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Approaching the Great Perfection

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Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, is the highest meditative practice of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Approaching the Great Perfection looks at a seminal figure of this lineage, Jigme Lingpa, an eighteenth-century scholar and meditation master whose cycle of teachings, the Longchen Nyingtig, has been handed down through generations as a complete path to enlightenment.

Ten of Jigme Lingpa’s texts are presented here, along with extensive analysis by van Schaik of a core tension within Buddhism: Does enlightenment develop gradually, or does it come all at once? Though these two positions are often portrayed by modern scholars as entrenched polemical views, van Schaik explains that both tendencies are present within each of the Tibetan Buddhist schools. He demonstrates how Jigme Lingpa is a great illustration of this balancing act, using the rhetoric of both sides to propel his students along the path of the Great Perfection. (Source: Wisdom Publications)

Citation	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.

Buddha-Nature in the Longchen Nyingtig

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1. 'jigs med gling pa. klong chen snying gi thig le las rdzogs pa chen po kun tu bzang po ye shes klong gi rgyud. In gsung 'bum 'jigs med gling pa, Vol.8. Gangtok: sde dge par khang, 1985: 355-368.
2. _____. klong chen snying gi thig le las man ngag rdzogs pa chen po'i rgyud phyi ma. In gsung 'bum 'jigs med gling pa, Vol.8. Gangtok: sde dge par khang, 1985: 369-376.
3. _____. klong chen snying gi thig le las kun tu bzang po'i dgongs nyams. In gsung 'bum 'jigs med gling pa, Vol.8. Gangtok: sde dge par khang, 1985: 377-384.
4. _____. klong chen snying gi thig le las rdzogs pa chen po'i gnad gsum shan 'byed. In gsung 'bum 'jigs med gling pa, Vol.8. Gangtok: sde dge par khang, 1985: 385-388.
5. _____. klong chen snying gi thig le las gzhi lam 'bres bu'i smon lam. In gsung 'bum 'jigs med gling pa, Vol.8. Gangtok: sde dge par khang, 1985: 27-28.
6. _____. gnas lugs rdo rje'i tshig rkang. In gsung 'bum 'jigs med gling pa, Vol.8. Gangtok: sde dge par khang, 1985: 659-662.
7. _____. klong chen snying gi thig le las rdo rje theg pa'i smin grol lam gyi rim pa las 'phro ba'i man ngag gi rgyab brten pad+ma dkar po. In gsung 'bum 'jigs med gling pa, Vol.8. Gangtok: sde dge par khang, 1985: 619-658.
8. _____. rig 'dzin mkha' 'gro dgyes pa'i gsang gtam yid dpyod grub mtha' 'jig pa'i tho lum snying phyung lag mthil bkram pa'i man ngag gsang bdag dga' bo'i thol glu kun mkhyen zhal lung bdud rtsi'i thigs pa. In gsung 'bum 'jigs med gling pa, Vol.8. Gangtok: sde dge par khang, 1985: 663-680.
9. _____. snying tig sgom pa'i bya bral gyi gol shor tshar gcod seng ge'i nga ro. In gsung 'bum 'jigs med gling pa, Vol.8. Gangtok: sde dge par khang, 1985: 681-692.
10. _____. rdzogs pa chen po gnas lugs cer mthong. In gsung 'bum 'jigs med gling pa, Vol.8. Gangtok: sde dge par khang, 1985: 693-698.

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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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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Nyingma - The Nyingma, which is often described as the oldest tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, traces its origin to Padmasambhava, who is said to have visited Tibet in the eighth century. Tib. རྙིང་མ་

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