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dkar 'jam rtsa'i sgron-ma - the lamp of the smooth white nerve
3. Lamp of the smooth white nerve (dkar 'jam stsa'i sgron ma)
The second aspect to the Togel practice, the six lamps, the main part of the
Togel practice. The six lamps are the training or familiarization to achieve
liberation at the time of death in the bardo of dharmata. Through the
familiarization with these practices in this lifetime the present bardo, the
practitioner with the ability of some recognition of his or her minds nature,
can gain the ability not to be overwhelmed by the appearances during the
bardo of dying. This recognition is what is known as the merging of the
luminosity of mother and child; their previous recognition will mix with
their identification of it. The mother is the luminosity of the ground which is
recognized and the child is the experience of dharmata which one
previously cultivated.
The first of the four stages occurs when vision begins to arise and we have
direct insight into the nature of reality. This experience corresponds to
realization of the Sutric path of accumulation. The second stage occurs
when the arising vision approaches development and we have more
experience. This corresponds to the path of endeavour. The third stage is
the development and ripening to perfection of awareness of vision and
corresponds to the path of seeing and the path of meditation. Finally, the
fourth vision, which corresponds to the path of no more training, is the
stage of complete vision. Here, on the dissolution of illusory phenomena,
we integrate completely with the vision of totality.
More specifically, during the first stage there are two lights, one internal
and one external. When we start to practice, we feel as if a light were
coming out of us. Here the symbol of the light is the "tigle of the rigpa of
the color of glass", which means one feels as if one were looking through
the bottom of a glass. The tigles are very luminous and can vary in size; the
smallest can be the size of a pea, others can be much bigger. Also many
tigles can appear joined together in various ways, horizontally, vertically,
etc., forming strands or chains, in which case they are called the "thread of
compassion" or the "silver thread" as they are white and luminous and
resemble silver. There are no limits to the possibilities of vision.
At times the colors appear separately, first red, then blue, white, etc.; at
other times symbols appear with visions reflected inside them. Often these
visions are fluctuating, like a lightning flash that disappears when we look at
it. Sometimes we can see a whole city; sometimes an entire country
complete with mountains can appear in a small tigle. But we should not be
surprised at this since we can see many big things with our small eyes. At
times when we look at the vision that arises, it disappears immediately, or it
can remain a very short time and then disappear, like in a video game. It is
difficult to define or explain, we can see many things in many different
ways.
This first stage is the foundation, the basis, in which the rays, lights, tigles,
and threads of tigles never remain still in one place. They are like a waterfall
pouring down from a very high mountain or like drops of quicksilver that
are constantly moving. Everything moves at this stage. When the inner
movement manifests while we are practicing in the state of presence, we
may very well begin by looking in one direction and finish looking in
another. This is not like gazing at a still object with the eyes fixed on one
point in space as in zhine practice. It is described as being like a mirror and
an arrow; when the movement is very fast and difficult to stop, it is difficult
to even understand what is moving. At times it seems it is the vision that is
moving, at other times we might think it is our eyes, or that the movement
is internal, the inner energy of rigpa. In fact, in tögel everything is
connected:external vision, the eyes,and the internal energy, and in the first
stage everything moves together. But it is important to understand that
once presence is adequately stable we can stop the movement. This is what
is described as "catching the fish in the net of darkness," fixing the
movement through stable presence.
At this point the presence concentrates in a single point and the inner
experience becomes pure and clear, without movement. We remain in the
union of emptiness and the clear rigpa, the mother and the son are united
and happy. |This gives rise to a particular joy, and at this point our
consideration of having limited sessions of practice finishes so there is no
longer any gap between practice and nonpractice. The end of the first stage
corresponds to the third or fourth day of the lunar month, when the moon
is starting to wax.
At the second stage, vision begins to develop. At first we might see clear
light in all directions, see everything as light. Then we start to distinguish
the rigpa tigles, as now we have a closer and more precise experience of
the elements, even though they are not yet under full control. In the second
sage the elements are balanced, so now what appears in the visions is
completely different: we see the five lights, tigles, round rainbows, and
lights in the form of tents. The visions are very pure and clear.
The best and easiest way to develop these visions is to do a dark retreat, or
do practice looking at the rays of the sun ( but not directly at the sun ) at
sunrise or sunset, holding the hands so that the fingers filter the rays of
light, to make a connection between the inner light and the outer light.
When we observe the outer rays in this way while in the state of presence,
these rays act as secondary causes to produce the projections of the inner
light onto the palm of the hand. At the beginning we do not see much, but
then vision develops and in this way it becomes very easy to see the lights.
Other ways are to practice looking, at the rays of light coming through
window shutters, or sitting on a mountain an looking at the point where
mountain and space meet. One advantage of the dark retreat is that we can
practice without any requirements ( such as rays of the sun ) or distractions
from the outside world, so it is easier to integrate.
In the third stage the visions may be stable and still, or they may move.
Different syllables or parts of the body may appers and visions of Buddhas
and mandalas arise. There is no longer any difference between external
visions and internal experiences, subject and object, nirvana and samsara in
this empty reality.
Tögel teachings inthe Zhang Zhung Nyan Gyud describe the clear light and
naturally arising visions, as well as how these arise and how these are
brought into the path. These visions, which are of luminous points or seeds
of light and of webs of light in configurations of Buddhas, mandalas and so
forth, are formed from the inherent structure of light, the energy
expression of the clarity of the primordial state. Specific tögel practices
include the dark retreat in which we spend time practicing in complete
darkness, or gazing at the sun, at the moon, or into the sky. All these
techniques are used to make it possible for visions spontaneously to arise
from the recesses within our mind. We then work with these.
the wrathful gaze, with the eyes turned upwards, is useful if we are feeling
drowsy
the peaceful gaze, with the eyes turned downwards, is useful if our mind is
too agitated
the bodhisattva gaze, with the eyes looking straight forward, is used when
the mind is calm
the gaze of method, with the eyes turned to the right, develops method
the gaze of wisdom, with the eyes turned to the left, develops wisdom
Three further types of gaze used in tögel practice are: the wheel gaze, the
lion gaze, the secret gaze.
In this way we come to experience directly and know the seeds that are the
base or origin of pure visions, which are like the stars in space. When we
start to practice tögel, the movement is more intense. It is like unveiling a
multicolored Chinese silk: suddenly we see many colors in space, like seeing
rainbows everywhere.This is the main vision, the base of five colored lights,
from which all visions arise. This is the importance of the five lights, which
give rise to nirvana and samsara.
Working with the movement of light in tögel practice is easier than working
with the solid objects we see and sounds we hear normally in everyday life,
things with which we are already familiar. The tögel visions arise as the
outer manifestation of inner experiences.
Different names are given to the different visions. For example, the "fish of
the rays in movement" refers to the movement of the visions and describes
visions as moving in the same way a fish moves in waves of water. The text
explains that we must try to "catch the fish of the rays in movement in the
net of darkness" and describes the "dart" state of presence that we must
shoot at the target, which in this case is the fish. Vision is the fish and the
dart; the instrument for capturing it is presence.
From the five pure lights of the natural mind arise The unchanging
dimension of the body, the unceasing pure manifestation of speech, and
the undiluted enlightened mind.
The pure state of the mind, the base of Buddhahood, has a quality of clear
light, which develops into the pure light of the natural state. This light is
"rainbow light", not material light. It is the natural energy of the primordial
state and the cause of samsara and nirvana. Through the movement of this
pure light, which is the inner rigpa energy in the dimension of the
primordial base, the five pure lights develop and begin to appear.
The pure lights of the five colors constitute the second step in the
production of existence, they are the source of the five elements that are
the underlying structure of both the external existence of the world and the
internal existence of the individual.
This clear light energy resides in the heart, rises through the channels, and
is projected through the eyes. It is the basis of all vision and moves from the
inner to the outer dimension.
The external existence of the individual consists of the five sense objects
perceived by the five sense consciousnesses. Internal existence is the sixth
sense consciousnesses, the mind, together with proprioception or the inner
consciousness of the body. Secret existence is the movement of thoughts.
The first chakra is the chakra, or wheel, of the primordial base. Unless we
understand the chakra of the primordial base, we cannot understand how
the three dimensions of realization (kayas) are perfected in the primordial
base and so cannot obtain realization. The second chakra is the wheel of
realization and illusion. Unless we understand this chakra , we cannot
realize how samsara and nirvana are perfected in the primordial state, how
samsara originates from distraction by delusory thoughts and nirvana arises
from correct preception. The third chakra is the wheel of the points of the
body, veins, channels, and energy centers. Unless we understand how the
points in the physical body are related, we cannot obtain realization in this
particular body and achieve liberation in this very lifetime. The fourth
chakra is the wheel of the intermediate state. Unless we understand this,
we cannot maintain presence after death and realization in the clear light
bardo.
In daily life we see forms, hear sounds, and generally perceive external
reality and objects through our senses. If we perceive these with
awareness, present in the inseparability of emptiness and clarity, we see
them as our own manifestation. as the self-manifestation of the energy of
our primordial state. It is very good for a tögel dark retreat.
There are no activities to accept or reject. This is the ultimate way to relate
with energy in terms of the variety of experience.
we begin by holding our breath , then we release the breath and remain
present
Through our experience of the presence that remains after releasing the
breath, we understand presence in purposeful tension and the difference
between presence and this tension, so that we can apply presence outside
the situation of the deliberate intentions we have during a practice session
block ears with fingers and we hear the natural self-sound = connection
between sound and emptiness
close eyes and press eyeballs slightly with fingers so that we see the natural,
self-arising light - this is the inner light. When we project the light outwards,
it manifests as the visible forms (houses, people), what we see.
“Everyone has the condition, which is called body, speech and mind. Body
means the physical level, which we can touch and see. When we say our
voice or speech. That means our energy level. Why do we use speech or
voice? Because voice or speech is sound. When we say speech or voice we
produce that sound through our air, our breath. Our breathing is related to
our prana, our vital energy. So why then is sound important? Because when
we speak of our real nature [*2], the source of everything is how sound
manifests from emptiness.
What we firstly manifest is sound and sound manifests light and rays. These
three are called our primordial potentiality. Sound doesn’t mean ordinary
sound, what we hear with our ears. When we speak of sound immediately
we think of that. That is outer sound, which we can hear with our ears.
There is also inner sound we can feel only through vibrations; we don’t
need ears for hearing or discovering inner sound. Still more important is
secret sound. Secret sound we discover only when we discover our real
nature. When we discover our real nature and how it is related with this
energy and how it manifests, then we discover secret sound. We can’t
discover secret sound with vibrations, so for that reason we say speech or
voice instead of saying our energy level. The mind is easy to understand.
Mind is what we always use to think and judge.”
This article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the
subject. Please help improve the article with a good introductory style.
The Five Pure Lights (Tibetan: 'od lnga) is an essential teaching in the
Dzogchen tradition of Bön and Tibetan Buddhism. For the deluded, matter
seems to appear. This is due to non-recognition of the five lights. Matter
includes the mahābhūta or classical elements, namely: space, air, water,
fire, earth. Knowledge (rigpa) is the absence of delusion regarding the
display of the five lights. This level of realization is called rainbow body.
Basis (gzhi)
In the basis (Tibetan: གཞཞ, Wylie: gzhi) there were neutral awarenesses (sh
shes pa lung ma bstan) that did not recognize themselves. (Dzogchen texts
actually do not distinguish whether this neutral awareness is one or
multiple.) This non-recognition was the innate ignorance. Due to traces of
action and affliction from a previous universe, the basis became stirred and
the Five Pure Lights shone out. When a neutral awareness recognized the
lights as its own display, that was Samantabhadra (immediate liberation
without the performance of virtue). Other neutral awarenesses did not
recognize the lights as their own display, and thus imputed “other” onto the
lights. This imputation of “self” and “other” was the imputing ignorance.
This ignorance started sentient beings and samsara (even without non-
virtue having been committed). Yet everything is illusory, since the basis
never displays as anything other than the five lights.
The Five Pure Lights are essentially the Five Wisdoms (Sanskrit: pañca-
jñāna). Tenzin Wangyal holds that the Five Pure Lights become the Five
Poisons if we remain deluded, or the Five Wisdoms and the Five Buddha
Families if we recognize their purity.
In the Bonpo Dzochen tradition, the Five Pure Lights are discussed in the
Zhang Zhung Nyan Gyud and within this auspice two texts in particular go
into detail on them as The Six Lamps (Tibetan: སསན་མ་དག་, Wylie: sgron ma drug)
and The Mirror of the Luminous Mind (Tibetan: འསད་གསལ་སསམས་ཀཞ་མས་ལསང་, Wylie: 'od
gsal sems kyi me long).
Texts
The Five Pure Lights are also evident in the terma traditions of the Bardo
Thodol (Gyurme, et al. 2005) where they are the "coloured lights" of the
bardo for example, associated with the different "families" (Sanskrit: gotra)
of deities. There are other evocations of the rainbow lights as well in the
Bardo Thodol literature such as Namkha Chokyi Gyatso (1806-1821?), the
3rd Dzogchen Ponlop's "Supplement to the Teaching revealing the Natural
Expression of Virtue and Negativity in the Intermediate State of Rebirth",
entitled Gong of Divine Melody (Tibetan: སཏཞད་པའཞ་བར་དསའཞ་ངས་སསད་དགས་སཞག་རང་གཟགས་སསན་པའཞ་ལན་ཐབས་
དབངས་སན་ལའཞ་བཎཌཞ, Wylie: strid pa'i bar do'i ngo sprod dge sdig rang gzugs ston pa'i
lhan thabs dbyangs snyan lha'i gaND-I[4]), wherein the "mandala of
spiralling rainbow lights" Gyurme et al. (2005: p. 339) is associated with
Prahevajra. Dudjom, et al. (1991: p. 337) ground the signification of the
"mandala of spiralling lights" (Tibetan: འཇསའ་འསད་འཁཞལ་བའཞ་དཀཞལ་བཧསར, Wylie: 'ja' 'od 'khil
ba'i dkyil khor) as seminal to the visionary realization of tögal.
William Wordsworth
I distinctly recollect the evening when these verses were suggested in 1818.
It was on the road between Rydal and Grasmere, where Glow-worms
abound. A Star was shining above the ridge of Loughrigg Fell, just opposite.
I remember a critic, in some review or other, crying out against this piece.
"What so monstrous," said he, "as to make a star talk to a glow-worm!"
Poor fellow! we know from this sage observation what the "primrose on the
river's brim was to him."
Intelligible sounds.
the full awakening that does not come from the mind
the full awakening that does not come from the mind is
This deep clarity is Samantabhadra Buddha of dark blue light. His consort
Samantabhadri is light blue/white light. From them infinite lights shine,
manifesting 42 peaceful and 58 wrathful manifestations of Sambhogakaya.
Rinpoche explained about three primordial potentialities :
Sound/Light/Rays . There is outer sound, inner sound and secret Sound. In
Atiyoga instant presence means presence of secret Sound which is state of
Dzogchen. ..."
Rainbow Body
We do this visualisation with our mind but when we open our eyes, we
cannot see the mandala or elements like lights, we can see ordinary vision
because we are only doing that visualisation in our dimension. When we
develop it, we use channels, chakras, aspects related to our physical body,
and with prana energy, with kundalini energy we gradually coordinate this
transformation with our existence and integrate it at the end with the
mantra of the practice. This is called the Accomplishment Stage. When we
do the visualisation with closed eyes this is called the Development Stage,
which is developed internally.
Finally we can have the realisation of being in the state of Mahamudra, that
means no longer remaining in the dualistic state with these two stages. In
Vajrayana, that is called realisation. So you see how we develop everything
with symbols, such as mandalas, deities etc., which are developed
internally, within our dimension.
Rolpa
Tsal
Then there is the energy of the aspect of the material level, which is called
tsal. How does it manifest and what is its characteristic? We have infinite
potentiality, and when it manifests like subject and object, we do not know
that it is our real potentiality manifesting and immediately fall into dualistic
vision and think that we are seeing something very nice. Many people say
that when they were very young they often had fantastic visions like lights
etc., but later on they didn’t manifest any more. Some people have even
asked me for methods in order to have those visions again. I understand
very well what it means because everybody has infinite potentiality from
the beginning. That is our real nature. Our potentiality can manifest when
there are secondary causes, however secondary causes do not always exist
or manifest. Sometimes in our lifetime some secondary causes manifest and
in that moment we can have something like fantastic visions. But we
immediately fall into dualistic vision – “Oh, how nice! I can see this light,
this form” – that blocks [the visions] and they no longer repeat. This is the
reason why we have these kinds of visions.
Great Transference
There are two kinds of Rainbow Body: one is called the Great Transference
— Padmasambhava and Vimalamitra are famous for this kind of
manifestation. There are also some stories about Garab Dorje manifesting
that kind of Rainbow Body called the Great Transference. What does ‘Great
Transference’ mean? It means that we become very familiar with doing this
vision of our potentiality in front of us. Think about what I have said about
chonyi ngon sum, like the manifestations of the thigle, which represents
your primary potentiality, becoming visible. This is the method, the
transmission and the potentiality of the teachings of Dzogchen. When you
have this knowledge, you do not fall into dualistic vision, but even though
you do not fall into dualistic vision, you are not totally integrated into that.
Your body is still here. Your vision is in front of you.
Thogyal
In the Dzogchen teaching of thogyal, what does thogyal mean? Tho means
forehead. Your forehead is in front of you. In your head, you have two
eyes, two ears, two nostrils, all the organs of the senses are on the head.
The functions of all the senses, what I call the ‘office’ of the mind, are in the
head. Some people say that mind is in the head, but it is not in the head, it
is in the centre of our dimension because it is the essence of our existence.
The essence of existence is always at the centre, not at the border because
it has its dimension. Mind has the dimension of our physical body, but the
organs of the senses are all on the head.
When we live in dualistic vision, we cannot have any contact with objects if
we do not open our eyes, our ears, etc. For that reason, we receive all
[sensory] information through the head.
When we talk about the five senses, we say ‘subject’ and ‘object’. ‘Subject’
means our organs such as our two eyes, while ‘object’ refers to what we are
seeing such as form, colour, etc. We have ‘subject’ and ‘object’ for all our
senses. But we also talk about the consciousness of the five senses. What
does ‘consciousness’ mean? It doesn’t mean consciousness such as judging
and thinking with the mind but simply receiving all information, which is
immediately communicated to our mind. This function is called the
‘consciousness of the senses’ even though we usually consider
consciousness connected to our mind, to judging and thinking. So tho, the
forehead, is related to all these functions.
Gal means ‘passing’ and in Tibetan it is a verb. We say chuwo gal, we are
crossing a river. We are crossing from here to there. This is the real
meaning of thogal. How can we pass? When you learn Dzogchen teaching
such as thogal, there are four visions, in succession, with very precise
instructions connected with your position, breathing, the way of gazing and
the way of using your senses. When you follow these instructions precisely,
you can feel them, you can have these visions. That means you are
integrating your existence in this thigle, in chonyi ngon sum, your
potentiality of sound, light and rays that manifests in front of you. The
fourth stage means that you have completely succeeded in totally
integrating your existence in this thigle. In that moment you have the
realization of the Great Transference. You no longer have death because in
general it is our physical body that dies and in the Great Transference our
physical body has already been transferred into the thigle. This is
realization just like Guru Padmasambhava [manifested].
Rainbow Body
It is not so easy and we should have completely finished this fourth level [of
the four visions of Thogal]. But it is not so difficult to get into the fourth
level. Practitioners who get to the fourth level, even though they do not
complete it, know they will manifest the Rainbow Body when they die. The
Rainbow Body never manifests without the practitioner knowing. It is not
something that takes place just due to circumstances. The practitioner has
knowledge, has some kind of signs, is present in the fourth level. For
example, if you put your five fingers like this [Rinpoche opens his fingers
widely] and look at them, even though you see them at the material level,
theses five fingers are all connected with light between them. You can see
that concretely. When you can see this, perhaps you can have the Rainbow
Body when you are dying. That is one of many signs. Some people think
that since they have done many years of practice in retreat that maybe they
will manifest the Rainbow Body when they die, but the Rainbow Body does
not come about in that way. So you can understand how the Rainbow Body
comes about and also the Great Transference.
When a person has that realization of Rainbow Body then their physical
body slowly disappears and other people cannot see it. It seems as if that
person has disappeared, but in the real sense he/she is alive and continuing
their activities actively in the Rainbow Body. They can continue doing
benefit, being active in the Rainbow Body for centuries and centuries, just
like Guru Padmasambhava. If they want to renounce that, they dissolve
into the Dharmakaya, then all of the qualifications of the Dharmakaya
manifest just like everyone else who has manifested in the same way. They
can also have infinite quantity and quality of wisdom but are no longer
active. People can only receive wisdom when they have a relationship,
[either] good or bad with that person.
The Rainbow Body is not just some type of ancient history. Today there are
still many manifestations of Rainbow Body. There are methods, there are
teachings, there is transmission, everything is alive and for that reason it
exists. But it is not so easy to have realization of the Rainbow Body,
particularly for teachers who are giving and transmitting teachings to many
people.
If you want to have something like the Rainbow Body, you need to do
practice secretly, personally, not talking about it too much, then you can
have realization and you can also have Rainbow Body. It is also very
important to understand this.
First , the perfect teacher Great Vajradhara appeared in the realm Abundant
Delight, in the perfect palace of a lotus flower . Here, as the teacher Youth
of Inconceivable Sublime Light, he taught the DRA THAL GYUR – the tantra
that precedes all others, the root of all teachings – to a retinue of thousand
and two buddhas . The tantra *s compiler was the celestial youth Mighty
Bringer of Joy whose companions included the deva Brilliant Sun . This was
during the time when a life span could last an incalculable number of years .
»
An excerpt from the Great History of the Heart Essence : Part One belonging
to the Instruction Section*s Cycle of the Heart Essence of Vimalamitra .
Wellsprings of the Great Perfection : the lives and insights of the early
masters , compiled and edited by Erik Pema Kunsang , Rangjung Yeshe
Publications, Kathmandu, Nepal, 2006 .
1.2. How did Dzogchen Dharmas reach our human realm : ๑۩۞۩๑ ཨ ཨ ཨ
๑۩۞۩๑
All true Dzogchen masters are contemplating the secret Sound or Natural
Sound of Dharmata of their real Nature (Dharmata, Chonyid) or Buddha
nature . Natural Sound of Dharmata (Chonyid kyi rangdra) is immensely
important .
๑۩۞۩๑ ཨ ཨ ཨ ๑۩۞۩๑
This lineage : Chönyid kyi rangdra or Natural Sound of Dharmata has origin
in Dra Thal Gyur root tantra of Dzogchen Upadesha . Master Vimalamitra is
the only one who wrote commentary on Dra Thal Gyur tantra or
Reverberation of Sound .Vimalamitras commentary is preserved at Khatok
monastery in East Tibet . REVERBERATION OF SOUND is the root of all
Buddhist Dharma . Reverberation of Sound (Dra Thal Gyur) is connected to
16 other Dzogchen Upadesha tantras . We need to see this display
diametrical as a circle , not horizontal . DRA THAL GYUR tantra in the centre
and names of 16 other Upadesha tantras around .
๑۩۞۩๑ ཨ ཨ ཨ ๑۩۞۩๑
On Direct Introduction
This refers to our instant presence, rigpa that we have discovered. Our
understanding. Not understanding in an intellectual way but discovering it.
Understanding in an intellectual way and discovering are two completely
different things. When I went to receive teaching from my teacher,
Changchub Dorje, he asked me what I had studied. I told him sutra, tantra
and in particular Madhaymika, Yogacarya, this book, that book, logic, and I
was also very proud at the time because I thought I knew everything very
well.
Then one day I remember that my teacher said to me, “Your mouth is
Madhymika and your nose is logic”. He was joking a bit with me, I thought,
because although he was a practitioner, he had never studied whereas I had
studied everything and that was why he said that. I was proud because I
had studied and I believed that I knew everything because that is the
mental aspect, mental knowledge. But I did not know that the real sense of
the teaching is something we need to discover. I had never heard that
before.
One day I went to my teacher and asked him why I found this text more and
more difficult to understand. He said that first of all this book explains
knowledge, qualifications, qualities of Arhats in more of a Hinayana style
with levels, secondly it explains Mahayana and then the third level is
qualifications of Enlightened Beings, of Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and
Dharmakaya. My teacher, who was also a Dzogchen practitioner and a
student of Shenga Rinpoche (gzhan dga’ rin po che), told me to try to
understand it not thinking only of the qualities of Boddhisattvas, Arhats and
Buddhas but to turn a little within myself and observe and think and maybe
it would help the text become a little easier. I didn’t understand what he
meant. I went back home and read the text again but didn’t find anything
that I could relate to myself and it didn’t help at all.
Then many years passed and later when I received teaching from my
teacher, Changchub Dorje, I found that it is necessary that we discover our
real nature. This is the principle of the Dzogchen teaching and I became a
Dzogchen practitioner.
Later I arrived in Italy and worked with Prof. Tucci. There were a lot of books
in his library and one day I saw that he had this text that I had studied at
college and I brought it home. I read it for one or two weeks, but now when
I read it, it was very easy and I understood what my teacher at college had
meant when he told me to observe within myself. Now I knew how to
observe. Before I didn’t. I didn’t even know that we have to discover our
real nature. So we do not discover anything in intellectual knowledge, we
only study, judge, think, do analysis and we believe that we know. But
discovering is something very different. In the Dzogchen Teaching the most
important thing is discovering our real nature. This is what it says here.
Sometimes people think that Dzogchen is very secret but it is not like that.
There is also an explanation of Garab Dorje: if people are interested and are
searching for knowledge of Dzogchen, even if there are 100 people, we can
talk and give that knowledge. If people are not interested and don’t want to
know about it, we should not give [teaching], should not talk about it, we
should keep it secret, because there is no reason, it has no benefit. In this
case, even if we speak to one person, it is too many. We give Dzogchen
teaching to people who participate, who are interested. We do not talk
about it in the street with loudspeakers so why should we keep it secret
from people who are interested?
ཐག་གཅཞག་ཐསག་ཏ་བཅད་པ་དང་༔
means we are completely familiar with what we have discovered. This is not
so easy. This is the second statement of Garab Dorje. In general it means we
can decide something in an intellectual way, we can decide that this is the
only way. We can decide everything – today we decide something, but maybe
tomorrow we discover it is not real. This is normal in our intellectual way.
For example, in the Buddhist philosophical tradition we have the Yogacarya
and the earlier Dodepa (mdo sde pa) Sutra system. When these two schools of
thought debated, most scholars were convinced that Yogacarya was superior
which meant that Sutra was lacking a lot of knowledge even if they had
decided that this was the final goal. But then they discovered. Then the
Yogacarya school became very diffused in the Mahayana. Later on they
debated with the Madhyamika school and in the end Madhyamika was
considered superior to Yogacarya because some understanding was lacking in
Yogacarya. That is an example.
We can decide many things intellectually today, but there is no guarantee.
With our intellectual mind, we judge, we think this is logic, that things must
be in a certain way and then we believe. But that does not mean that we are
discovering. Then later we know that something is missing. For that reason
when the teacher gives you the introduction, you may think you have
understood, have discovered your real nature. Sometimes you can have this in
a perfect way. But many times you discover something, but you have a little
doubt. Then what should you do? If you are really in your real nature, it must
be in a perfect way. If you remain in doubt that is not a perfect base.
Semde, Longde, Upadesa
There are many Dzogchen Teachings of Guru Garab Dorje and when he
manifested the Rainbow Body, his most important student, Manjusrimitra,
collected all his Dzogchen teachings and divided them into three sections
according to the Three Statements of Garab Dorje. All the sections for having
precise direct introduction, for discovering our real nature, are called
Dzogchen Semde and there are many volumes, many tantras belonging to this
Dzogchen Semde. In the Dzogchen Semde we work in a very precise way
with experiences and at the end we can have more precise knowledge of our
real nature. But sometimes that is not the final goal, something may be
lacking, we may have doubts. Then there are many other methods, which are a
series of Garab Dorje’s teachings and tantras called the section of the
Dzogchen Longde. Long means space, while sem means mind, mind to nature
of mind, we discover this and are in that state. De means series of teachings.
The Semde is the first group related to the first statement of Garab Dorje.
The second series is called Longde. Long means space. Space is the
dimension in which we can have different kinds of manifestations. Different
manifestations are very important for integrating in our real nature. In the
practice of Dzogchen Longde, there are different kinds of methods and we can
have visions. In the teachings there are mainly three kinds of experiences we
always use. In general everything in our life is experience but when we relate
this to our body, voice and mind there are three experiences. When we do the
introduction, for example, we use one experience, the experience of emptiness
or clarity or something like that. But in the Dzogchen Longde we use three
experiences together in the same moment and unify that state: this is called
yerme, without distinctions. We are in that state. When we are in that state our
real nature of the state of contemplation is naked. We do these kinds of
practices to be 100% sure of our real nature. For that reason, there are many
series of practices in the Dzogchen Longde.
Then lastly there is the Dzogchen Upadesa which means the more secret
methods. The main practice considers that we already have knowledge, that
we have already discovered our real nature and when we have that, how we
integrate our body, speech, mind, our life, everything in that state. If we
succeed in integrating everything, we are realized. Realization means we are
not conditioned by dualistic vision, we are totally in our real nature, that
moment our potentiality of sound, light and rays that we have had from the
very beginning manifests nakedly, in its real condition.
Realization is not building something that we did not have before. In Sutra
teaching and in lower tantra, they have this idea that we are building,
developing, and then one day we will have a manifestation of realization. But
in the Dzogchen teaching realization means totally manifesting our
potentiality without having any obstacles. All obstacles are purified with that
potentiality of the state of contemplation. This is the supreme purification.
This is the real meaning of ཐག་གཅཞག་ཐསག་ཏ་བཅད་པ་. It doesn’t mean that we decide
something with our mind.
When we have bad weather we say today there is no sunshine, but that is not
true. The sun is always in the sky but we do not see it because there are thick
clouds, just like obstacles. In the same way we accumulate a lot of negative
karma, potentiality, emotions, thoughts related to our mind, and they all
become obstacles so that we do not see, we do not discover our real nature.
But when we purify them, then our real nature manifests. We do not build or
produce something new. There is nothing to produce. We know that and we
are simply in that state as much as possible and then our real nature manifests.
This is the very essence of the Three Statement of Garab Dorje.