THE MIRROR The International Newspaper of the Dzog-chen Community Issue 20 SPACE IN THE EYE OF THE STORM IN THIS ISSUE Dzog-chen: the Path by Des Barry The long anticipated retreat of of Self-Liberation the beginning of Spring, with the Chögyal Namkhai Norbu crocuses blooming, the sap of the page 2 maple trees dripping gently into the gatherers' buckets, and the vajra songs of the students gathered with Retreat reports from their Maestro, floating over the balmy air of the grounds of Venezuela Stone le igh Burnham School, turned pages 4& S out to be something rather different. The Maestro and those travelling with him, arrived bundled in down UK community buys vests, woollen scarves, and long underwear, to face an extremely farm in Wales persistentNew England winter. The page* snow still lay deep in the fields; and the sides of the roads were piled high after many a storms' plowing. Merigar news Still, we began on time, with page7 community people from Japan, Rus­ sia, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Mexico, Venezuela and We who live under Argentina, all gathering with the East coast locals for a retreat of the shadow... Long De. Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche Merigar participates in began immediately with a beautiful against the windows of the room. Conway, and surrounding, sank the Dzog-chen Long De. Then, local conference discourse on the lineage of Long As Rinpoche laid the foundation under a heavy blanket, as white as together we practised, in order to John Shane De, interspersed with tales of his of understanding, from the basis of wonderbread, the houses wrapped participate in the empowerment own experience, to inspire the su tra, tantra and Dzog-chen, to the in the growing drifts. Outside, and necessary for the transmission of page 10 creative imagination of the students warm and comfortable participants, throughout the night, the ploughs Long De, from Master to Students. towards a desire to practice; and to the storm gained in intensity, and shouldered aside the snow to keep In the afternoon, Rinpoche gave whet the appetite for the teachings snow began to drift across he the roads clear, and the morning a detailed overview of the three Dzongsar Khyentse to come. roadways of Stoneleigh Burnham dawned on our driveways, buried a series of teachings, and drew Rinpoche School. News came that all roads foot, cars barely visible, and the parallels between the four Naljyor Ominous portents, however, speaks with PaoloBrunatto filled the airwaves, as the media were being closed, including the promise of certain steady shovelling of the Sem De series on the mind, warned of a gigantic storm, sweeping main Interstate Highway, so the to make oursevles mobile again to and the Mahamudra system page 11 up from the south, which would retreat participants dispersed from reach the morning teaching. particular to Gampopa. He touched reach us by noon of the next day. our gathering to their respective The effort wasn't without its good briefly onLongDe, which he was to A spiritual adventure Prudence demanded that we prepare, hotels to wait out the storm. result. Rinpoche explained the develop in the following days, and but the next morning's teachings The wind howled, and the ever origin of certain transmissions of then explained the four Cho ja of the in Outer Mongolia Manngag De. began, without losing any time, persistent powder sifted down from Tonpa Nonzog Gyalpo, and how Rena Kühn while the first snow wraiths swirled the heavy clouds. The hills of these tantras were connected with continued on page 5 page 12 On Emptiness and Compassion Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche Book review page 13 A transcription of part of a TEACHING TOUR CONTINUES panel discussion at the 1992 Conference of the European Since the beginning of 1993, Namkhai Norbu Reflections Buddhist Union in Berlin Readers' views and between well-known Rinpoche has been travelling and teaching extensively teachers from different through South America from the Argentinian gar, impressions Buddhist schools including Tashigar through Peru and then Venezuela where he page 14 the Ven. Sangharakshita, taught in Menda and Caracas. founder of the Friends of the In the United States Rinpoche gave teachings at Western Buddhist Order, H.H. the Dalai Lama the Ven. Rewata Dhamma, Tsegyalgar in Massachusetts followed by seminars in teaching venues scholar and teacher of New York City. Theravada Buddhism, the On his return to Europe he will hold a 10 day retreat page 16 Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh, a at Merigar, Italy over the Easter period and after a Vietnamese Zen master and brief pause, will travel on to teach in Austria and then Practices for special the Ven. Sogyal Rinpoche, a Dzog-chen master and for the first time in Israel and Thailand. Later in the days calendar summer, Rinpoche will give a 10 day retreat in Japan. found er of the Rigpa centres. page 16 pages 8 & 9 page 3 ISSUE 20 2 Dzog-chen: the Path of Self-Liberation "When we discover our real nature, we discover everything" A transcription edited from the Looking in the mirror is only an teachings of Namkhai Norbu example because of course you Rinpoche given at the Pagoda, Bois cannot discover all your limitations de Vincennes in Paris, France on and problems in the mirror. July 23rd, 1992. Observing your limitations, your existence, your attitude and your Now I want to explain what the intention you can discover many of characteristics of the Dzog-chen the sources of your problems. So teaching are. You have learned a this is one of the most important little about the sutra and tant ra functions of the mirror. The mirror teachings whose characteristic makes you understand that you must methods are called the Path of observe yourself instead of judging Renunciation and the Path of others. Transformation. The characteristic method of the Dzog-chen teaching Potentiality is the Path of Self-Liberation. But Another very important function you must understand thatDzog-chen of the mirror is for discovering what is not only the title of a teaching. It is meant by our potentiality. All is very important that you notice sentient beings have infinite that potentiality, not only human beings. In general people always use But if we are human beings we can different titles of teachings such as observe and discover that we have the "upadesa series". You consider great potentiality. How can we it something special but you don't discover this potentiality and its really discover what Dzog-chen is. nature? First of all we must observe To know or discover the real sense ourselves and then we know that we of the Dzog-chen teaching you don't have this potentiality. Then through need the title of a book or teaching the example of the mirror we can or some particular type of study understand what being in our real because when you read or follow a nature means. Knowing or being in book, you are constructing our real nature means beyond intellectual knowledge. You will judging and doing analyses. Then never really discover your state of we leam with the example of the Dzog-chen that way. You can mirror. discover it if you listen well and try For example, if there is a mirror to understand the meaning of the in front of you, you look in the teaching and then use methods. mirror and see different kinds of Method means you work concretely reflections. They may be nice or with your experience; that is the ugly things, big or small, different only way you can discover the real Rainbow Vajra Mandala (<D Marc Morrei) colours and shapes. When you look meaning of Dzog-chen. This does in the mirror you are attached to the not belong to any kind of title or concept then how can you transform through the symbol of the mirror? will leam the point of view of the object which is reflected there. book. So you must not be and what do you transform? You are First of all, with a mirror you must Sakyapa. If you are following the conditioned by books and try to transforming impure vision in pure observe yourself, not only looking Kagyupa tradition then youwill leam Dualistic vision understand what is being vision. You are transforming your at objects, judging and thinking that the Kagyupa point of view. Then In the sutra teaching of the communicated. That is the principle five aggregations in five Dhyani this is good or bad, this is pure or you will defend the Kagyupa point Buddha it says that everything is of your capacity. Buddhas and your five elements in impure. When you have this concept of view and negate others. There are based on interdependency. An object If you don't have the capacity to the five yum of the Buddhas, your then you also have dualistic vision. many arguments between schools in front of the mirror and the mirror 's follow in that way in order to five emotions in the five wisdoms. How can you overcome this? You and scholars. If you study the capacity to manifest reflections are discover your state, then we say that You have a precise concept of pure observe yourself instead of looking Madhyamika and Prajnaparamita interdependent. Through that person has no capacity to follow and impure vision. So you also have at objects. For example, if you are texts then you must follow one of interdependence the reflection Dzog-chen teaching. But this doesn't the consideration that impure has no looking in a mirror, you can see these methods.