dialectic of presence and absence permeates Mipam’s writings on the Middle Way and Buddha-nature.

Arguably the most important doctrine in Buddhism, Buddha-nature is, for Mipam, equivalent to the true meaning of emptiness; it is the ground of all and the common ground shared by sentient beings and Buddhas. This ground is the foundation of the path and inseparable from the goal of Buddhahood. Duckworth probes deeply into Mipam’s writings on Buddha-nature to illuminate its central place in a dynamic Buddhist philosophy. (Source: SUNY Press)
Duckworth, Douglas S. Mipam on Buddha-Nature: The Ground of the Nyingma Tradition. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2008. http://promienie.net/images/dharma/books/mipham_buddha-nature.pdf.
Book
Mipham's Beacon of Certainty
For centuries, Dzogchen—a special meditative practice to achieve spontaneous enlightenment—has been misinterpreted by both critics and malinformed meditators as being purely mystical and anti-rational. In the grand spirit of Buddhist debate, 19th century Buddhist philosopher Mipham wrote Beacon of Certainty, a compelling defense of Dzogchen philosophy that employs the very logic it was criticized as lacking. Through lucid and accessible textural translation and penetrating analysis, Pettit presents Mipham as one of Tibet's greatest thinkers. (Source: Wisdom Publications)
Pettit, John W. Mipham's Beacon of Certainty: Illuminating the View of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1999.
Book
Natural Great Perfection (1995)
Dzogchen is the consummate practice of Tibetan Buddhism. A pure awareness practice applicable to any circumstance and readily integrated into modern life, Dzogchen directly introduces us to the inherent freedom, purity, and perfection of being that is our true nature. Natural Great Perfection is an inspiring collection of teachings providing the deepest possible insight into the practice of the Dzogchen path. The teachings are followed by a collection of spontaneous vajra songs composed in the tradition of Milarepa as the delightful play of wisdom consciousness. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Nyoshul Khenpo and Lama Surya Das. Natural Great Perfection: Dzogchen Teachings and Vajra Songs. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1995.
Book
Refining Our Perception of Reality
Dakini Sukha Vajra, widely known as Sera Khandro, wrote this commentary of an account by the great Dudjom Lingpa of visions he had of enlightened beings and the teachings he received from them regarding our perception of reality.

This book contains four Tibetan texts in translation. First, The Excellent Path to Liberation explains how to give our attention to the teachings, and how to ground our spiritual practice in harmonious relationships with others and the world at large. Second, Dudjom Lingpa’s account of his visionary journey, Enlightenment without Meditation, teaches by example that as practitioners we should ask ourselves sincere questions concerning our perception of reality, and that we should not be content with superficial answers.

In the third book, Sera Khandro’s commentary, she presents Dudjom Lingpa’s work within two frameworks. She first clarifies the view on which the spiritual path is founded, the path of meditation; the ensuing conduct that reflects and enriches meditative experience; and the path’s result—awakening and enlightenment. Next she illuminates the subtleties of the great perfection view, the four tantric bonds: nonexistence, a single nature, pervasive insubstantial evenness, and spontaneous presence.

Source: Shambhala Publications
Zangpo, Ngawang (Hugh Leslie Thompson), trans. Refining Our Perception of Reality: Sera Khandro's Commentary on Dudjom Lingpa's Account of His Visionary Journey. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, 2013.
Book
Saṃsāra, Nirvāṇa, and Buddha Nature
This is the third volume in the Dalai Lama’s definitive and comprehensive series on the stages of the Buddhist path.
Dalai Lama, 14th, and Thubten Chodron. Saṃsāra, Nirvāṇa, and Buddha Nature. Library of Wisdom and Compassion 3. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2018.
Book
The Life of Shabkar (2001)
The Life of Shabkar has long been recognized by Tibetans as one of the masterworks of their religious heritage. Shabkar Tsogdruk Rangdrol devoted himself to many years of meditation in solitary retreat after his inspired youth and early training in the province of Amdo under the guidance of several extraordinary Buddhist masters. With determination and courage, he mastered the highest and most esoteric practices of the Tibetan tradition of the Great Perfection. He then wandered far and wide over the Himalayan region expressing his realization. Shabkar's autobiography vividly reflects the values and visionary imagery of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as the social and cultural life of early nineteenth-century Tibet. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Ricard, Matthieu, Jakob Leschly, Erik Schmidt, Marilyn Silverstone, and Lodrö Palmo, trans. The Life of Shabkar: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin. By Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol (zhabs dkar tshogs drug rang grol). Edited by Constance Wilkinson, with Michal Abrams and other members of the Padmakara Translation Group. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2001.
Book
The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet
This book brings together perspectives of leading international Tibetan studies scholars on the subject of zhentong or “other-emptiness.” Defined as the emptiness of everything other than the continuous luminous awareness that is one’s own enlightened nature, this distinctive philosophical and contemplative presentation of emptiness is quite different from rangtong—emptiness that lacks independent existence, which has had a strong influence on the dissemination of Buddhist philosophy in the West. Important topics are addressed, including the history, literature, and philosophy of emptiness that have contributed to zhentong thinking in Tibet from the thirteenth century until today. The contributors examine a wide range of views on zhentong from each of the major orders of Tibetan Buddhism, highlighting the key Tibetan thinkers in the zhentong philosophical tradition. Also discussed are the early formulations of buddhanature, interpretations of cosmic time, polemical debates about emptiness in Tibet, the zhentong view of contemplation, and creative innovations of thought in Tibetan Buddhism. Highly accessible and informative, this book can be used as a scholarly resource as well as a textbook for teaching graduate and undergraduate courses on Buddhist philosophy. (Source: SUNY Press)
Sheehy, Michael R., and Klaus-Dieter Mathes, eds. The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2019.
Book
The Philosophical Foundations of Classical rDzogs Chen in Tibet
An updated book version of David Higgins' dissertation on the presentations of the disparities between dualistic mind (sems) as opposed to primordial knowing (ye shes) and dharmakāya as opposed to the ‘ground of all’ (kun gzhi) conditioned experience, and so forth, in 8th-14th century Nyingma Dzogchen literature.
Higgins, David. The Philosophical Foundations of Classical rDzogs chen in Tibet: Investigating the Distinction between Dualistic Mind (sems) and Primordial Knowing (ye shes). Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien, Universität Wien, 2013.
Book
Treasury of Precious Qualities: Book One (2010)
This book is a translation of the first part of Jigme Lingpa's Treasury of Precious Qualities, which in a slender volume of elegant verses sets out briefly but comprehensively the Buddhist path according to the Nyingma school. The concision of the root text and its use of elaborate poetic language, rich in metaphor, require extensive explanation, amply supplied here by the commentary of Kangyur Rinpoche. The present volume lays out the teachings of the sutras in gradual stages according to the traditional three levels, or scopes, of spiritual endeavor. It begins with essential teachings on impermanence, karma, and ethics. Then, from the Hinayana standpoint, it describes the essential Buddhist teachings of the four noble truths and the twelve links of dependent arising. Moving on, finally, to the Mahayana perspective, it expounds fully the teachings on bodhichitta and the path of the six paramitas, and gives an unusually detailed exposition of Buddhist vows. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Fletcher, Wulstan, and Helena Blankleder (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. Treasury of Precious Qualities: The Rain of Joy; Book One. By Jigme Lingpa ('jigs med gling pa). With The Quintessence of the Three Paths, a commentary by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche (klong chen ye shes rdo rje, bka' 'gyur rin po che). Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2010.
Book
Treasury of Precious Qualities: Book Two
This second and concluding volume of Jigme Lingpa’s classic Treasury of Precious Qualities is presented together with a detailed commentary by Kangyur Rinpoche. Composed in the form of a lamrim, or presentation of the stages of the path, the first volume set out the teachings of the sutras. The present volume continues this same structure and is a general description of the tantra teachings followed by an exposition of the Great Perfection, which in the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism is regarded as the summit of all vehicles and the final stage of the path of spiritual training. The section on the tantras is a compendious presentation of all important issues: lineage, empowerment, the generation and perfection stages, and samaya. The section on the Great Perfection is arranged according to the classification of Ground, Path, and Result and gives an extremely clear introduction to the doctrinal background that underpins the practice of this unique system. (Source Accessed Nov 9, 2020)
Fletcher, Wulstan, and Helena Blankleder (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. Treasury of Precious Qualities: The Rain of Joy; Book Two: Vajrayana and the Great Perfection. By Jigme Lingpa ('jigs med gling pa). With The Quintessence of the Three Paths, a commentary by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche (klong chen ye shes rdo rje, bka' 'gyur rin po che). Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2013.

Articles

Article
A Luminous Transcendence of Views: The Thirty Apophatic Topics in dPal dbyangs's Thugs kyi sgron ma
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:

The constructed nostalgia of the later Great Perfection, or rDzogs chen, tradition gazes backward temporally and geographically toward eighth-century India, reminiscing an era in which the subcontinent is thought to have served as generous benefactor of Dharma gifts to the fledging Buddhist empire of Tibet. Insistence on the familiar Buddhist requirements for true transmission—authenticity and legitimacy founded in lineage and longevity—certainly inspired many of its textual "revelations" beginning in the eleventh century. Many of those nostalgic constructions of rNying ma history have been well documented by modern scholars.
      It would be rash to assert, however, that despite all those imaginings, there were no historical primordia of the Great Perfection in the preceding centuries. The textual roots of the Mind Series (sems sde) texts are testament to these early stirrings, as are the Dunhuang manuscripts identified by Sam van Schaik as expressing a form of “Tibetan Zen.”[1] A third seed was planted via the Tibetan Mahāyoga tantra tradition, and within it, germinations of Great Perfection gnoseology, observable prominently in the ninth-century works of dPal dbyangs, who in some colophons and later histories is designated gNyan dPal dbyangs. His works include six canonical verse texts retrospectively entitled sGron ma drug, or Six Lamps,[2] and the rDo rje sems dpa’ zhus lan (Vajrasattva Questions and Answers) catechism found at Dunhuang in three manuscript copies. I have discussed these texts and their most likely Indian inspirations elsewhere. Here, I highlight a particular text within the Six Lamps, his Thugs kyi sgron ma (Lamp of the Mind), as intending to establish, quite early on, a standard set of topics we see well developed in systemizations of the early Great Perfection tradition a few centuries later, and perhaps even before that, in Mind Series texts such as those attributed to Mañjuśrīmitra like the Byang chub kyi sems rdo la gser zhun and the Byang chub sems bsgom pa.[3]
      Of all dPal dbyangs’s texts, the Thugs kyi sgron ma is the ideological, linguistic, and practical hinge to his Mayājāla corpus as a whole, linking the other five of the Six Lamps texts and providing convincing evidence for accepting those Six Lamps as a collection, as well as offering insight to the later interpretations of his catechism. The Thugs kyi sgron ma displays dPal dbyangs’s full range of presentation. It includes, on the one hand, dPal dbyangs’s direct recommendations to Mahāyoga tantra, and on the other hand, his depictions of the realization of reality as utterly unstructured, unmediated, and transcendent of any dichotomization or reification, using the apophatic language sprinkled throughout the rest of the Six Lamps texts. Thus, by emphasizing these two elements—the transgressive and the transcendent—within a single text, the Thugs kyi sgron ma may have served as a valuable field guide to early Tibetan Mahāyoga and at least to some degree as a useful strategic plan for the cultivation of something more sustainable and vibrant on Tibetan soil, the Great Perfection. As I hope to show, dPal dbyangs’s very deliberate indexing of these topics appears to have been intended to standardize them as interpretive categories even while undercutting the value of reliance upon them as such, redefining Mahāyoga tantra as it found its earliest shape in Tibet. (Takahashi, introductory remarks, 159–60)

Notes

1. Sam van Schaik, “The Early Days of the Great Perfection,” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 27.1: 167 and 201.
2. The Six Lamps texts are as follows: The Lamp of the Mind (Thugs kyi sgron ma), The Lamp of the Correct View (lTa ba yang dag sgron ma), The Lamp Illuminating the Extremes (mTha'i mun sel sgron ma), The Lamp of Method and Wisdom (Thabs shes sgron ma), The Lamp of the Method of Meditation (bsGom thabs kyi sgron ma), and The Lamp of the Precious View (lTa ba rin chen sgron ma). These are P5918, P5919, P5920, P5921, P5922, and P5923, respectively. There are other Lamp collections in both Nyingma and Bön traditions, usually comprising four or six texts. The most prominent example of these is from the Bönpo Great Perfection lineage, the sGron ma drug gi gdams pa. See Christopher Hatchell's "Advice on the Six Lamps" in Naked Seeing: The Great Perfection, the Wheel of Time, and Visionary Buddhism in Renaissance Tibet (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), and Jean-Luc Achard’s English translation in the Six Lamps: Secret Dzogchen Instructions of the Bön Tradition (Boston: Wisdom, 2017).

3. See Namkhai Norbu and Kennard Lipman’s Primordial Experience: An Introduction to rDzogs-chen Meditation (Boston: Shambhala, 2001). Karen Liljenberg has discovered parallel passages to dPal dbyangs’s Lamp text the Thabs shes sgron ma in the rTse mo byung rgyal, a text she has identified as belonging to the sems sde corpus the Sems sde lung chen po bco brgyad. Karen Liljenberg, “A Critical Study of the Thirteen Later Translations of the Dzogchen Mind Series” (doctoral dissertation, SOAS, 2012), 57-60. I suspect there are further discoveries to be made of such borrowings between early Tibetan Mahāyoga texts and those of the early Mind Series. See also Liljenberg's paper elsewhere in this issue.
Takahashi, Kammie. "A Luminous Transcendence of Views: The Thirty Apophatic Topics in dPal dbyangs's Thugs kyi sgron ma." In Vol. 2 of "Etudes rDzogs Chen," under the direction of Jean-Luc Achard, special issue, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines 44 (2018): 159–77. http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ret/pdf/ret_44_06.pdf.
Article
*Bodhigarbha: Preliminary Notes on an Early Dzokchen Family of Buddha-Nature Concepts
It has recently been alleged by scholars of the Tibetan "Ancient" (rnying ma) tradition that although buddha-nature theory was well known in Tibet from as early as the eighth century, it played quite an insignificant role in early Nyingma exegesis.[1] I intend in this chapter to challenge this assertion by demonstrating that buddha-nature concepts played a highly significant part in Dzokchen thought during the so-called early diffusion (snga dar) period, albeit mostly in the form of autochthonous *bodhigarbha (byang chub snying po) or bodhi-nature concepts rather than their well-known Indian counterpart tathāgatagarbha[2] (de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po), as well as the as yet unattested but virtually synonymous *sugatagarbha[3] (bde bar gshegs pa'i snying po), which are both usually translated as buddha-nature. Although this family of terms is widespread in preclassical Dzokchen exegesis and therefore of inestimable importance for understanding the early development of buddha-nature theories in Tibet, it has hitherto received no attention in contemporary Buddhist studies. In determining the reasons for the obvious predilection for this indigenous family of buddha-nature concepts from the eighth to eleventh centuries, my aim is to clarify how bodhi-nature was understood by early Dzokchen authors, why it was distinguished from mainstream Mahāyāna-based buddha-nature concepts, and how it eventually became overshadowed by these latter during the classical period (13th–14th c.) as Indian non-tantric buddha-nature theories and controversies took center stage.[4] It is hoped that this short survey of Dzokchen bodhi-nature ideas and their cultural milieu will fill some gaps in our still fragmentary understanding of the origins of Tathāgatagarbha theory in Tibet. At the very least, it will show that a decidedly affirmative indigenous current of buddha-nature teachings flourished in Tibet several centuries prior to the ascendancy of the New (gsar ma) traditions and their polemically heated debates over rangtong (rang stong) and zhentong (gzhan stong) interpretations of buddha-nature. (Higgins, "*Bodhigarbha," 29)
Higgins, David. "*Bodhigarbha: Preliminary Notes on an Early Dzokchen Family of Buddha-Nature Concepts." In The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet, edited by Michael R. Sheehy and Klaus-Dieter Mathes, 29–52. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2019.
Article
Dzogchen (Anne Klein)
This article provides an introduction to Dzogchen. Dzogchen refers to an integrated set of texts, practices, philosophical perspectives, and theories of subjectivity unique to the most esoteric Buddhist and Bon traditions of Tibet. The philosophical core of Dzogchen is its emphasis on experiencing mind-nature and understanding its relationship to ordinary mental states. To be fully and nonconceptually aware of one's nature is called open presence. Dzogchen philosophy elaborates the issues and conundrums raised by this core tenet. Among Tibet's Buddhist traditions, it is only Nyingma, the most ancient school, that explicitly takes Dzogchen as its esoteric tradition. Both Nyingma and Bon see Dzogchen as the highest in a ninefold system known as the Nine Vehicles. (Source Accessed July 24, 2020)
Klein, Anne. "Dzogchen." In The Oxford Handbook of World Philosophy, edited by Jay L. Garfield and William Edelglass, 265–78. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Article
Dzogchen Explained
Roger Jackson reviews Heart of the Great Perfection: Dudjom Lingpa’s Visions of the Great Perfection, Vol. 1 by B. Alan Wallace. From the Spring 2017 issue of Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly.
Jackson, Roger R. "Dzogchen Explained". Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly. April 13, 2017.
Article
Existence and Nonexistence: Teachings on Dzogchen
“If you believe there is a thing called mind, it is just a thought. If you believe there is no thing called mind, it’s just another thought. Your natural state, free of any kind of thought is buddhanature.” Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche gives a teaching on the existence and nonexistence of mind.
Urgyen Rinpoche, Tulku. "Existence and Nonexistence: Teachings on Dzogchen." Lion's Roar, March 1, 2000.
Article
Introduction to Dzogchen and Buddha-Nature
Ostensen, Morten. "Introduction to Dzogchen and Buddha-Nature." Buddha-Nature: A Tsadra Foundation Initiative, July 11, 2019. https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Articles/Introduction_to_Dzogchen_and_Buddha-nature.
Ostensen, Morten. "Introduction to Dzogchen and Buddha-Nature." Buddha-Nature: A Tsadra Foundation Initiative, July 11, 2019. https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Articles/Introduction_to_Dzogchen_and_Buddha-nature.
Article
Is Mindfulness Buddhist? (and Why It Matters)
Modern exponents of mindfulness meditation promote the therapeutic effects of “bare attention”—a sort of non-judgmental, non-discursive attending to the moment-to-moment flow of consciousness. This approach to Buddhist meditation can be traced to Burmese Buddhist reform movements of the first half of the 20th century, and is arguably at odds with more traditional Theravāda Buddhist doctrine and meditative practices. But the cultivation of present-centered awareness is not without precedent in Buddhist history; similar innovations arose in medieval Chinese Zen (Chan) and Tibetan Dzogchen. These movements have several things in common. In each case the reforms were, in part, attempts to render Buddhist practice and insight accessible to laypersons unfamiliar with Buddhist philosophy and/or unwilling to adopt a renunciatory lifestyle. In addition, these movements all promised astonishingly quick results. And finally, the innovations in practice were met with suspicion and criticism from traditional Buddhist quarters. Those interested in the therapeutic effects of mindfulness and bare attention are often not aware of the existence, much less the content, of the controversies surrounding these practices in Asian Buddhist history.
Sharf, Robert H. "Is Mindfulness Buddhist? (and Why It Matters)." Transcultural Psychiatry 52, no. 4 (2014): 470–84. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8gm9g5ss
Article
On the rDzogs chen Distinction between Mind (sems) Primordial Knowing (ye shes): Clarifications and Transcendental Arguments
The idea that Buddist teachings ought to be applied to one's life situation in order to discover their true validity and efficacy has been a salient feature of Buddhism since its inception. It is in light of this normative constraint that Buddhism has traditionally called itself a path (mārga) or, more accurately, a series of paths formulated to lead individuals of varying needs, abilities, and aspirations toward spiritual awakening (bodhi). The complex diversity of views and practices that developed from the time of the historical Buddha were based on two presuppositions: (1) that the Buddha's awakening was of the utmost soteriological significance and therefore to be regarded as the ultimate aim of all religio-philosophical inquiry and activity, and (2) that it was to be seen neither as fortuitous nor inexplicable but as a repeatable soteriological process, one that could be personally realized through

particular modes of inquiry and praxis available to most (if not all) humans.
      From this second assumption stemmed the idea that humans are predisposed to spiritual awakening, that they, in other words, have within them some germinal capacity (bīja), spiritual affiliation (gotra), element (dhātu), or quintessence (garbha) that is a condition of possibility of this awakening. Alongside these "buddha-nature" concepts developed a family of systematically related gnoseological ideas referring to an abiding, unconditioned (asaṃskṛta) mode of consciousness—variously termed the Mind of awakening (bodhicitta), naturally luminous Mind (prakṛtiprabhāsvaracitta), the nature of mind (citta-dharmatā)—that was identified with the condition of awakening itself, but also viewed as the tacit background whence dualistic mind, that is, the source of all error and obscuration, emerges. Central to this cluster of related ideas was the view that conditions of awakening and delusion are both located within the complex and heterogeneous structure of lived experience itself. In Indian Buddhism, this paradigm found its most detailed and influential expression in the hybridized Yogācāra-Tathāgatagarbha works of Maitreya, the Indian Buddhist Siddha literature and the Buddhist tantras.
       In light of the foregoing considerations, the doctrinal history of Buddhism may be regarded as an ongoing attempt to work out precisely what it was that made its founder a buddha or "awakened one" so that such knowledge could be systematically pursued by his followers. That this soteriological imperative has been central to Buddhist philosophical and psychological investigations from early on is discernible in the long history of attempts to clarify the defining features of consciousness that can be traced back to the systematic analyses of mind and mental factors (citta-caitta) presented in the Abhidhammapiṭaka of the Pali Canon. For, in investigating the nature and structure of consciousness, Buddhist scholars were above all concerned with articulating the conditions necessary for a sentient being (sems can) to become an awakened one, a being in whom (if we follow the Tibetan rendering of "buddha" as sangs rgyas) all cognitive and affective obscurations have dissipated (sangs) so that inherent capacities for knowing and caring (mkhyen brtse nus ldan) can unfold (rgyas).
      In Tibet, this soteriologically oriented investigation of consciousness was central to the philosophy of mind that developed within the syncretistic rDzogs chen ("Great Perfection") tradition of the rNying ma ("Ancient Ones") school between the eighth and fourteenth centuries. This philosophy developed around a nexus of core soteriological ideas concerning buddha-nature, the nature of reality, and the nature of mind that served to draw attention to a primordial, nondual mode of being and awareness that usually remains hidden behind the mind's own objectifying and subjectivizing reifications.
      A cornerstone of the rDzogs chen philosophy of mind was a basic distinction between dualistic mind (sems) and primordial knowing (ye shes) that was first systematically presented in the seventeen Atiyoga tantras (rgyud bcu bdun) that make up the Heart Essence (snying thig) subclass of the Esoteric Guidance Class (man ngag sde') of rDzogs chen teachings and are traditionally associated with Vimalamitra. rNying ma historical and biographical works trace this distinction to the teachings of early rDzogs chen masters of the Royal Dynastic Period, in particular the oral transmissions of Vimalamitra (bi ma snyan brgyud), an identification that appears at first glance to be supported by the many passages on the two distinctions found scattered among rNying ma collections such as the Bi ma snying thig, Bai ro rgyud 'bum, rNying ma rgyud 'bum, and dGongs pa zang thal. These teachings often take the form of personal instructions advising the practitioner to discern within the flux of adventitious thoughts and sensations that characterize dualistic mind (sems) an invariant prerepresentational structure of awareness known as primordial knowing (ye shes), open awareness (rig pa), or the nature of mind (sems nyid), from which this turmoil arises. The idea is to directly recognize (ngo sprod) and become increasingly familiar with this abiding condition without confusing it with any of its derivative and distortive aspects. In Klong chen pa's view, this distinction provides an indispensable key to understanding the views and practices that are central to the rDzogs chen tradition.
       Although this tradition has attracted increasing interest in recent decades, both popular and academic, there has been little to date in the way of critical study of its philosophical foundations or key doctrinal developments. A noteworthy case in point is the absence of any systematic appraisal of rNying ma ("Ancient Ones") views on the nature of mind that traces their evolution and complex relationships with Indian Cittamātra, Madhyamaka, Pramāṇvāda, and Vajrayāna views. As a step toward at least defining the parameters of this crucial but neglected field of inquiry,

this paper will consider some key arguments in support of the "mind/primordial knowing" (sems/ye shes) distinction adumbrated by rNying ma scholars in the classical period. Of particular interest are arguments that were used to justify and defend this distinction by the renowned fourteenth-century rNying ma thinker Klong chen rab 'byams pa in a number of his treatises, commentaries, and poetic works. In a wide range of doctrinal contexts, Klong chen pa will argue that the entire edifice of Buddhist doctrine becomes incoherent in theory and amiss in practice when one fails to recognize the primacy of a primordial mode of awareness and to unequivocally distinguish it from dualistic mind. This paper first examines in detail some of the arguments he employed to convince his audience of the acceptability of such a distinction in light of theoretical and practical drawbacks of not recognizing it. It then focuses on two types of transcendental argument (of the general form "for y to be possible x must be the case") that Klong chen pa repeatedly invokes to show that the mind/primordial knowing distinction was not only tacitly presupposed in Indian Buddhist soteriology but was, in fact, indispensable for making sense of the Buddhist path and goal-realization according to Buddhist doxastic norms. (Higgins, "On the rDzogs chen Distinction between Mind (sems) and Primordial Knowing (ye shes), 23–26)
Higgins, David. "On the rDzogs chen Distinction between Mind (sems) and Primordial Knowing (ye shes): Clarifications and Transcendental Arguments." Journal of Buddhist Philosophy 2 (2016): 23–54.
Article
The Strange Death of Pema the Demon Tamer
[Matthew Kapstein] discusses Tibetan esoteric traditions in which experiences of light and obscuration play prominent roles. The focal point here is the Great Perfection (rdzogs-chen) tradition of meditation, above all its teaching that some adepts who achieve the highest realization attain a "rainbow body" at death. When this takes place, the adept's physical remains dissolve into light and so make manifest the thoroughgoing transformation of the person that had been catalyzed by prior spiritual discipline. (Kapstein, preface, xii)
Kapstein, Matthew T. "The Strange Death of Pema the Demon Tamer." In The Presence of Light: Divine Radiance and Religious Experience, edited by Matthew T. Kapstein, 119–156. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004.
Article
The rÑiṅ-ma Interpretations of the Tathāgatagarbha Theory
Wangchuk, Dorji. "The rÑiṅ-ma Interpretations of the Tathāgatagarbha Theory." Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens 48 (2004): 171–213.
Wangchuk, Dorji. "The rÑiṅ-ma Interpretations of the Tathāgatagarbha Theory." Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens 48 (2004): 171–213.

Source Texts

Text
Khenpo Gangshar: Naturally Liberating Whatever You Meet: Instructions to Guide You on the Profound Path
Thrangu Rinpoche met Khenpo Gangshar in the summer of 1957 when Khenpo Gangshar went to Thrangu Monastery in eastern Tibet. While there, Khenpo Gangshar gave these instructions, which are a distillation of the essential points ofthe practices of both mahamudra and dzogchen. Later they were written down, first in a very short form and then as the slightly longer text known as "Naturally Liberating Whatever You Meet." What makes them so beneficial for our time is that Khenpo Gangshar presents them in a way that is easy for anyone to understand and put into practice. (Source: Vivid Awareness, Translator's Introduction, pp. IX-X)

Interviews

Interview
Wulstan Fletcher Interview on Buddha-Nature
Wulstan Fletcher discusses buddha-nature and it's related concepts in an interview with Marcus Perman of Tsadra Foundation.

Multimedia

Video
Douglas Duckworth at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium
Douglas Duckworth presents how buddha-nature is interpreted by Mipam Gyatso (1846–1912). He shows that while Mipam accepts that the qualities of the buddha are primordially present, unconditioned, and not newly produced, they are also empty of inherent existence.
Duckworth, Douglas. "Sentient Beings Within: Buddha-Nature and the Great Perfection." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 42:46. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slBWdnUfS8w.
Video
Essence of Buddha-Nature by B. Alan Wallace
In this video segment B. Alan Wallace talks about buddha-nature and the concept of tathāgatagarbha. This talk was part of a Spring 8-week retreat on Shamatha, Vipashyana, and Mahamudra, based upon two texts: Panchen Lozang Chökyi Gyaltsen’s Highway of the Jinas: A Root Text on the Precious Geluk-Kagyü Mahamudra Tradition, and Karma Chagmé’s Naked Awareness: Practical Teachings on the Union. (Source Accessed Nov 17, 2020)
Wallace, B. Alan. "Essence of Buddha-Nature." Produced by Jeffrey Khoo, Claudio Li Caizi, Brenton Palmer-Angell, and Diogo Rolo. Filmed during a Spring eight-week retreat on Shamatha, Vipashyana, and Mahamudra held April–May 2016 at Lama Tsongkhapa Institute, Pomaia, Italy. Video, 27:53. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHMFbgfX6ys.
Video
Kurtis Schaeffer at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium
Kurtis Schaeffer discusses Jikme Lingpa's view and attitude toward buddha-nature as found in his major philosophical work, the Treasury of Precious Qualities, and in various other writings. He shows how Jikme Lingpa maintained an antinomian approach to buddha-nature in the context of Great Perfection thought.
Schaeffer, Kurtis. "Notes from the Cave: 'Jigs med gling pa on Buddha-Nature." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 37:04. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x32COWVlJ38.
Video
Lama Surya Das at the Garrison Institute
Lama Surya Das offers his perspective on what it means to center oneself in Buddha-nature, how one lives and acts in the wakeful state, the balance of inner and outer life, the relationship between enlightenment and social transformation, and more. He talks with Robert Gabriele, Chief Operating Officer at the Garrison Institute.
Das, Surya. "Lama Surya Das at the Garrison Institute." Produced by the Garrison Institute, July 2010. Video, 31:06. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQtXkVjg1F4.
Video
Longchenpa's View of Buddha-Nature by Wulstan Fletcher
Wulstan Fletcher discusses the unique way in which Longchenpa (1308-1364) approaches the topic of buddha-nature in his writings. Here he describes Longchenpa's language as somewhat difficult to understand, given his often poetic manner of expression. Furthermore, he also talks about the manner in which Longchenpa combines the second and third turning of the wheel of the Dharma and how he sees them as inseparable. Always speaking from the point of view of the Great Perfection (Dzogchen), Lonchenpa's approach was one that would influence later Nyingmapa thinkers such as Mipham Rinpoche.
Fletcher, Wulstan. “Longchenpa's View of Buddha-Nature.” Interview by Marcus Perman. Tsadra Foundation Research Department, November 9, 2019. Video, 7:06. https://youtu.be/JOTrcR3gndI.
Video
The Dalai Lama Speaks on Nyingma Dzogchen Nature of the Mind
The Fourteenth Dalai Lama speaks on the Nyingma Dzogchen nature of the mind in 2009, with translation by Thupten Jinpa.
Dalai Lama, 14th. "The Dalai Lama Speaks on Nyingma Dzogchen Nature of the Mind." Translation by Thupten Jinpa. 2009. Video, 15:58. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM32T-MJAf0.
Video
Vajrayana Practice & Buddha-Nature by Karl Brunnhölzl
Karl Brunnhölzl discusses the relationship between buddha-nature teachings and practice. He explains that, from a disclosure model perspective, practice primarily entails working on the obscurations that cover over one's innate buddha-nature. Furthermore, practice also entails the subtle refinement of practice and eventually the giving up of working on the obscurations, as, from the perspective of buddha-nature, both the obscurations and their remedies reflect a dualistic mind and are both part of the obscurations. The issue then becomes one of recognizing or not recognizing one's own buddha-nature.
Brunnhölzl, Karl. “Vajrayana Practice & Buddha-Nature.” Interview by Marcus Perman. Tsadra Foundation Research Department, December 3, 2018. Video, 7:20. https://youtu.be/fEwwwz_dmx8.

Dzogchen - Dzogchen is an advanced system of meditation techniques to reveal the innate state of perfection primarily, but not exclusively, espoused by the Nyingma Buddhist tradition and the Tibetan Bön tradition. Skt. महासन्धि Tib. རྫོགས་ཆེན།

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