Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great Perfection PDF
Preview Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great Perfection
D Z O G C H E N Heart Essence o f the Great Perfection His H o lin e s s t h e D a l a i L a m a Translated by Geshe Thupten Jinpa and Richard Barton (Chokyi Nyima) Edited by Patrick Gaffney Snow Lion Publications Ithaca, New York Boulder, Colorado Snow Lion Publications P.O. Box 6483 Ithaca, New York 14351 USA {607) 273-8519 www. snowlionpub. com Copyright © 2000 TheTetton Sogyal Trust and His Holiness the Dalai Lama Second edition 2004 All rights reserved. No portion of this work may be reproduced by any means without written permission from the publisher. Printed in Canada on acid-free recycled paper The Library of Congress cataloged the previous edition of this toot as follows: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bstan-dzin-rgya-mtsho, Dalai lama XIVp 1935- Dzogchen: Heart Essence of the Great Perfection p, cm. Includes bibliographical references TSBN 1 -55939-157-x 1. Rdzogs-chen (Rnm-ma-pa) LThubten Jinpi 11. Nyima, Chokyi, 1951- 11L Gaf&ieyh Patrick. IV Tide BQ7662.4 .B783 2000 294J’420423— dc21 00-010505 CONTENTS Foreword by Sogyal Rinpoche 7 Preface 13 Part O ne; GROUND PATH AND FRUITION 19 Paris, 1982 The Background 21 The Pure Visions 26 The Ground, Path and Fruition of Dzogchen 30 Part Two: T 37 H itting the E ssence in hree W ords London} 1984 The Background 39 Liberation Upon Contact 51 The Special Teaching of the Wise and Glorious King 56 Part Three: DZOGCHEN AND THE BUDDHADHARMA 93 Hebmki, 1988 The Background 95 Four Truths, Four Seals and Dzogchen 97 Part Four: 113 T he P in n a c l e of A ll Y a n a s San Joset 1989 The Background 115 The Primacy of Mind 126 Mind is Devoid of Mind 139 Questions and Answers 158 The Nature of Mind is Clear Light 168 Afterword: A Gift to the World 201 Appendix: Compassion, the Heart of Enlightenment 213 N otes 229 Glossary 243 Bibliography 249 k nowl dgeme nt 257 A c e s Index 261 F O R E WO R D BY SOGYAL RlNPOCHE His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the supreme head of Tibetan Buddhism, an exceptional Buddhist master. For the Tibetan people, he has been their guiding light through half a century of struggle, and for countless others around the world, the compassionate apostle of peace whose message brings such solace and inspiration. His achievements have been many and great, but one of the most far-reaching, I believe, is w:hat he has achieved for the Buddhist tradition of Tibet. How differently it would have turned out, I sometimes think, had he not been there, wTith his courage, patience and vision, to protect the continuity ofTibetan Buddhism during such a precarious period in its history and so give it the integrity and vigour it possesses today. Through his teachings and his writings, the Dalai Lama has also taken on an ever more important role for those practising and studying Buddhism in the west. Having received and studied teachings of all the Buddhist schools of Tibet, His Holiness is an authority on the whole range of teaching and practice within the different traditions. On four occasions during his tours of the west, he has taught on Dzogchen, the innermost teachings treasured at the heart of the ancient Nyingma order ofTibetan Buddhism, and these occasions are recorded here in this book. To receive such teachings from His Holiness is, 1 feel, something quite extraordinary, and the fact that he has given these Dzogchen teachings, choosing as well to grant the empowerment of Padmasambhava from the pure visions of the fifth Dalai Lama, not only counts as a wonderful blessing but contains, I believe, a very deep significance. In Paris in 1982, conferring this empowerment for the first time in the west, he made a point of expressing his delight at how auspicious it had been. When he gave it again in San Jose in 1989 in the context of his Dzogchen teachings, history itself lent the whole event an altogether special meaning, with the announcement that he had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, With his knowledge, his learning and his experience, His Holiness brings to his explanation of Dzogchen a perspective and breadth which are unique. O f course, one of his characteristics has always been his all-embracing attitude towards all Buddhist traditions, indeed towards all faiths. When I think of His Holiness s open-minded and unbiased vision of the Dharma,I cannot help but remember my master Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodrb, whose whole life was lived in the spirit of Ri-me, the ecumenical or non partisan movement that had been nurtured with such care by his predecessor Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and the lamas of the nineteenth century, I can never forget the day in 1955 when I went with my master to meet His Holiness for the very first time. Earlier that year, Jamyang Khyentse had decided to leave his monastery in Dzongsar in Kham, as conditions in East Tibet were deteriorating rapidly, and we had travelled slowly on horseback to Central Tibet, visiting the great holy sites ofTibetan Buddhism on the way When we arrived in Lhasa, Jamyang Khyentse was invited to meet His Holiness almost at once. I still remember the awe and excitement that filled me as we climbed the steps of the Potala Palace, gazing about me and catching my breath at every turn. M y master had requested a particular empowerment of Avalokitesvara, and we were led to a room where a small throne had been prepared for Jamyang Khyentse in front of His Holiness’s owTn throne* There was a young incarnate lama from the Geluk tradition who had been waiting for a long time to see His Holiness, and he and I were seated on small carpets to the right and left of my master* Now and again during the lengthy empowerment and teaching that followed, His Holiness would catch my eye and give me a smile which was utterly disarming, 1 sat there transfixed by his presence, smiling back at him. He was twenty years old then, and there are two things I can remember which struck me; his sparkling alertness and intelligence, and the warmth and compassion of that smile. My master was invited to see His Holiness in private, and at the end of the teaching they retired together into the Dalai LamaTs private quarters. I was waiting on a balcony, lost in my thoughts and looking out over Lhasa, when His Holiness s principal bodyguard, a tall, thickset monk with an imposing presence, came out to get me* I joined my master inside, and as we were served tea, His Holiness asked me my name and my age* He then held me in a piercing gaze and told me pointedly to make sure I studied hard. It was a moment I have always remembered, for it was probably one of the most important of my entire life* I did not know it then, but Jamyang Khyentse had been unanimously chosen and requested to transmit to the Dalai Lama the teachings of the Nyingma, Sakya, and Kagyli traditions.Yet that was never to happen. My master passed away in Sikkim in 1959, just months after His Holiness went into exile in India. In fact it was many of Jamyang Khyentse s own disciples who passed on the different lineages to the Dalai Lama, and especially Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche1 who offered him Nyingma and Dzogchen teachings and become one of His Holiness's mam teachers. The years during which His Holiness gave the teachings in this book were also a time when truly great exponents of Dzogpachenpo were still among us, masters born in the early part of the last century, whose soaring realization embodied the full force of the wisdom and mystery of the Dzogchen teachings. I think of Dudjom Rinpoche, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Nyoshnl Khenpo Jamyang Doije. They are gone now, though of course their presence is always with us, and their wisdom lives on, in the disciples they cared for with such compassion* These extraordinary masters had been instrumental in establishing these teachings in the west, so enacting all those prophecies that the practice of Dzogchen would take root here. And as they left this world, I am sure that as they prayed for the teachings of Buddha to benefit coundess beings, they will have invested those prayers, and all their aspirations, in His Holiness the Dalai Lama. For now that this generation of masters is no more, a teacher like His Holiness becomes even more precious, his role in securing the future of the teachings and their authenticity of even more vital and urgent significance. To Rigpa and to me fell the great privilege of inviting His Holiness to teach on Dzogchen in Paris in 1982, in London in 1984, and in San Jose, California, m 1989. In this book, for the sake of completeness, another teaching he gave on Dzogchen in Finland in 1988 has been included, and, as an afterword, a teaching given spontaneously by Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche during the Dalai Lama's programme in 1989. As you will see, what comes through in these historic teachings are His Holiness s vast knowledge of the Buddhist traditions of Tibet, his passionate interest in that ultimate point where they all converge, and his profound respect for the Dzogchen teachings and their realized practitioners and masters. These teachings weave together in fact so many elements and figures of crucial importance for the Nyingma and Dzogchen tradition: the first human Dzogchen master, the vidyadhara Garab Doge; the incomparable Longchen Rabjam; the ‘Great Fifth1 Dalai Lama and his pure visions; the extraordinary teaching of Patrul Rinpoche, master of the Longchen Nyingtik and the oral lineage of Dzogchen pith instructions; and the writings of the third Dodrupchen, Jikme Tenpe Nyima.And the presence that shines through them all, like a great sun, majestic and sublime, is Padmasambhava, the Precious Guru and father ofTibetan Buddhism. Here then is His Holiness in one of his many aspects— as great Buddhist master speaking from the innermost reaches of his tradition. There are many other Dalai Lamas: spokesman for non-violencc, human rights and the unprotected; defender of the environment; leader of a threatened people; and, increasingly, a world leader to whom people in their millions turn instinctively, as a repository of their dreams and hopes. For so many, it must be said, Flis Holiness is a living metaphor for all they hold true and sacred, an axis around which they can centre their vision of humanity. In him the history of Tibet and the destiny of the world are tantahzmgly bound together. It is a tremendous honour and blessing to introduce this book. At the end of his teachings in San Jose in 1989, His Holiness suggested to me that we compile the teachings he had given on Dzogchen in Europe and the United States into one book, and I am delighted that we have been able to fulfil his wish, Let us hope that His Holiness will consider that by giving these teachings he has created a certain understanding, and so will feel inspired to continue to expand on his teachings of Dzogchen in the west. As I write this, in the millennial year, His Holiness is visiting southern France to teach on 'The Path to Enlightenment' at the request of a group of Buddhist c entres in the Golfe du Lyon region, of which Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s main retreat centre, is one of the members. At Lerab Ling, he will confer the empowerment of Vajrakllaya, according to the terma revelation of Terton Sogyal, Lerab Lingpa.This great light of the teaching of Buddha, friend to each and every human being, continues to give of himself tirelessly in his extraordinary mission of wisdom and compassion. And I pray, I know along with countless others, that he lives long and that every one of his aspirations be fulfilled. Sogyal FUnpoche Lerab Ling, 6 July 2000
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