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| Dzogchen | |||||||||||
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| Tibetan | རྫོགས་ཆེན་ | ||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 大究竟、 大圓滿、 大成就 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 大究竟、 大圆满、 大成就 | ||||||||||
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Dzogchen (Tibetan:རྫོགས་ཆེན་,Wylie:rdzogs chen 'Great Completion' or 'Great Perfection'), also known asatiyoga (utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings inIndo-Tibetan Buddhism andBön aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimateground of existence.[2] The goal of Dzogchen is the direct experience of this basis, calledrigpa (Sanskrit:vidyā). There are spiritual practices taught in various Dzogchen systems for discoveringrigpa.
Dzogchen emerged during the first dissemination ofBuddhism inTibet, around the 7th to 9th centuries CE. While it is considered a Tibetan development by some scholars, it draws upon key ideas from Indian sources. The earliest Dzogchen texts appeared in the 9th century, attributed to Indian masters. These texts, known as the Eighteen Great Scriptures, form the "Mind Series" and are attributed to figures likeŚrī Siṅgha andVimalamitra. Early Dzogchen was marked by a departure from normativeVajrayāna practices, focusing instead on simple calming contemplations leading to a direct immersion in awareness. During the Tibetan renaissance era (10th to early 12th century), Dzogchen underwent significant development, incorporating new practices and teachings from India. This period saw the emergence of new Dzogchen traditions like the "Instruction Class series" and the "Seminal Heart" (Tibetan:སྙིང་ཐིག་,Wylie:snying thig).
Dzogchen is classified into three series: the Semdé (Mind Series,Tibetan:སེམས་སྡེ་,Wylie:sems sde), Longdé (Space Series,Tibetan:ཀློང་སྡེ་,Wylie:klong sde), and Menngaggidé (Instruction Series,Tibetan:མན་ངག་གི་སྡེ་,Wylie:man ngag gi sde). The Dzogchen path comprises the Base, the Path, and the Fruit. The Base represents the original state of existence, characterized byemptiness (stong pa nyid), clarity (lhun grub, associated withluminous clarity), andcompassionate energy (snying rje). The Path involves gaining a direct understanding of the mind's pure nature through meditation and specific Dzogchen methods. The Fruit is the realization of one's true nature, leading to completenon-dual awareness and the dissolution of dualities.
Dzogchen practitioners aim for self-liberation (Tibetan:རང་གྲོལ་,Wylie:rang grol), where all experiences are integrated with awareness of one's true nature. This process may culminate in the attainment of a rainbow body at the moment of death, symbolizing fullBuddhahood. Critics point to tensions between gradual and simultaneous practice within Dzogchen traditions, but practitioners argue these approaches cater to different levels of ability and understanding. Overall, Dzogchen offers a direct path to realizing the innate wisdom and compassion of the mind.
Dzogchen arose in the era of thefirst dissemination of Buddhism in Tibet (7th to 9th centuries CE) during theTibetan Empire and continued during theEra of Fragmentation (9th to 11th centuries). American TibetologistDavid Germano argues that Dzogchen is likely a Tibetan Buddhist development.[3][4] However, numerous ideas key to Dzogchen (likeemptiness andluminosity) can be found in Indian sources, like theBuddhist tantras,buddha-nature literature and otherMahāyāna sources like theLaṅkāvatāra Sūtra.[5][6] Furthermore, scholars likeSam van Schaik see Dzogchen as having arisen out of tantric Buddhistcompletion stage practices.[4]
The earliest Dzogchen sources appeared in the first half of the 9th century, with a series of short texts attributed to Indian saints.[5][7] The most of important of these are the "Eighteen Great Scriptures", which are today known as the"Mind Series" (Semdé) and are attributed to Indian masters likeŚrī Siṅgha,Vairotsana andVimalamitra.[5][8] The later Semdé compilation tantra titled theAll-Creating King (Kunjed Gyalpo, kun byed rgyal po) is one of the most important and widely quoted of all Dzogchen scriptures.[5]
Germano sees the early Dzogchen of the Tibetan Empire period as characterized by the rejection of normativeVajrayana practice. Germano calls the early Dzogchen traditions "pristine Great Perfection" since it is marked "by the absence of presentations of detailed ritual and contemplative technique" as well as a lack of funerary, charnel ground and death imagery found in some Buddhist tantras.[9] According to Germano, instead of tantricdeity yoga methods, early Dzogchen mainly focused on simple calming (śamatha) contemplations leading to a "technique free immersion in the bare immediacy of one's own deepest levels of awareness".[10] Similarly, Christopher Hatchell explains that since for early Dzogchen "all beings and all appearances are themselves the singular enlightened gnosis of the buddha All Good (Samantabhadra,Kuntu Zangpo)", there is nothing to do but to recognize this inherent awakened mind, relax and let go.[11]
During theTibetan renaissance era (10th century to the early 12th century) many new Vajrayāna texts, teachings and practices were introduced from India.[4][5] At this time, theNyingma school and its Dzogchen traditions reinvented themselves, producing many new scriptures and developing new practices influenced by the Sarma traditions.[4] These new influences were absorbed into Dzogchen through the practice of findingtreasure texts (terma) that were discovered by "treasure revealers" (tertons).[5] These tantric elements includedsubtle body practices, visionary practices likedark retreat, and a focus on death-motifs and practices (such as funerary and relic rituals,bardo teachings,phowa, etc).[12][13]
These new methods and teachings were part of several new traditions such as the "Secret Cycle" (gsang skor),[14] "Ultra Pith" (yang tig),[14] "Brahmin's tradition" (bram ze'i lugs),[14] the "Space Class Series,"[4] and especially the "Instruction Class series" (Menngagde),[4] which culminated in the "Seminal Heart" (snying thig), which emerged in the late 11th and early 12th century. The most influential texts in this period areSeventeen Tantras (rgyud bcu bdun).[4][15] The most important scholarly figure in the systematization of these new traditions wasLongchenpa Rabjampa (1308–1364).[16]
Later figures who also revealed important treasure text cycles includeKarma Lingpa, (1326–1386, who revealed thebar-do thos-grol),Rigdzin Gödem (1337–1409),Jigme Lingpa (1730–1798), who revealed the influentialLongchen Nyingthig andDudjom Lingpa (1835–1904).[17]
Dzogchen is composed of two terms:[18]
According to thefourteenth Dalai Lama, the termdzogchen may be a rendering of theSanskrit termmahāsandhi.[19]
The term initially referred to the "highest perfection" of Vajrayānadeity yoga. Specifically, it refers to the stage after the deity visualisation has been dissolved and one rests in the natural state of the innatelyluminous and pure mind.[4] According toSam van Schaik, in the 8th-century tantraSarvabuddhasamāyoga, the term refers to "a realization of the nature of reality" which arises through the practice of tantricanuyoga practices which produce bliss.[18]In the 10th and 11th centuries, whenDzogchen emerged as a separate vehicle to liberation in theNyingma tradition,[18] the term was used synonymously with the Sanskrit termati yoga (primordial yoga).[20]
Rigpa (Sanskrit:vidyā, "knowledge") is a central concept in Dzogchen. According to Ācārya Malcolm Smith:
A text from theHeart Essence of Vimalamitra called theLamp Summarizing Vidyā (Rig pa bsdus pa’i sgronma) defines vidyā in the following way: "...vidyā is knowing, clear, and unchanging" In Sanskrit, the term vidyā and all its cognates imply consciousness, knowing, knowledge, science, intelligence, and so on. Simply put, vidyā means unconfused knowledge of the basis that is its own state.[21]
Ma rigpa (avidyā) is the opposite ofrigpa or knowledge.Ma rigpa is ignorance, delusion, or unawareness, the failure to recognize the nature of the basis. An important theme in Dzogchen texts is explaining how ignorance arises from the basis ordharmatā, which is associated withye shes or pristine consciousness.[22] Automatically arising unawareness (lhan skyes ma rig pa) exists because the basis has a natural cognitive potentiality which gives rise to appearances. This is the ground forsaṁsāra andnirvāṇa.[23]
The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva (Dorje Sempa Nyinggi Melong,rdo rje sems dpa' snying gi me long), a majorDzogchen tantra, explains the termDzog (Perfection) as follows:
Becauserigpa is perfect wisdom in the realm beyond effort, it is perfection. Because meditation is perfect stainless wisdom in the realm beyond concepts, it is perfection. Because behavior is perfect universal wisdom in the realm beyond correction, it is perfection. Because view is perfect non-conceptual wisdom in the realm beyond achievement, it is perfection. Because fruit is the perfect twenty-five wisdoms in the realm beyond frame of reference, it is perfection.[24]
The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva explains that Dzogchen is "great" because:[25]
The Three Series of Dzogchen (Tibetan:རྫོགས་ཆེན་སྡེ་གསུམ་,Wylie:rdzogs chen sde gsum) are a traditionalTibetan Buddhist classification which divides the teachings of theNyingma school's Dzogchen tradition into three series, divisions or sections. These three are: theSemde ('Mind Series'), theLongdé ('Space Series') and theMenngagde ('Instruction Series'). Traditional accounts of theNyingma school attribute this schema to the Indian masterMañjuśrīmitra (c. 8th century).[26]
According to modernTibetologists, thisdoxographic schema actually developed in the literature of the Instruction Series (c. 11th century onwards) as a way to distinguish and categorize the various Dzogchen teachings at the time.[10][27] According to Instruction Series texts, the Mind Series is based on understanding that one's own mind is the basis of all appearances and that this basis, called mind itself, is empty and luminous. The Space series meanwhile is focused onemptiness (Skt.śūnyatā, T.stong-pa nyid). Finally, the Instruction Series itself is seen as the most direct kind of realization, without the need to meditate on emptiness or mind.[27] Over time, the Instruction Series came to dominate the Dzogchen tradition and it remains the series that is most widely practiced and taught while the other two series are rarely practiced today (with the exception of a few masters likeNamkhai Norbu).[10][27]
According toNamkhai Norbu, the three series are three modes of presenting and introducing the state of Dzogchen. Norbu states that Mennagde is a more direct form of introduction, Longde is closely associated with symbolic forms of introducing Dzogchen and Semde is more focused on oral forms of introduction.[28] Germano writes that the Mind Series serves as a classification for the earlier texts and forms of Dzogchen "prior to the development of the Seminal Heart movements" which focused on meditations based on tantric understandings ofbodhicitta (byang chub kyi sems).[29] This referred to the ultimate nature of the mind, which is empty (stong pa), luminous ('od gsal ba), and pure.[30] According to Germano, the Space and Instruction Series are associated with later (historical) developments of Dzogchen "which increasingly experimented with re-incorporatingtantric contemplative techniques centered on the body and vision, as well as the consequent philosophical shifts his became interwoven with."[29]
In Dzogchen, there are three central aspects: theBase, thePath and theFruit. TheBase represents the original, unchanging state of existence, characterized by emptiness, clarity, and compassionate energy.
ThePath comprises three key elements: view, practice, and conduct. The view focuses on gaining a direct understanding of the pure nature of the mind. Practice involves meditation techniques and specific Dzogchen methods. Conduct means integrating these practices into daily life.
TheFruit represents the ultimate goal – realizing one's true nature and achieving Buddhahood. This involves discovering the inherent state of the base and integrating all experiences with one's awareness of it. Ultimately, it leads to complete non-dual awareness, transcending egoic limitations, and dissolving dualities.
A key concept in Dzogchen is the "base", "ground", or "primordial state" (Tibetan:gzhi, Sanskrit:āśraya[32]), also called the general ground (spyi gzhi) or the original ground (gdod ma'i gzhi).[33] The basis is the original state "before realization producedbuddhas and nonrealization produced sentient beings". It is atemporal and unchanging and yet it is "noetically potent", giving rise to mind (sems, Skt.citta), consciousness (shes pa, Skt.vijñāna), delusion (ma rig pa, Skt.avidyā) and knowledge (rigpa, Skt.vidyā).[34] Furthermore, Hatchell notes that the Dzogchen tradition portrays ultimate reality as something which is "beyond the concepts of one and many."[35]
According to the Dzogchen-teachings, theGround orBuddha-nature has three qualities:[36][37]
Herbert V. Guenther points out that thisGround is both a static potential and a dynamic unfolding. They give aprocess-orientated translation, to avoid any essentialist associations, since
ngo-bo (facticity) has nothing to do with nor can even be reduced to the (essentialist) categories of substance and quality; [...]rang-bzhin (actuality) remains open-dimensional, rather than being or turning into a rigid essence despite its being what it is; and thatthugs-rje (resonance) is an atemporal sensitivity and response, rather than a distinct and narrowly circumscribed operation.[38]
The 19th–20th-century Tibetan Buddhist scholar, Shechen Gyaltsap Gyurme Pema Namgyal, sees the Buddha-nature as ultimate truth,[39] nirvana, which is constituted of profundity, primordial peace and radiance:
Buddha-nature is immaculate. It is profound, serene, unfabricated suchness, an uncompounded expanse of luminosity; nonarising, unceasing, primordial peace, spontaneously present nirvana.[40]
Direct introduction is called the "Empowerment of Awareness" (Wylie:rig pa'i rtsal dbang, pronounced "rigpay sall wahng"), a technical term employed within the Dzogchen lineages for a particular lineage of empowerment propagated byJigme Lingpa. This empowerment consists of the direct introduction of the student to the intrinsic nature of their own mind-essence,rigpa, by their empowering master.[41]
In Dzogchen tradition, pointing-out instruction (Tibetan:ངོ་སྤྲོད་ཀྱི་གདམས་པ་,Wylie:ngo sprod kyi gdams pa,THL:ngo-trö kyi dam-pa) is also referred to as "pointing out the nature of mind" (Tibetan:སེམས་ཀྱི་ངོ་སྤྲོད་,Wylie:sems kyi ngo sprod,THL:sem kyi ngo-trö), "pointing out transmission", or "introduction to the nature of mind".[42] The pointing-out instruction (ngo sprod) is an introduction to thenature of mind.
There are three major divisions of the Dzogchen path, known as the "Three Dharmas of the Path."[43] These aretawa,gompa, andchöpa. Namkhai Norbu translates these three terms as 'view,' 'practice,' and 'conduct.'[44]
Garab Dorje (c. 665) epitomized the Dzogchen teaching in three principles, known as "Striking the Vital Point in Three Statements" (Tsik Sum Né Dek), said to be his last words. They give in short the development a student has to undergo:[45][46]
Garab Dorje's three statements were integrated into theNyingthig traditions, the most popular of which in theLongchen Nyingthig byJigme Lingpa (1730–1798).[4] The statements are:
Nyingma Dzogchen texts use unique terminology to describe the Dzogchen view (Tib.tawa). Some of these terms deal with the different elements and features of the mind and are drawn from classic Buddhist thought. The generic term for consciousness isshes pa (Skt.vijñāna), and includes the six sense consciousnesses.Worldly, impure and dualistic forms of consciousness are generally referred to with terms such assems (citta, mind),yid (mānas) andblo (buddhi). On the other hand,nirvanic orliberated forms of consciousness are described with terms such asye shes (jñāna, 'pristine consciousness') andshes rab (prajñā, wisdom).[47] According toSam van Schaik, two significant terms used in Dzogchen literature is the ground (gzhi) and gnosis (rig pa), which represent the "ontological andgnoseological aspects of the nirvanic state" respectively.[33]
Nyingma Dzogchen literature also describes nirvana as the "expanse" or "space" (klong ordbyings) or the "expanse of Dharma" (chos dbyings, Sanskrit:Dharmadhatu). The termDharmakaya (Dharma body) is also often associated with these terms in Dzogchen,[10] as explained byTulku Urgyen:
Dharmakaya is like space. You cannot say there is any limit to space in any direction. No matter how far you go, you never reach a point where space stops and that is the end of space. Space is infinite in all directions; so is dharmakaya. Dharmakaya is all-pervasive and totally infinite, beyond any confines or limitations. This is so for the dharmakaya of all buddhas. There is no individual dharmakaya for each buddha, as there is no individual space for each country.[48]
The DzogchenView of thesecret instruction series (man ngag sde) is classically explained through theeleven vajra topics. These can be found in theString of Pearls Tantra (Mu tig phreng ba),[49] theGreat Commentary by Vimalamitra as well as inLongchenpa'sTreasury of Word and Meaning (Tsik Dön Dzö).[10]
Dzogchen practice (gompa) relies on the Dzogchen view which is a "direct, non-dual, non-conceptual knowledge" of the pure nature.[50] This is achieved through one's relationship with aguru orlama who introduces one to our own primordial state and provides instruction on how to practice. This "direct introduction" and transmission from a Dzogchen master is considered absolutely essential.[51]
The Dzogchen tradition contains numerous systems of practices, including various forms of meditation, tantric yogas and unique Dzogchen methods.[52] The earliest form of Dzogchen practice (theSemde, "Mind" series) generally emphasized non-symbolic "formless" practices (as opposed totantric deity yoga).[53]
Later developments led to the main Dzogchen practices becoming more infused with variouspreliminary and tantric methods like deity yoga, semdzin (holding the mind), rushen (separating samsara and nirvana), andvipasyana (lhagthong), which are all seen as skillful means to achieve the basic state of contemplation of the primordially pure state.[10][54][1]
The key Dzogchen meditation methods, which are unique to the tradition aretrekchö ("cutting tension") andtögal, along with unique Dzogchen teachings on awakening in thebardo (intermediate state between death andrebirth).[55] Intrekchö, one first identifies the innate pure awareness, and then sustains recognition of it in all activities.[56][15] Intögal ("crossing over"), a yogi works with various gazes and postures which lead to various forms of visions (indark retreat or throughsky gazing).[57][58][59]
The most comprehensive study of sky-gazing meditation, known astögal orthod rgal, has been written by Flavio A. Geisshuesler. Although the termthod rgal is generally translated as "Direct Transcendence" or "Leap Over," Geisshuesler argues that the expression really means "Skullward Leap" as it consists of the Tibetan wordsthod ("above," "over," but also "head wrapper," "turban," "skull") andrgal ("to leap over").[60] In the larger Tibetan cultural area, it is the most elevated part of the human body—the skull or, its extension in the form of a turban-like headdress—that allows the religious practitioner to gain access to the source of vitality located in the heavens. Both the head and the headdress have deep resonances with animals—particularly deer and sheep—which are central for the sky-gazing practice because of their ability to ascend and descend vertically to move in between various realms of existence.[61]
Norbu notes that "Tantric practices may be used as secondary practices by the practitioner of Dzogchen, alongside the principal practice of contemplation." Similarly, physical yoga (Tib.trulkhor) may also be used as supporting practices.[62]
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According to Namkhai Norbu, in Dzogchen, "to become realized simply means to discover and manifest that which from the very beginning has been our own true condition: the Zhi (gzhi) or Base."[63] Since the basis, the path of practice and the fruit or result of practice are non-dual from the ultimate perspective, in Dzogchen understands the path as not separate from the result or fruit of the path (i.e.Buddhahood). Once a Dzogchen practitioner has recognized their true nature (and "do not remain in doubt" regarding this), the path consists of the integration (sewa) of all experiences in their life with the state of rigpa. All these experiences are self-liberated through this integration or mixing.[64]
This process is often explained through three "liberations" or capacities of a Dzogchen practitioner:[65]
Advanced Dzogchen practitioners are also said to sometimes manifest supranormal knowledge (Skt.abhijñā, Tib.mngon shes), such asclairvoyance andtelepathy.[67]
Tögal practice may lead to fullBuddhahood and the self-liberation of the human body into arainbow body[note 1] at the moment of death,[68] when all fixation and grasping has been exhausted.[69] Tibetan Buddhism holds that the rainbow body is a nonmaterialbody of light with the ability to exist and abide wherever and whenever as pointed by one's compassion.[70][71] It is a manifestation of thesambhogakāya and its attainment is said to be accompanied by the appearance of lights and rainbows.[72][71]
Some exceptional practitioners are held to have realized a higher type of rainbow body without dying (these include the 24Bön masters from the oral tradition ofZhang Zhung,Tapihritsa,Padmasambhava, andVimalamitra). Having completed the four visions before death, the individual focuses on the lights that surround the fingers. His or her physical body self-liberates into a nonmaterial body of light with the ability to exist and abide wherever and whenever as pointed by one's compassion.[71]
As noted by van Schaik, there is a tension in theLongchen Nyingtik tradition of Dzogchen between methods which emphasize gradual practice and attainments, and methods which emphasize primordial liberation, simultaneous enlightenment, and non-activity. This seeming contradiction is explained by authors of the tradition as being related to the different levels of ability of different practitioners.[73]
For example, the works of Jigme Lingpa contain criticisms of methods which rely on cause and effect as well as methods that rely on intellectual analysis. Since Buddhahood is uncaused and transcendent of the intellect, these contrived and conceptual meditations are contrasted with "effortless" and "instantaneous" approaches in the works of Jigme Lingpa, who writes that as soon as a thought arises, it is to be seen nakedly, without analysis or examination.[74] Similarly, a common theme of Dzogchen literature is the elevation of Dzogchen above all other "lower" ('og ma) vehicles and a criticism of these lower vehicles which are seen as inferior (dman pa) approaches.[75]
In spite of these critiques, Dzogchen cycles like Jigme Lingpa'sLongchen Nyingthig do contain numerous practices which are not instantaneous or effortless, such as tantric Mahayoga practice likedeity yoga and preliminary methods such asngondro (which are equated with thepath of accumulation).[76] Furthermore, Jigme Lingpa and Longchenpa also criticize those who teach the simultaneous method to everyone and teach them to dispense with all other methods at once.[77]
In response to the idea that the gradualist teachings found in the Longchen Nyingtik texts contradict the Dzogchen view of primordial liberation, Jigme Lingpa states:
This is not correct becauseVajradhara using his skill in means, taught according to the categories of best, middling, and worst faculties, subdivided into the nine levels from sravaka to atiyoga. Although the Great Perfection is the path for those of the sharpest faculties, entrants are not composed exclusively of those types. With this in mind, having ascertained the features of the middling and inferior faculties of awareness holders, the tradition was established in this way.[78]
This division of practices according to level of ability is also found in Longchenpa'sTegchö Dzö.[79] However, as van Schaik notes, "the system should not be taken too literally. It is likely that all three types of instruction contained in the threefold structure of YL [Yeshe Lama] would be given to any one person."[79] Therefore, though the instructions would be given to all student types, the actual capacity of the practitioner would determine how they would attain awakening (through Dzogchen meditation, in the bardo of death, or through transference of consciousness). Jigme Lingpa also believed that students of the superior faculties were extremely rare.[79] He held that for most people, a gradual path of training is what is needed to reach realization.[80]
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