Great Perfection: the Outer and Inner Preliminaries

Great Perfection Great Perfection ^))@2))6 Outer and Inner Preliminaries by the Th ird Dzogchen Rinpoche Foreword by Th e Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche Translated by Cortland Dahl Snow Lion Publications ithaca, new york • boulder, colorado Snow Lion Publications P.O. Box 6483 Ithaca, New York 14851 USA 607-273-8519 www.snowlionpub.com Copyright © 2007 Cortland Dahl All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means without prior written permission from the publisher. Printed in Canada on acid-free recycled paper. Designed & typeset by Gopa & Ted2, Inc. ISBN-10: 1-55939-285-1 ISBN-13: 978-1-55939-285-3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ṅes don Bstan ’dzin bzaṅ po. [Rdzogs pa chen po mkha’ ’gro sñiṅ thig gi khrid yig thar lam bgrod byed śiṅ rta bzaṅ po. English. Selections] Great perfection : outer and inner preliminaries / by the Th ird Dzogchen Rinpoche ; introduced by the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche ; translated by Cortland Dahl. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN13: 978-155939-285-3 (alk. paper) ISBN10: 1-55939-285-1 (alk. paper) 1. Rdzogschen. I. Title. BQ7662.4.N4713 2007 294.3'444—dc22 2007029454 Table of Contents ^))@2))6 Foreword by Th e Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche vii Translator’s Introduction xiii Th e Excellent Chariot: A Vehicle for the Path to Liberation Homage and Pledge of the Composition 3 How to Listen to the Teachings 5 Th e Lineage History 7 Empowerment 13 Th e Common Preliminaries 15 1. Th e Precious Human Existence & Refuge 19 Th e Freedoms and Endowments 19 Taking Refuge 27 Th e Practice of Taking Refuge 30 2. Impermanence & Bodhichitta 37 Death and Impermanence 37 Qualifi cations of Teacher and Student 37 Contemplating Impermanence 44 Compassion and Bodhichitta 57 Aspiration Bodhichitta 57 Application Bodhichitta 60 Bodhichitta in Practice 60 Th e Benefi ts of Bodhichitta 61 [Developing Bodhichitta] 61 3. Karma & the Th ree Vows 63 Th e Principle of Karmic Causality 63 Th e Ten Virtues 67 Th e Ten Forms of Vice 70 vi / great perfection Virtue and Liberation 72 Th e Four Immeasurables 73 Th e Six Perfections 74 Karma and Samsara 75 Karma and Nirvana 76 Th e Th ree Vows 77 Th e Vows of Individual Liberation 77 Th e Bodhisattva Precepts 79 Samaya Vows 84 4. Th e Suff ering of Samsara & the Practice of Vajrasattva 91 Th e Suff ering of Samsara 91 How to Listen to the Teachings 91 Contemplating the Suff ering of Samsara 93 Th e Meditation and Recitation of Vajrasattva 112 Confession 116 5. Liberation & the Mandala Off ering 127 Th e Benefi ts of Liberation 127 How to Listen to a Teaching 127 Contemplating the Benefi ts of Liberation 129 Mandala Off ering 135 Gathering the Accumulations 135 6. Faith & Guru Yoga 141 Faith and Liberation 141 Th e Nature of the Teacher 141 Th e Nature of the Student 142 Qualities Needed by Both Teacher and Student 143 Faith 144 Th e Guru 156 Th e Practice of Guru Yoga 162 Concluding Verses 171 Abbreviations 173 Glossary 177 Notes 229 Texts Cited 235 Bibliography 243 Index 249 Foreword ^))@2))6 In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the most profound and commonly practiced teachings are those of the Vajrayana. Within this powerful system of skillful means, the supreme view and most potent methods are found in the teachings and practices of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. Th ese instructions are regarded as the pinnacle of the teachings and as the most direct path to realizing the nature of mind and the reality of the world. Th e instructions of the Dzogchen lineage are used to directly point out the nature of mind and bring the experience of enlightenment into our ordinary life. Th erefore, these teachings are known as “pith instructions,” the pure, quintessential knowledge that cuts through all confusion and gets straight to the point. Th ere is a saying, “Don’t beat around the bush,” meaning, “Get to the point.” Th at is Dzogchen. In many ways, these teachings go beyond scripture and the formality of spiritual techniques. Th ese two do have their place, since it is important to study scripture and meditate in a step-by-step manner. Yet, at some point we also must connect directly with the nature of mind. We have to strike the crucial point, the enlightened state, and leap directly into experiencing and realizing the true nature of our mind. Th e term “Dzogchen” can be translated into English in diff erent ways: as the Great Completion, the Great Perfection, and the Great Exhaustion. It is called the Great Completion because the nature of mind is endowed with all enlightened qualities and everything is complete within it. Everything is complete within this path, within these instructions. If we relate this to our individual path and practice, it means that the mind itself is completely awakened right from the beginning. It is full of the genuine qualities of buddhahood. Th ere is nothing missing. It is called Great Perfection because the nature of mind and the nature of the world is perfect from the beginning. Th ere are no impurities in the true nature of mind. All incidental stains are temporary. Th e true nature, viii / great perfection or reality, of mind is perfect; it is inherently pure. In Dzogchen language, this nature is called original purity—you don’t have to look beyond your immediate experience to fi nd some other thought or emotion that is more sacred, more pure. It is called the Great Exhaustion because, fi rst, from the point of view of the fruition of the path, all the mind’s impurities are exhausted and con- sumed; and second, from the point of view of mind’s true nature, these impurities have never had any true existence. In reality, they have no true essence. Th ey are just the confused appearances of our thoughts. From the positive side we say they are originally pure, and from the point of view of negation we say they are originally nonexistent. Dzogchen Lineage Th e Dzogchen teachings originated in the ultimate enlightened realm of Akanishta, where the primordial buddha Samantabhadra transmitted them to the awakened manifestations of buddhas and bodhisattvas through his great wisdom and compassion. Samantabhadra is known as the dharmakaya buddha. Dharmakaya means “truth body,” or the genuine body of absolute truth. Th e dharmakaya buddha is depicted as being blue in color, which symbolizes expansive, unchanging space that is the ground for all manifestation, the basis for all appearances and the source of all Dharma. He is also depicted as naked, without robes or ornaments, symbolizing the primordial reality of phenomena, the ultimate truth beyond any conceptual or philosophical clothing—beyond any dualistic expres- sion. Th e dharmakaya buddha symbolizes the heart of enlightenment that transcends form and physical existence. Th e Dzogchen teachings are transmitted from the enlightened heart of the dharmakaya buddha to the more manifest form known as the sambhogakaya buddha, which in this case is the buddha Vajrasattva. Sambhog- akaya means the “body of enjoyment.” In this realm, there is a sense of complete joy and complete wealth: wealth of dharma, wealth of wisdom, and wealth of compassion, which manifests endlessly without any limitation. It is not just wealth for oneself; it is wealth that manifests for other sentient beings. Th us, enjoyment here points to both the experience of enlightened beings as well as the experience of those who come into contact with this aspect of reality, for they as well benefi t from this wealth of dharma, joy, and wisdom. To show the richness of this realm, the sambhogakaya buddha foreword / ix Vajrasattva is depicted wearing elaborate ornaments and silken garments. He appears white in color, symbolizing the qualities of luminosity and clarity. Whereas when we look into space, it seems deep blue, the sambhogakaya manifests as radiance, like the light of the moon or sun. Th us, within the space of dharmakaya, we see the sambhogakaya qualities of luminosity, richness, warmth, and clarity. It is taught that the buddha Vajrasattva continually transmits the Dzogchen teachings within the sambhogakaya realm to the fi ve Buddha families . From the sambhogakaya realm, the lineage descends from Vajrasattva to the nirmanakaya buddha, which means the “buddha of manifestation.” A nirmanakaya buddha may manifest in the human realm as a human being like Buddha Shakyamuni . Th e fi rst and most important Dzogchen master in this world was the great vidyadhara, or “master of awareness,” Garap Dorjé , who was born in a place called Oddiyana in the northwest of India. At the great Blazing Mountain Charnel Ground, Garap Dorjé received the complete transmission and key instructions of Dzogchen from Vajrasattva. Th us, the teachings of Dzogchen emanated from the ultimate sphere of reality, the enlightened nature of mind itself, and by means of great wisdom and compassion were transmitted to this world. Th e vidyadhara Garap Dorjé, along with wisdom dakinis, gathered and compiled all the Dzogchen tantras and divided them into 6 ,400,000 verses. At the Cool Grove Charnel Ground , this vidyadhara met his principal disciple and future dharma heir, Manjushrimitra , with whom he spent many years. To him, he transmitted the full cycle of Dzogchen teachings. Before passing into parinirvana, Garap Dorjé entrusted to his lineage suc- cessor his fi nal, extraordinary testament, “Th e Th ree Statements Th at Strike the Vital Point ,” which distills all the Dzogchen tantras into three concise principles. Aft er his guru’s parinirvana, Manjushrimitra classifi ed the 6,400,000 verses of the Dzogchen tantras into three categories: % the outer category—semdé, “Mind Class ” % the inner category—longdé, “Space Class ” % the secret category—mengakdé, “Key Instruction Class ” At the Sosaling Charnel Ground, Manjushrimitra met his principal student, Shri Simha , and transmitted the entire range of Dzogchen teachings to his Dharma heir.

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