Shambhala Sun - Dzogchen: Practicing the Great Perfection

A great collection of links from the archives of Shambhala Sun and Buddadharma on the topic of dzogchen, considered the highest form of Tibetan tantric discipline.

Dzogchen: Practicing the Great Perfection

Dzogchen is regarded as the highest form of Tibetan tantric discipline. Often translated as “the Great Perfection,” Dzogchen presents the view that we all abide in a natural state of pure awareness, free from extremes. Dzogchen’s rigorous practices are geared toward continually letting go of whatever occurs in body and mind that may temporarily obscure our natural state.

Enjoy this selection of Dzogchen teachings and resources from the pages of the Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma magazines -- just click on any article's title to read further -- and from elsewhere on the web.

Practicing the Great Perfection

A panel discussion on the view, teachings, and challenges of Dzogchen, with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, a master of the Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism (who appears on the cover of the May, 2009 Shambhala Sun); scholar and translator Ron Garry; and Marcia Binder Schmidt, editor and cofounder of Rangjung Yeshe Publications.

Continue down that same web page to find:

• The Blue Pancake: Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche describes how radically the perspective of Dzogchen—which he refers to as “maha ati”—differs from our conventional mindset.

• The Only Child of the Buddhas: Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (1920-1996) was one of the great Dzogchen masters of the twentieth century, and was the father of Mingyur Rinpoche. Here, he describes how devotion unleashes the boundless compassion of the awakened state.
  

Nothing to be Discarded or Kept

Heart advice by Dzogchen masters over the centuries—Padmasambhava, Longchen Rabjam, Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, and Lama Shabkar. From the recently translated collection of teachings, Quintessential Dzogchen: Confusion Dawns as Wisdom (translated and compiled by Erik Pema Kunsang and Marcia Binder Schmidt, Rangjung Yeshe Publications).

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Existence & Nonexistence

Says Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche: “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 about it—that is buddhanature. Mind is similar to space, in that it is insubstantial, not material. Isn’t it quite amazing that something that is insubstantial is also able to experience?”

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Crucial Instructions

Another great teacher of our time, the late Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, offers four sets of pithy teachings on bringing the absolute nature into our path.

Never Born, Never Ceasing

Dilgo Khyentse on the nature of mind.

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The Natural State of Happiness

Happiness may be natural, but it can feel very elusive unless you know how to cultivate it properly, says Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. He presents five noble qualities that enable us to experience this ever-present happiness.

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Approaching the Guru

Dynamic young teacher and filmmaker Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche says that “if you have true devotion, everything can be taken as a manifestation of your guru.” From a talk given at an event commemorating the death of his own teacher, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

Spotless from the Start

In order to overcome the five main obstacles facing a bodhisattva, says Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, we must realize that all beings are primordially pure. He presents the essential teachings on buddhanature from Maitreya’s Uttaratantra Shastra.

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This Very Mind, Empty and Luminous

The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche says that we can see awakening in the world around us, but we can also look directly at our mind. In the Vajrayana school of Buddhism, we discover that this very mind is the mind of the Buddha, and what we’ve been searching for has been right in front of us all the time.

Go to the site for a bunch more links.

Tags: Buddhism, Dzogchen, Shambhala Sun, Buddadharma, Tibetan Buddhism, tantra, the Great Perfection, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, Karma Kagyu, Nyingma, Ron Garry, Marcia Binder Schmidt, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Padmasambhava, Longchen Rabjam, Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche, Lama Shabkar, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche