Chodpa

"All and everything emanates from me,

so all and everything, whatever appears,

is revealed as transmission,

revelation of timelessly pure basic spaciousness ... "

I thought I’d share a few reflections on a very beautiful poem by Mansur Hallaj.

"Stillness, then silence, then random speech,

This post is an exploration of Natural Perfection or Lhungrub in Tibetan (ཀ་དག་) — the third of a series of posts on Dzogchen key terms. Natural Perfection is pointing to the natural, effortless manifestation of phenomena from the ground of being (Gzhi). It is the dynamic aspect of the mind that allows for the continuous arising of experiences and appearances without any deliberate effort or construction.

With Lhungrub / Natural Perfection, we can see that all phenomena, regardless of whether they belong to Samsara (the cycle of birth and death) or Nirvana (liberation), arise spontaneously from the same primordial ground. And that those phenomena are not inherently separate from this ground, much like clouds in the sky, which appear and disappear without affecting the sky’s nature itself.

You can read the full post In Dzogchen what is Natural Perfection / Spontaneous Presence (Lhungrub)? at my Luminous Emptiness blog:

https://luminousemptiness.co.uk/a-shower-of-wisdom-a-guru-yoga-of-garab-dorje/

Since everything is complete in the state of Natural Perfection, nothing needs to be rejected or altered, and nothing needs to be added or removed. The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thodol)

The essence of all phenomena is the self-arising and spontaneously present nature of reality. It is not something fabricated or created by effort, nor is it improved by meditation or diminished by distraction. Like the sun shining in the sky, its presence is constant, unobstructed, and complete from the beginning. Whatever arises — whether it is perceived as pure or impure, samsaric or nirvanic — arises within the expanse of spontaneous presence. This is the display of the ground, the primordial state, where nothing needs to be added or taken away. To rest in this state is to abide in the Great Perfection, free from duality and elaboration. The Kunjed Gyalpo (The Supreme Source)

All phenomena, uncontrived and spontaneous, arise from the Natural State. Rest in this perfection without striving. Flight of the Garuda Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol

Natural Perfection is the essence of the three realms, arising spontaneously as the uncontrived display of the ground. It is not something created through meditation or diminished by distraction, for it is the primordial state that transcends all effort. Like a mirror reflecting all forms without bias or alteration, spontaneous presence is the radiant expression of the ground, complete and unchanging. To recognize this is to rest in the self-liberating nature of all appearances, where samsara and nirvana are seen as inseparable. In this state, all striving ceases, and the luminous clarity of awareness reveals itself as the ultimate reality. The Lamp of the Three Realms (Trikaya Dronma)

With great joy I came across this Guru Yoga of Garab Dorje the other day by Mipham Rinpoche. What a blessing indeed!

Sometimes I cannot comprehend how wondrous it is that the conditionless and conditions manifest such profoundly helpful Dharmas at such moments. Or comprehend how blessed I am to receive these connections, this Tendrel (རྟེན་འབྲེལ་), this auspicious coincidence, this interdependence.

I found myself drawn deeply to this prayer, and whilst not having received an empowerment for it, was compelled to recite it. How deeply it reverberated. How wondrous this feeling where something plays through you, rather than you ‘doing’ it yourself.

Emptiness staring at emptiness, primordially pure.

Spontaneous presence.

Immeasurable compassion.

ཨཱ། བདག་གི་སྤྱི་གཙུག་པད་ཟླའི་གདན་སྟེངས་སུ། ། ah, dak gi chitsuk pé dé den teng su Āḥ! At the crown of my head, upon a lotus and moon-disc, དཔལ་ལྡན་རྡོ་རྗེ་སེམས་དཔའ་སྤྲུལ་པའི་སྐུ། ། palden dorjé sempa trulpé ku Is the nirmāṇakāya emanation of glorious Vajrasattva, དགའ་རབ་རྡོ་རྗེ་དཀར་གསལ་སྤྲུལ་སྐུའི་ཆས། ། garab dorjé karsal tulkü ché Garab Dorje, brilliant white and with nirmāṇakāya ornaments,

You can read the full Guru Yoga text and the post A Shower of Wisdom — A Guru Yoga of Garab Dorje at my Luminous Emptiness blog:

I turn to Ryokan’s poetry over and over again. For me, nobody captures in poetry the magical essence of the spiritual life, indeed, of life like he does. How wonderous his words, painting pictures — pictures that rest in the heart, illuminating form and emptiness, and their interplay.

When all thoughts Are exhausted I slip into the woods And gather A pile of shepherd’s purse.

How resonant the image of this old monk, settling his mind in Samadhi, then gathering this simple plant / herb. What action do we take when we rest in nondual awareness, in Rigpa? What is to be done?

Just life. Life as it is. Anything at all. Plain or elevated. Simple or complex. Inward or outward. But whatever it is, it is done from the heart — the heart of nondual awareness, this pristine naked knowingness, that is primordially pure, and ever expressive.

You can read the full post at my Luminous Emptiness blog:

https://luminousemptiness.co.uk/reflections-ryokan-zen-poems/

Reflections and over 100 quotations from the Dzogchen source texts.

Read the full blog post: https://luminousemptiness.co.uk/kadag-primordial-purity-dzogchen/

This post is an exploration of Primordial Purity, or Kadag in Tibetan (ཀ་དག་). The concept of Kadag is central to Dzogchen. It refers to the inherent, unconditioned purity of the nature of mind and reality itself. It is sometimes also translated as “original purity” or “alpha purity.” Kadag is not something to be created or attained but is the recognition of the unconditioned and always-present nature of reality. It is the very foundation for realizing the natural state in Dzogchen practice.

When you rest in recognition of Primordial Purity, there is a purity that is utterly stainless, utterly beyond all comings and goings, beyond all characterisation, in truth. Saying ‘purity’ makes it sound like the opposite of impure, but it really isn’t that. It’s a primordial purity that lies beyond pure and impure. Pure and impure relate to the contents of mind. But this is mind’s nature itself. Whatever beautiful, peaceful and seemingly pure states of mind that come up — that’s not it. Kadag is an aspect of the nature of mind. That means it never arises or ceases, it is not conditioned by anything else, and is entirely ungraspable by mind’s cognitive focus or attention.

The nature of all phenomena is the great purity of the primordial ground, free from all elaborations. It is not created by causes, nor does it arise through conditions. It is beyond mind’s grasp, always pure and undefiled.

Kun byed rgyal po (The All-Creating King)

Original purity is not something fabricated through effort or attained through practice. It is simply the natural condition, free from the stains of dualistic perception and conceptual elaborations.

Dzogchen Semde teaching

Tilopa asked the wisdom Ḍākinī: what is awakening [Buddha]? The wisdom Ḍākinī responded: Tilopa! When the mind looks at mind, the ‘looker’ is mind, the ‘looked at’ is also mind. Like space gazing at space, both the ‘gazer’ and the ‘gazed at’, are naturally dissolved in purity.

What a truly wonderful teaching! When I first read it I felt the presence of the Dakini and Tilopa, as if I was there as it unfolded. What a marvelous display this nature of mind conjures up.

When Tilopa asks what is awakening, what is this Buddha state, the wisdom Dakini’s answer is so clear and direct. When you search for this nature of mind, this Rigpa, what is searching? Look at this that searches, and what is the nature of this looking, this looker? Don’t look with attention, that aspect of mind which focuses like a laser light, which looks one dharma at a time, and knows things conceptually. Instead, relax back into the spacious awareness, that which holds all simultaneously, which does not differentiate between them, and allow yourself to see from this wide open awareness that which searches for mind. Then know this that looks at mind, allow yourself to ‘see’ this that looks.

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You can read the full post for free including the full teaching of the Wisdom Dakini’s Oral Instructions on the Bardo to Tilopa at my Luminous Emptiness blog:

https://luminousemptiness.co.uk/severing-the-bardo-once-and-for-all/

I want to share an extensive collection of my favourite quotes from the Dzogchen source texts on the Primordial Ground (gzhi):

https://luminousemptiness.co.uk/dzogchen-primordial-ground-gzhi/

Inspired by Malcolm Smith’s Wisdom Academy course: Dzogchen: Ten Key Terms I’ve been reflecting a lot on the terms he focuses on.

Rest in natural great peace

This exhausted mind

Beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thought

Like the relentless fury of pounding waves

In the infinite ocean of samsāra.

Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorje Natural Great Peace

So clear, so direct. This is the start and the end of it. Rest in natural great peace, the nature of mind, Rigpa.

The beginning, middle and end of Dzogchen

How do we start in Dzogchen? We are introduced to this natural great peace. We are directly pointed to a recognition of Rigpa which is primordially peaceful as it lies entirely beyond the sufferings of Samsara. This is the view, this Tawa.

What is the path of Dzogchen? Simply resting in this recognition, nothing more. You don’t need to cultivate anything. You couldn’t change or improve this natural great peace even if you tried! Once you are introduced to the nature of mind then all you need do is rest there. It’s not a path of renunciation. There’s nothing we need to give up. All of life is available to us with the Dzogchen path. All of it can be integrated. All of it reveals the true nature of mind.

Rest there in this empty luminosity. Rest in whatever manifestations arise. Rest as they naturally cease. Never straying from that nature, however diverse their appearances. This is Gompa — meditation, and Chopa — conduct.

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You can read the full post for free at my Luminous Emptiness blog:

The Six Vajra Verses of Vairotsana

Hey, Mahasattva, Magnificent Being, listen! The nature of multiplicity is Nondual and things in themselves are pure and simple; being here and now is construct-free and it shines out in all forms, always all good; it is already perfect, so exertion is redundant and spontaneity is ever immanent.

Vairotsana Original Perfection: Vairotsana’s Five Early Transmissions Translation and Commentary by Keith Dowman

The siren call of the groundless ground

I am drawn over and over again to the early teachings of Dzogchen. They appear so simple, pure, and direct. They speak to me in a way which is like silence speaking to silence. Like stillness reflecting silence. Like awareness aware of awareness.

Not the graduated path of later Dzogchen, as it was increasingly assimilated into Vajrayana, and took on many of its guises. Just pointing directly to this, and rejecting all paths and practices – just this.

I have no skin in this particular game, and no wish to combat with those who are deeply learned in the Dzogchen tradition, who would point out how mistaken I am. I don’t have a philosophical position that says no path, no Vajrayana basis, no practice. And you could even say that I do practice in a sense, if merely resting in Rigpa is a considered a practice?

But these early Dzogchen teachings (from what is known as the Semde series) say in no uncertain terms that all practice is an error – you cannot get anywhere, you cannot improve anything, everything is already perfect and complete. The Great Perfection, the Great Completion.

You can read the full post for free at my Luminous Emptiness blog:

Reflections on Vairotsana’s Wonderful Cuckoo’s Song Of Awareness

This Rigpa which is pointed to is nothing like the words used to point to it. Yet beings cannot help trying to point to it with words! No matter that any concept that forms in your mind is not ‘it’ in ‘itself’.

Any object, any subject, any this or that is not it. Beyond all notions or concepts, yet how to point to it without words and concepts?

What lies beyond the concept that we use to try to convey minds nature — its nature that is as-if awaiting you, never other than what it is, never anywhere else? Always right there, right now, even though not of time and space?

How do you stop looking at the finger pointing to the moon — the concept or metaphor expressed, and see what is pointed at?

Let Dudjom Rinpoche show us how …

You can read the full post for free at my Luminous Emptiness blog:

Pointing Out the Nature of Mind — Dudjom Rinpoche

Read the full post on my blog: https://luminousemptiness.co.uk/biography-of-garab-dorje/ Summary: Garab Dorje, the first human teacher of Dzogchen in Tibetan Buddhism, was born in Uddiyana around the 1st century CE. His birth, shrouded in legend, includes miraculous accounts of immaculate conception. At just seven years old, he astounded 500 scholars in a debate, demonstrating his profound spiritual wisdom. Uniquely, Garab Dorje received Dzogchen teachings directly from celestial beings. His legacy is encapsulated in the "Three Words that Strike to the Heart," the essence of Dzogchen practice. At his parinirvana, he dissolved into rainbow light, passing these teachings to Manjushrimitra in a golden casket, ensuring their preservation for future generations.

"In the process of searching for all that manifests as mind and matter

There is neither anything to be found nor is there any seeker,

For to be unreal is to be unborn and unceasing

In the three periods of time.

That which is immutable

Is the state of great bliss." https://luminousemptiness.co.uk/savaripa-on-the-nature-of-mind/

Today I came across Longchenpa’s final testament — The Immaculate Radiance. I found reading the words of this incomparable Dzogchen master who was giving his final teaching just before he died, profoundly moving. What a life he led! How could you begin to measure his life, perhaps unlike that of any other?

My delight at death is much greater than the joy of traders who have made their fortunes at sea, the lords of the gods who have proclaimed their victory in war, or those sages who are abiding in absorption. Now, Perna Ledrel Tsal will not remain here much longer. I go to secure the blissful and deathless nature.

You can read the full post for free at my Luminous Emptiness blog:

Immaculate Radiance: A Testament — Longchenpa

(8 minute read)