Introduction to Dzogchen

[Lori Anne]

The Need for Dzogchen
Dzogchen (rdzogs-chen, the great completeness) is an advanced system of Mahayana practice that brings enlightenment. It is found primarily in the Nyingma and Bon traditions, but also appears as a supplementary practice in some of the Kagyu traditions such as Drugpa, Drigung, and Karma Kagyu. Let us speak here of dzogchen as formulated in the Nyingma school.


To reach enlightenment, we need to remove forever two sets of obscurations:

emotional obscurations (nyon-sgrib) – those that are disturbing emotions and attitudes and which prevent liberation,

cognitive obscurations (shes-sgrib) -- those regarding all knowables and which prevent omniscience.

These obscurations bring us, respectively, the suffering of uncontrollably recurring existence (samsara) and the inability to be of best help to others. They are fleeting (glo-bur), however, and merely obscure the essential nature (ngo-bo) of the mind and limit its functioning. In essence, the mind (mental activity) is naturally pure of all fleeting stains. This is an important aspect of its Buddha-nature.

[See: Ridding Oneself of the Two Sets of Obscurations in Sutra and Anuttarayoga Tantra According to Nyingma and Sakya.]

In general, to remove both sets of obscuration requires bodhichitta (byang-sems) and nonconceptual cognition of voidness (stong-nyid, Skt. shunyata, emptiness) – the mind’s natural absence of fleeting stains and its absence of impossible ways of existing (such as inherently tainted with stains). Bodhichitta is a mind and heart aimed at enlightenment, with the intention to attain it and thereby to benefit all beings as much as is possible. Removing obscuration also requires a level of mind (or mental activity) most conducive for bringing about this removal. Dzogchen practice brings us to that level.

http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/advanced/dzogchen/basic_points/introduction_dzogchen.html

[Lori Anne]

Sem and Rigpa
Mental activity occurs on two levels, with limited awareness (sems) and pure awareness (rig-pa). Since many Western students are already familiar with the Tibetan terms, let us use them for ease of discussion.

Sem is mental activity limited by fleeting stains.

Rigpa is mental activity devoid of all fleeting stains of obscuration.

Sem may be conceptual or nonconceptual and, in either case, is always stained. Rigpa, on the other hand, is exclusively nonconceptual, in a purer manner than is nonconceptual sem, and is never stained by either of the two sets of obscurations.

Since mental activity, whether limited or pure, is naturally devoid of fleeting stains, rigpa is the natural state of sem. Thus, rigpa, with its essential nature of being devoid of all stains, can be recognized as the basis of each moment of our cognition.

Dzogchen, then, is a method of practice, grounded in bodhichitta and nonconceptual cognition of voidness, enabling us to recognize rigpa and stay forever at its level of mental activity free from all obscuration. In this way, rigpa’s “great completeness” (dzogchen) of all enlightening qualities for benefiting others becomes fully operational.

Equivalency in Non-Dzogchen Systems
The non-dzogchen systems of Gelug, Sakya, and Kagyu analyze three levels of mind or mental activity:

Gross mental activity is sensory cognition, which is always nonconceptual.

Subtle mental activity includes both conceptual and nonconceptual mental cognition.

The subtlest mental activity underlying them all is clear light ( ‘od-gsal), which is exclusively nonconceptual, but subtler than gross or subtle nonconceptual mental activity.

Sutra and the lower classes of tantra employ subtle mental activity for the cognition of voidness. Only anuttarayoga, the highest class of tantra, accesses and uses clear light mental activity for this purpose.

Parallel to this presentation, sutra and the lower classes of tantra in the Nyingma system employ sem for the cognition of voidness. Only dzogchen accesses and uses rigpa for this purpose.

The non-dzogchen systems explain that subtlest clear light mind manifests at the moment of death. A facsimile of it manifests for an instant when experiencing orgasm, falling asleep, fainting, sneezing, and yawning. At such times, the grosser energy-winds (rlung, Skt. prana, “lung”) that support gross and subtle mental activity temporarily cease (dissolve), thus temporarily stopping these two levels of mental activity and enabling the clear light level to function.

To gain stable control of clear light mental activity, however, requires accessing this level in meditation. We accomplish this with anuttarayoga complete stage practices (rdzogs-rim, completion stage) of working with the body’s subtle energy system to dissolve the energy-winds. As a cause for success on the complete stage, we imagine the dissolution process on the generation stage (bskyed-rim), modeled after the stages of death, bardo, and rebirth.

With the dzogchen methods, we recognize and access the subtlest mental activity – in this case, rigpa – without need to dissolve the energy-winds as the method for gaining access. But, how to recognize rigpa?

[Lori Anne]

Definition of Mind
Mind, in Buddhism, refers to mental activity, not to a “thing” that is the agent of that activity or to a “tool” that a “me” uses to engage in that activity. The definition of mind describes the activity from two points of view. Thus, the two aspects of the description are simultaneous functions, not sequential:

the mental activity of producing or giving rise (‘ char-ba) to cognitive appearances (snang-ba),

the mental activity of cognitively engaging (‘ jug-pa) with cognitive appearances.

The former is usually translated as clarity (gsal) and the latter as awareness (rig).

Cognitive appearances do not refer to appearances of things “out there,” which we may or may not notice and cognize. They refer to how things appear “to the mind” when we cognize them. In a sense, they are like mental holograms. For example, in nonconceptual sensory cognition such as seeing, colored shapes appear, which are merely mental representations (snang-ba, mental semblances) or mental derivatives (gzugs-brnyan, mental reflections) of one moment of colored shapes. In conceptual cognition, a mental representation appears of the conventional object, such as a hand, that the colored shapes in that moment are the visual sensibilia of. A sequence of mental representations of a hand each second one inch further to the right appears as motion. In other words, cognitive appearances exist only within the context of mental activity. They do not need to be clear or in focus.

Moreover, cognitive appearances do not refer merely to the images that appear “in the mind” when cognizing visible objects with our eyes. They also refer to the cognitive appearances or arisings (shar-ba) of sounds, smells, tastes, physical sensations, thoughts, emotions, and so on. After all, it is mental activity that makes a sequence of consonant and vowel sounds arise as words and sentences.

Note that the expressions “things appear to the mind” or “in the mind” are merely manners of speaking particular to the English idiom and reflect a dualistic concept of mind totally different from the Buddhist model.

Cognitively engaging with cognitive appearances may be in any manner, such as seeing, hearing, thinking, or feeling them, and does not need to be conscious or with understanding. It may include ignoring something and being confused about it.

The definition also adds the word mere (tsam), which implies that mental activity occurs without a concrete agent “me” making it happen. It also implies that fleeting stains are not the defining characteristic of this activity. The superficial (kun-rdzob, conventional) nature of mental activity is merely producing and engaging with cognitive appearances; its deepest (don-dam, ultimate) nature is its voidness.

Further, mental activity is individual and subjective. My seeing of a picture and my feeling of happiness are not yours. Moreover, Buddhism does not assert a universal mind that we all are part of, that we all can access, or that our mental continuums (mind-streams) merge with when we achieve liberation or enlightenment. Even when enlightened, each Buddha’s mental continuum retains its individuality.

The Differences between Mahamudra and Dzogchen

[Lori Anne]

Or bearing witness. Its actually one of the practices of Dzogchen, (or Bon Dzogchen), to leave things as they are without interference. It almost sounds very contrary to Buddhism, esp the Bodhisattva path, which isn't about proselytizing, but is definitely about helping others become Buddhas an attain enlightenment. But in looking at what DJ said, it reminded me of that lesson in Dzogchen, about leaving things as they are, which does seem unique in comparison to other Buddhist paths. This is an article on that, with a bit of the bearing witness theme and other stuff:


Dzogchen

In the Bon tradition Dzogchen practice is the highest teaching of all. Through the practice of Dzogchen one can attain enlightenment in this very life.

Dzogchen is a Tibetan term it is made up of two words the first word is ‘Dzog’ and the second word is ‘Chen’. Dzog mean complete and ‘Chen’ mean great.

In the west Dzogchen is known as The Great Perfection. Dzogchen practice is found in Bon teaching and Nyingmapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism.
Three lineages of Dzogchen in Bon tradition

    * Dzogchen
    * A-Khrid
    * Zhang Zhung Nyengyud

Be a Dzogpachenpo every moment of life

Dzogchen says every being has an inherent potential to be a Buddha. However, we are often not aware of our innate potential. Not being aware of our potential, we fail to manifest it. We empower more to our conditioned nature rather that our Buddha nature. We easily turn our face away from the truth, from the reality that we encounter in our lives because of our deep-seated conditioning.

Dzogchen practice is to face each moment as it is without fear, and without judgment. To do this we need a heart that has the quality of love and compassion, and the wisdom of understanding.

By turning away from things as they are we are creating a wall between reality and the nature of our mind. This is one of the major reasons for the suffering in our lives.

Dzogchen is the practice of open presence. The openness and the presence are the inherent aspects of Dzogchen.

The unification of the openness and the presence is its essence.

The openness reveals the nature of Emptiness or the interdependent nature of all beings. The presence reveals the true nature of awareness.

Practice of Dzogchen can be just an idea, a philosophy. But if we actualize it’s meaning and integrates it with our experience of the world outside and inside of us then we becomes Dzogpachenpo.

When we practice Dzogchen we manifest its essence by living in the present moment. We neither hold on to our concept or understanding of emptiness nor we hold on to awareness. Otherwise our concept or judgment begins to dominate our mind and it distance from it true nature. When we are free from grasping imposed by conditioning we make it possible for ourselves to experience reality as it is.

When we practice Dzogchen, we manifest this unified nature of emptiness and awareness within the continuum of each moment that is clarity. Emptiness and awareness are not separate. They are co-arising.

For instance art of ‘deep listening’ or ‘Bearing witness’, what would be the qualities of the openness and the presence in this act of listening? Openness is the ability to provide space for another person to speak by giving non-fear. It is also providing space for what we are hearing and not letting it pressure or stimulate our conditioning of judgment or disagreement. When the listener is open it gives strength to the speaker to be more open.

The quality of presence is our ability to decide that we do not have to take care of, respond to or fix everything all the time. Sometimes it is so valuable just to bear witness and leave things as they are. Dzogpachenpo witnesses every situation without being distracted by the external object or demands or by the internal conditioning.

Often rational mind think that we have to respond give advice or suggestions, or correct them.

Sometimes we encounter a situation where people are not listening to us. Then we start blaming the other person for not listening or we start judging ourselves. For Dzogchen practice, this is a basic obstacle caused by our unmet psycho-emotional needs. We lose contact with our innate wisdom and our capacity to be non-judgmental, and we lose contact with our innate qualities of acceptance, forgiveness, love and compassion.

We need to ask ourselves:
Would it be possible to accept the situation that the other person is in with genuine compassion?

When we do this, we are connecting to our basic human nature of goodness. We are manifesting love and openness. We are becoming Dzogpachenpo.

Sometimes we live in the relative world and practice for the world of the absolute. We live on this earth, and pray for the heaven. The practice of Dzogchen helps us not to fall into the extremes of both the relative world and the absolute world, of both heaven and earth. To the Dzogpachenpo two are not separate. They are one. Dzogchen practice is to realize the absolute nature within the relative so that one does not wander in search of the absolute truth riding the board of the relative?

We approach our lives with many expectations based on our insecurity or pride, on uneasy past experiences or projections about the future. These expectations limit our openness, our ability to be aware, and to accept each situation as it unfolds. Dzogchen emphasis is on clarity or awareness this is because many situations that we encounter may be unexpected and we may not be prepared for them. As a consequence, we are not fully aware of them as they happen, and of their effect on us. It is this lack of awareness along with the instability of our mind that makes us react with a state of distress or shock and that renders us vulnerable to separating ourselves from the situation that we are encountering. Such small incidents of daily life can cause subtle feelings of stress, exhaustion, fear or anxiety in us. Make us feel hurt or disturbed. Sometimes we are so disturbed by an incident that we lose control of ourselves and disconnect from the wisdom of our mind and compassion of our heart. We make things worse for ourselves and for other through self-judgment, blame, self-justification or guilt. Our mind continues to return and become caught up in the subtle negative emotions, which arose in us in response to the situation. Because we are inclined not to notice such reactions, we may think that they do not matter much or we hold on to it because we want to feel safe and protected. This instinct toward protection can be so strong that it completely overshadows the presence of awareness. Yet the totality of these small, negative reactions, and the unconscious habits or conditioning that they create in us, is what separates us from our inherent Buddha nature.

Awareness, on the other hand, keeps our mind clear and enables us to see clearly what is going on. Awareness in the form of penetrative wisdom cuts through the afflictive emotions that are present in us in the process of reacting. It protects us from insecure conditioning and reacting with unwise compassion, because it is possible that we experience distress or pain in response to the situation with love and compassion. We might become hard on ourselves. As we see another’s suffering, we may also invite pain into our life. In this case, our compassion is not supported by wisdom. It is attached to our insecurities rather than with wisdom. When compassion is attached to insecurities, our feelings for the other cannot become true compassion but become the expression of our own conditioning. Anything that we do with a lack of awareness will strengthen the afflictions. It will not allow us to see reality as it is.

The Dzogchen teaches us how ten thousand things every day, every hour, and every moment distract us. Many things, such as external objects that we perceive through our sense fields, constantly influence us physically, emotionally and mentally. Some of these are shocking, some are pleasurable, and some are joyful. The tendency of our conditioned human nature is that we are only attracted to something that is beautiful, that is comfortable, and that we feel familiar with. But if there is something that makes us feels uneasy, we react differently. This can be the way somebody behaves, or something that somebody is saying to us that we cannot relate to, or that is opposed to our feelings. Or it could be an unpleasant sight, smell, taste, or touch. When we encounter an uncomfortable perception through our sense fields, including our mind, this distresses us. Dzogchen practice prepares us to live with the moment without distress or fear.

Dzogchen is the practice of open presence or self-liberation and it is our potential to be able to liberate oneself from the suffering of every moment. At the heart of self-liberation is the question of how we can respond to every situation that we encounter in our lives from the true nature of our mind, rather than with a deluded or afflicted state of mind. The practice of Dzogchen empowers us to leave the things as they are. When we leave things as they are, we are providing a space for them to manifest their true nature. We are allowing them to change, to manifest their quality of who they are. It is our stable awareness that sees without judgment, and understands what the other person needs and what we need. We may not be in the position to meet the need of that moment yet we can do our best to remain compassionate, loving, accepting and forgiving. The power of being in touch with awareness reduces the causal conditions for suffering to arise.

Due to our conditioning we tend to interrupt everything before it can manifest its true nature. It is that very interruption that obscures our wisdom and our compassionate heart from reaching out to others. In the Dzogchen Practice, our wisdom manifests in the form of clarity. Clarity allows us to be aware of the situation without distraction. And our compassion keeps us stable and allows us to reach out with equanimity so that we are at ease, no matter how things manifest. If both wisdom and compassion are present together we can make a clear decision what would work best for the particular situation at that very moment without being governed by our preferences.

Sometimes we encounter situations that upset us or make us feel afraid. We might also feel hurt by the situation or the circumstances. For instance, we may be in a situation where a friend, or our spouse, becomes angry with us. Dzogchen practice is to be aware, noticing the situation fully. If your friend is angry with you, you notice that with stability and clarity and bring your awareness to it. Stability helps us to witness state of our mind, feeling and the situation. Clarity empowers us to manifest love and compassion. At that moment we can draw strength from that love and compassion to be able to forgive or accept our friend or situation. If we approach the situation with the presence of awareness or clarity, maybe our very unconditional love for our friend or situation can manifest and express itself in how we respond. It will manifest whatever is necessary at that very moment of our life. When we feel clear and secure the energy become calm. Everything falls into the field of awareness and this protects us from further unskillful reactions. Noticing the situation with the quality of open presence allows us to face the situation more skillfully. This is Dzogpachenpo the great perfection.

Dzogchen practice gives us a clarity that is powerful enough to recognize that whatever emotion we experience, be it anger, depression, fear or joy is not separate from the true nature of the mind. This recognition is wisdom and it gives us strength to leave thing as it is. Our ability to leave thing as it is reduces our subconscious attachment to the conditioning that judges or manipulate the emotion. We are accepting our feelings. We are becoming aware of what we are feeling right now, and we stop right there. We don’t allow that emotion to take over our life. We do not allow it to obscure the true nature of the mind and to become an obstacle. We make our peace with whatever we are feeling. If we feel disappointed, this may give rise to anger. If we feel angry, it may give rise to hatred, or to depression. This is unnecessary. If we can accept what we are feeling we are manifesting the essence of self-liberation. We are leaving each thing as it is. We are creating a conditioning to become a Dzogpachenp. By nature everything is self-arising, and self-luminous, and self-dissolving. It comes, and it goes. It does not stay forever. But this is only possible if we allow it to manifest this nature.

If we are able to accept that our emotion is not separate from the nature of our mind this will allow us to touch our healing wisdom. Our healing wisdom is our primordial potential to heal ourselves, to free ourselves from suffering. We all have this potential. If we have anger, we too have love and compassion. Emptiness reveals the truth that nothing lasts forever. Awareness points us toward this truth and allows us to experience it. And their unification, clarity, enables us to act skillfully. At the same time, it gives us the strength to live with the constant demands of our everyday life with ease and joy.

By Tempa Dukte Lama (excerpt from forthcoming book)

Thanks Ellen.   Found this in RS and found it fitting with this thread here.
 

[Rasputin]

This Great Perfection is exactly in line with my own experience.  We go about our dialy lives wanting things to be perfect, yet define that perfection in terms of our own standards.  The problem is, our standards are derived from the temporary mind, in line with relative reality.  We forget that reality is already perfect as it is.  Do we think we are so great that we could have fashioned the universe ourselves?  Things are the way they are for a reason.  But then there is the human mind, which has the power to imagine a way things should be, separate from the way they are.  Our capacity for abstract reasoning can further our self-development, culminating the development of reality, but all too often we use it to actually fight against reality.  Things can always be improved in that we can help ourselves and others to attain absolute reality, but we should be sure what we are working toward really is absolute reality and not some construct of our own making.  Our efforts should always be in line with acceptance, else we are striving toward a goal we cannot progress toward.  Of course, we can never attain perfection, but we can progress toward in by learning to rest in a state of perfection, even though we won't be able to maintain it all the time.

[lavender orchid]

thanks to everyone here for the beautiful outline that may not be found anywhere else but in buddhist tradition.
today i know a buddha can awaken anywhere anytime. and be in total isolation with it.
yes: thanks!

\!!