Stare at sunlight reflected in water or in some object — and in those moments forget yourself. —Dvapa Nanam (in the Paul Reps style)
Introduction to the Text
The Vijñanabhairava (or Vigyan Bhairav) is an ancient text that outlines many simple methods intended to lead a person to the “spontaneous recognition” of their true nature. Like all the nongradual paths of instant illumination — Tantra, Dzogchen and Zen — the viewpoint of the Vigyan is that a slight shift in perception is all that is needed to discover the Self, recognize your true nature, reach nondual awareness, which is the same ordinary awareness and is always there in the background, or whatever you want to call that state. That coveted nondual awareness everyone talks about, that “cosmic consciousness” — you already have it, you just need to recognize it — like catching a glimpse of sun through clouds that part to reveal an endless sky.
Today it is said that the Vigyan gives 112 of these methods, but it actually contains 163 Sanskrit verses with very important information also given at the beginning and end, which present the philosophy and metaphysics, the nature of reality, which can be thought of as the “bread” of a sandwich containing the “meat” of the methods within. The beginning, and especially the end, may be the most abstract and esoteric parts, while the “112 methods” are the practical manual part of the book. Yet to me there appear to be more than one hundred and twelve methods.
The metaphysical together with the practical features are precisely what make this text a “Tantra,” which works with what is accessible (the body, the senses, perceptions, conceptions, and so on) rather than being just another dry text of philosophy or ritual. Its methods work with living energy that are neither ritual nor practice — they’re simply pokes and pricks and tricks meant to draw your attention to something important. No person is expected to understand or use them all! On the contrary — so many are given so that everyone can find a few that work for them. If even one or two methods work for you, count yourself lucky — that’s all you need!
Comments on Its Structure and Translation
It seemed obvious to me when reading the text that it must have undergone a long period of development, probably several centuries, and that its methods were grouped under broad themes, such as the body, the senses, staring with the eyes, visualizations, meditations on consciousness, on emptiness, and so on. Therefore it seemed equally obvious to treat the verses and methods not as scripture carved in stone but as individual building blocks, some of which I selected and arranged into a more coherent narrative. (The same approach was used for every other text presented on this blog.) Each verse is a standalone method, of course, but grouping a few together reveals a bigger picture.
Just as gallery lighting illuminates individual works of art but cannot light a whole museum, so the selection below hopes to shine small bright lights only on certain portions of the Vigyan — the ones that resonated with me. Whole categories of other methods (e.g., visualizations, meditations on abstract concepts such as “emptiness”) were completely left out.
As a collection of practical wisdom acquired through direct experience, the Vigyan has also been called the Shiva Vijñana Upanishad and the Shaiva Upanishad. It was compiled in its present form probably around the 8th century. The text below is based on Paul Reps’ freewheeling and poetic translation, the first in English (1955), which became timeless with its publication in the classic Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (1957), still in print today.
The Reps translation, which takes up just 14 pages in the 1989 Doubleday edition, may still be the best introduction to the text — but as a poetic, not literal, translation, it has been oversimplified in many places. I updated and modernized the style and language here and there, but in a few places I altered the text substantially after also consulting the translations of Jaidev Singh (1979) and Jan Esmann (2010). The best translation I have found so far is the one by Ranjit Chaudhri in 112 Meditations for Self Realization: Vigyan Bhairava Tantra (2024 ed.); unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to read it yet.
Following each verse I provided the method and verse numbers in parentheses (of the 112/163) for convenient cross-reference against other translations. The “112 methods” were numbered by others; Reps gives only the method numbers, Esmann only the verse numbers, and Singh gives both, though they don’t quite agree.
Gazing with the Eyes
Abide in some place endlessly spacious, clear of trees, hills, habitations. Thence comes the end of mind pressures. (35/60)
In summer, when you see the sky endlessly clear, enter such clarity. (51/76)
Simply by looking into the blue sky beyond clouds, the serenity. (59/84)
Listen to the entire mystical teaching imparted: Eyes still, without blinking, at once become absolutely free. (88/113)
In rain during a black night, enter that blackness as the form of forms. (62/87)
At the edge of a deep well, look steadily into the depth until the void takes you. (90/115)
Meditations on Consciousness
In truth, forms are not separate from each other, just as omnipresent Being and your own form are not separate. Each is made of this consciousness. (75/100)
This so-called universe appears as a juggling, a picture show. To be happy, look upon it so. (77/102)
The appreciation of objects and subjects is the same for an enlightened as for an unenlightened person. The former has one greatness: he remains in the subjective mood. (81/106)
Feel yourself pervading all directions, far, near. (67/92)
Realize, I am everywhere. One who is everywhere is joyous. (79/104)
This consciousness exists as each being, and nothing else exists. (99/124)
Feel the consciousness of each person as your own consciousness, and so become each being. (82/107)
Arresting Impulses
Just as you have the impulse to do something, stop! (64/89)
When some desire comes, consider it. Then, suddenly, quit it. (71/96)
When a mood against someone or for someone arises, do not place it on the person, but remain centered. (101/126)
In and Beyond the Body
When on a bed or a seat, let yourself become weightless, beyond mind. (57/82)
Roam about until exhausted and then, dropping to the ground, in this dropping be whole. (86/111)
At the beginning and end of sneezing, during terror, during sorrow, after a deep sigh, when standing above a chasm, when fleeing from battle, during keen curiosity, in wonder, at the beginning or the end of hunger, in those states find the state you seek. (93/118)
Fixing Attention through the Senses
When vividly aware through some sense, keep in the awareness. (92/117)
See as if for the first time a beautiful person or an ordinary object. (55/)
Look lovingly on some object. Do not go on to another object. Here, in the middle of this object — the blessing. (37/62)
Wherever your mind is wandering, internally or externally, at this very place, this. (91/116)
Wherever your attention alights, at that very point, experience. (104/129)
Wherever satisfaction is found, in whatever act, actualize this. (49/74)
On joyously seeing a long-absent friend, permeate this joy. (46/71)
When eating or drinking, become the taste of the food or drink, and be filled. (47/72)
When singing, seeing, tasting, become that and transcend your limits. (48/73)
Remembering some impression, let your mind be absorbed in that — and, losing its present features, even your form is transformed. (94/119)
Watching the Breath
This experience may dawn between two breaths. As the breath comes in and just before turning up — the beneficence. (1/24)
As breath turns from down to up, and again from up to down, through both of these turns, realize. (2/25)
Or when the breath is all out and stopped by itself, or all in and stopped, in such a universal pause, one’s small self vanishes. (4/27)
When absorbed in worldly activity, keep attentive between the two breaths, and in so doing, in a few days be born anew. (27/51)
Reabsorption into the Center
At the point of sleep when sleep has not yet come but external wakefulness vanishes, at that point Being is revealed. (50/75)
With intangible breath in the center of the forehead, as this reaches the heart at the moment of sleep, regain your sovereign power. (31/56)
As the senses are reabsorbed into the heart, reach the center of the lotus. (25/49)
Secret teachings previously available by initiation only — REVEALED HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!
The discourse below was given live at a Dzogchen retreat held in December 2000 to January 2001. The text itself was extracted from Dzogchen Teachings, Shang Shung Edizioni (2006), which is an English translation of the original lecture given in Italian.
“The principle of the Dzogchen teaching is the self-perfectedness, the already-being-perfect of every individual. Self-perfectedness means that the so-called objective is nothing else than the manifestation of the energy of the primordial state of the individual himself. An individual who practices Dzogchen must possess clear knowledge of the principle of energy and what it means.”
The Three Gates of Body, Voice and Mind
Teachings are for discovering our condition. Teaching is not just words or techniques or a way of doing something, teaching is for discovering ourselves, our true condition. In general there are many kinds of teachings and many masters, but usually we have no real precise idea of what is a teaching and what is a teacher. If someone is teaching, we think that is a master. And if he says you should do this, move this way or do a certain type of practice, then people think, “This is a fantastic master! Before I didn’t know how to do all of these things!” But all this is relative and not the true sense of the teaching, because teaching has to do with our real condition.
If you think, “Ah, I should do it like this, do this position or that practice,” then you have not got the point. You can learn thousands of ways of doing things, but is not so easy to discover your real condition. This is why many people who follow a teaching don’t understand how to get into the essence. We should not just engage in secondary things, we must try to understand the main point of what the master is communicating, and above all when following a teaching like Dzogchen which communicates directly how to discover our true nature.
There are teachings with very different characteristics, and basically there are three because we say there are three conditions in everyone which in Buddhist teaching are called “the three gates.” The three “gates” are body, voice, and mind, which together make a person.
The physical level is easier to understand. If you see someone arriving, you recognize them because you see the physical body. You cannot see a dead person because they have no physical body and you cannot see them. We have no capacity to see beyond the material level; what we see, we see with our eyes, if we shut our eyes we cannot see. In the same way if we shut our ears we cannot hear. We have five or six senses linked with the organs of the senses. We are dependent on these organs without which we cannot perceive anything. This is why we are above all connected to the physical level.
The energy level is very different. For example, if someone has some kind of illness it is much easier for a doctor to discover the problems on the physical level; but if the illness is linked to the energy level, the doctors say there is nothing wrong, because usually doctors examine the physical level. The patient doesn’t get better, while the doctor insists he is not ill. And it is even more difficult to understand the mental level. Teachings too are connected to the levels of body, energy, and mind.
The teachings known as Sutra are related more to the physical level because they were given by Buddha Shakyamuni who had a physical manifestation and they were heard by people listening with their ears. It is called the Path of Renunciation because it renounces all causes of negativities.
Then we have Tantric teaching, which is related more to the energy level, since it was transmitted by manifestations which did not exist on a physical level. Buddha gave the Kalachakra Tantric teaching, but this does not mean he manifested on a physical level; and those who have received it got it through the energy level and not on a physical level. This is called the Path of Transformation. Transformation is not renunciation, and so Sutra cannot have the same principles as Tantra. To say the Sutra is like the Kalachakra is just to show ignorance; even if you have pure vision, Sutra could never be like Tantra.
Dzogchen teaching deals mainly with the mental level. Its principle is that through the mind it introduces the nature of the mind and applies that principle. It is not dealing with transformation: Dzogchen is completely different from the principles of Tantrism and those of the Sutras and it is called the Path of Self-Liberation. These three kinds of teaching are related to the three gates of our condition.
Individual Capacity in Dzogchen
As regards Dzogchen in particular, in order to follow the teaching it isn’t necessary to have perfect capacity, but one thing is important: the fact of being interested. If someone is interested, that means the person already has some relation with the teaching. If we are interested in Dzogchen it means there has been some connection, or you would not even encounter the teaching and the transmission. For that reason we know that a person who is interested has a certain capacity.
Even with great obstacles there is always a possibility of getting the capacity that is lacking. So it doesn’t mean that if you find you don’t have all the necessary capacity you should turn to the Sutra; those who have encountered the Dzogchen path of direct transmission already possess certain capacities, and so it is best to fully develop them. Everything is limited, so our limitations are infinite. If we go after limitations and follow rules which can be infinite in number, we only overcome obstacles temporarily. The most important thing is to become aware and be responsible, then we will not depend on any kind of rule. But being responsible is much more difficult.
In general, problems can always manifest because we live in samsara and not in some place or dimension beyond limitations. And what is more, we are not always aware; even if we are good practitioner sometimes we get distracted, forget about presence and make mistakes. This is not a problem; I never said practitioners never make mistakes. But if we are good practitioners, if we do make mistakes, we notice it immediately and do not hold on to that position. We should immediately notice, purify, and change.
If everything is unreal, why give so much importance to things? Even Buddha in the Sutra teachings says that everything is unreal just like a dream, and in Dzogchen and Tantra we must train ourselves in this knowledge of the unreal. And since the problems are also unreal, why give them any importance? If we don’t give importance to them, as if they were dreams, then there is no source for tensions or attachments to arise. If you have strong tensions and attachments, in general that means you have not trained yourself in the unreality of things and you are giving them too much importance.
We can learn many different kinds of practices and many techniques, but we must understand that these are secondary things. Even within Dzogchen teachings there are many different kinds of practices, and so many think that this is Dzogchen. But it is not Dzogchen. These are secondary practices, and when you have time you can do them because they can help you enter and remain in the state of Dzogchen. But they are not Dzogchen.
Dzogchen is the knowledge of our true condition — it is not just the name of a teaching or a kind of book. Some people think it is something original, a text taught by Garab Dorje, others think it is a teaching given by a master, but even these are secondary things because through teaching you discover your true condition: Dzogchen, which is inside you. We possess this condition, even if we do not discover it or we are ignorant of it; this is the reason we need transmission.
You must understand this is something important: Dzogchen is your own condition, and having the knowledge means to discover this. It is discovered by listening to the teaching and the master and learning what is communicated. The master explains more or less how our condition is and how to discover it and what to do. A Dzogchen retreat is made in this way, therefore we also do practices.
Primordial Potentiality
The nature of energy is movement, and when there is movement there is manifestation. Why do we speak about primordial potentialities? Because in this case we are not talking about manifestation but about the potentiality from which the manifestation originates.
When we speak of the three potentialities we are referring to the potentialities of sound, light, and rays. Having sound, light, and rays means having these potentialities, it does not mean that something has already become manifest. All sentient beings have them, not just human beings, but although we have them we do not know it, we do not have this understanding. In this way we are ignorant. We are ignorant because we do not know our real nature and we are conditioned by dualistic vision.
Since we have these three potentialities — sound, light, and rays — the presence of secondary causes is enough for things to manifest. For example, a mirror has the potentiality to manifest any color or form, there is no need for a program. The mirror has this potentiality, but which reflections will manifest depends on secondary causes: if there is a man in front of the mirror, then a man will be reflected; if there is a tree, then a tree will be reflected. Why? Because these are the secondary causes, while the mirror only has the potentiality to reflect anything whatsoever. Now you have an idea of the meaning of primordial potentiality.
In Tantric teachings one receives an initiation, or the teacher introduces the knowledge of how to transform and the possibility of carrying out the transformation through mantras and so on, so that when one applies the knowledge one can have that manifestation. But that is already a manifestation, not a primordial potentiality. Why can we have that manifestation? Because we have both the primordial potentiality and the secondary causes.
When we are ignorant of our true nature we fall totally into dualistic vision, we believe in the reality of what we are seeing, which we think is true and important. This is the secondary cause that produces samsara [the world of ignorance, illusion and suffering]. Even samsara is only a reflection in the mirror, something which is linked to our primordial potentiality. So we have to work with primordial potentiality.
In Dzogchen we talk of doing Guru yoga. Guru yoga is the name of a practice, and this term is used in all the traditions and in all the schools; but one shouldn’t fixate on the name, because the term is the same but not the substance. You have to understand what Guru yoga means in Dzogchen and what it means in Tantrism; then you will be able to apply and integrate everything without any problem.
In Dzogchen you do Guru yoga in a very simple way, with the visualization of a thigle and a white A, which are only symbols and not our primordial potentiality. We cannot get into our potentiality just by listening to the teacher explaining and thinking we have more or less understood; in order to get into it in concrete fashion we need a method, and when we put it into practice we use these symbols. You see at the center there is a letter A, which represents sound. In general all the letters represent sound.
When we do Guru yoga, the A represents sound, the color white represents light and the five colors the potentiality of the rays. When we receive this knowledge from the master, using this symbol we find ourselves in the state and we relax. In particular, if we sing the Song of the Vajra we work with all our potentialities. In the Dzogchen teaching this is the main practice.
If you follow it seriously, Dzogchen will never ask you to receive initiations and transform yourselves. If you are Dzogchen practitioners, you should have no limits — first of all you should feel totally free. If you are free and aware then you know how to work with circumstances, and so you have no need to be conditioned.
Sometimes people condition themselves. For example, some people say, “I like following the teaching but I don’t like doing practices or chanting,” or they say, “I like spiritual teachings but I don’t like religions.” These are all limitations. Why do you have these limitations? You should feel free. If there are reasons and circumstances, why not follow and apply a religion? It is not a problem. If you limit yourselves by saying that you have to do this or that, then you are creating a limitation by yourselves, and so certainly you don’t feel free. But obviously we need some kind of base, not just to feel free. When we have that base there is no problem and we do not have to limit ourselves.
For example, a master is teaching or applying some things and you have the chance to take part, but you think, “Can I take part? If I do, what problems will I have with my master or my tradition?” This means you are conditioned both by the master and by the tradition. And so you are not free. Instead it would be very important if you could feel free from the very start and work with circumstances in an aware way. This is how we always do Guru yoga.
So we should work with circumstances. If you feel really free, you can be ready to take advantage of whatever circumstance is present to practice. If you do not feel free you will have many doubts.
There are many people who want to create their own teachings, they learn something from Buddhism, from Hinduism, from the Sutra, the Tantra, from Dzogchen, they listen here and there and then they put it all together and write a nice book, hold a seminar and in the end call it teachings. Today many people like following this kind of New Age teaching, many never ask whether there is a source, something authentic; I find this ridiculous, but lots of people do this.
Chogyal Namkhai Norbu toward the end of his career. Behind him is the white Tibetan ‘A’ inside the thigle, the rainbow circle representing the spacious and luminous nature of mind. Credit: International Dzogchen Community
The Importance of Dzogchen Teaching
If we want prosperity, peace, and happiness in our dimension we need to have awareness; if we are not aware we cannot expect there to be harmony and prosperity, because in our dimension none are able like humans are to judge, think, and modify things; we have this capacity so it is important that we know it and that we do our best.
To do our best means, first of all, to have presence and awareness, and this is our aim in following the Dzogchen teachings and trying to understand and apply them. It is important for Dzogchen practitioners to know this and to take on this responsibility.
This is why in Dzogchen teaching we speak first of all about presence and awareness. To put it simply, following Dzogchen teachings means learning to become aware; and when we are, we discover how charged up and wound up we are, how many tensions, emotions, and problems we have, and then we can start to overcome them. If we do not observe ourselves we will not discover this and so talking about peace between nations and in the world will remain merely a nice idea.
In general we know what our condition is in this century, and particularly in the Western world: people who are interested in the teaching do not have many possibilities. In the old days in Tibet it was not like that; anyone who was interested in following a master who lived on a mountain and wanted to dedicate themselves totally to the teaching could do that, because someone would always help them out, they did not have to worry about earning money to live on. If he had the courage to go off to a mountain to live as Milarepa did, a person could easily subsist because all the local inhabitants of the area, as soon as they discovered him, would spread the word and in a few weeks food would be brought for his survival. In the old days it was like that in Tibet. But today even Tibet has moved into modem society.
In the West, anyone who is interested and wants to dedicate themselves to the teaching needs to survive. In the West one has to think about how to earn money and this becomes the main aim of life. Some people say, “You think too much about money, you are too materialistic!” But in the West if you don’t think about money you cannot survive. How is one to maintain a family, a house or a car? If you have a house, do you know how many bills come in at the end of the month? If you have no money, then how can you manage? This is life, and you have to understand what your concrete condition really is.
For example if we learn or get to know a complicated practice, perhaps we try to do it until we are tired, but we cannot carry on for too long because many practices are connected with external conditions: you need a suitable place, enough time, and various other specific conditions and it is not easy to find them because our lives are full of duties.
Dzogchen is not linked to anything external, it is pure knowledge, inner understanding, and in order to apply and practice it there is no need to change anything. Dzogchen will never tell you what your conduct should be or that you should be in a certain way, it only asks that you integrate it with your situation and your circumstances.
Two Kinds of Presence: Attention and “Instant Presence”
We have body, voice, and mind, and oral transmission is related to the voice; symbolic transmission, which uses symbols like the mirror, the crystal, and so on is related to the body, to the material level.
Direct transmission is on the level of the mind, and in this case we use the experience to discover our true condition.
Once we have become familiar enough with true knowledge, what we need is to integrate in this state, and first of all we need to integrate while doing practice. When we do Guru yoga we sing the Song of the Vajra in that moment we integrate everything. But our life is not just singing the Song of the Vajra: after singing we get up, perhaps we go to the bar, to the toilet, to eat, we do many actions; so each moment try to be aware and to integrate in that state. It is not easy but it is not really difficult either, and it is much easier than doing complicated practices every day. We don’t need a particular place or time, we can integrate in any place or time; if we do not remain indifferent there is always this chance.
If you have not yet had perfect knowledge of your true nature it is a bit difficult to integrate, but you can at least try not to get distracted in your daily life. There are two types of presence. One is linked to your attention. You think, “I must not be distracted, I must stay present.” You combine every action with this attention: this is ordinary presence. The other is when you discover instant presence. We say instant because it is beyond judgement and ordinary time.
The Three Vajras: OM A HUM
Even though our true nature is represented by the three syllables of the Vajra, when we go to the essence we just have A, so it is very important to know how to develop and how to get back to the essence. Being in the A means being in the essence; by developing things a bit, from the A we get OM A HUM. So remember the main thing is A and OM A HUM, this is the essence.
So we need to really train ourselves with pure vision and do our best. Unifying all the three Vajras in OM A HUM we maintain the samaya [vow, commitment to the truth]. This practice has no need for complicated rituals, you can do it in any circumstances. Singing means you integrate your vibrations, your feelings, everything goes into instant presence. So it is a very simple practice. The most important thing to do in everyday life is always to do the Guru yoga with the white A.
We can pronounce the sounds OM A HUM separately or even unifying them. In the medium and long practice, at the moment of Guru yoga we sound OM which transforms into A which transforms into HUM and dissolve them into our three seats: in this way we integrate them with the instant presence and continue in this state. All this is unifying in the state of the A, and doing the A practice is everything. This is why I always insist with my students to do Guru yoga with the white A because it is the essence.
The Essence of the Teachings
In the teaching the main thing is not to do some kind of puja [offering, worship]. Many people love receiving initiations, doing pujas with lots of preparations and so on, because then they feel they are doing something wonderful — but nobody can become totally enlightened merely by doing pujas, because pujas are secondary. However, some people who do not know the teaching, or who have no possibility of freely following a path, in participating in a puja they have the sensation that something wonderful is involved. In the West in particular, a majority are fixated on certain sensations and on feeling “vibrations,” thinking that the master who gives them this is amazing — but there are many fine masters and many valid teachers who do not give out “vibrations.”
For the master it is necessary to prepare an elegant throne, fine vestments, and an elegant hat. So in front of a master seated on an elegant throne with elegant clothes and an elegant hat, people feel that he is a fantastic master. But the same effect can be obtained with a stupid master; put on a decorated throne in that way he can seem fantastic, and just the same people can feel “vibrations.”
But when we become Dzogchen practitioners, first of all we try to have that knowledge, and then we integrate with the knowledge itself — or rather we integrate our life in the practice so that practice and daily life do not stay two separate things. If they stay separate we cannot obtain benefits from the teachings.
Egoism is like being in a concrete pipe. And how does it feel in there? You can only see a tiny bit of sky above your head, everything around is made of cement, so you can’t be very happy. In much the same way, when we limit ourselves too much and remain isolated in our egoism, it is an unhappy condition. The root of all this is our limits and what we have to do is free ourselves. Freeing ourselves means getting out of the concrete pipe and being on a mountaintop in the fine weather. See how much difference there is between the two conditions. Limiting oneself is not a happy condition but we do not understand that when we are in it.
So in Dzogchen teaching we always say the first thing to do is to free ourselves.
Sometimes you feel free but you think that you have to do this and that, you think the master said to do this or that practice. But the master said to try to be aware, and when you are aware you can also relax, you can enjoy life and all pleasant situations. If you are always wound up and too concentrated on your tensions, even if there is something nice you don’t even notice, everything is black, everything is against you. All problems are relative to our ideas, to the fact that we give too much importance to something. For example, some people have great attachment to their bodies, they are always worried about illness or physical problems, and this means they are not relaxed. If you are like that, as soon as a secondary cause presents itself, even a minimal one, you can have problems.
From nothing you can create so many serious problems; these are all manifestations of our tension. So it is important to train ourselves to stay with presence. If we are present, these tensions dissolve because we notice as soon as they come up. Usually we don’t notice because we do not observe ourselves. This is the way to practice. Practice, particularly in Dzogchen teaching, consists of being present in our daily life.
In Dzogchen teaching we advise those who don’t feel like practicing not to, whereas in the Sutra it is described as a sort of laziness, and if you don’t fight the laziness it will win and take over your life. This is the point of view of Buddhism in general, but in Dzogchen we teach in a different way: if you really don’t feel like practicing — and here we are talking in particular about formal practices — don’t do it, it is not a problem, but be aware.
Not practicing and being distracted by every little thing is negative; so don’t practice, but be present. It doesn’t matter if you don’t practice today; if you don’t feel like it this means there must be a reason, and until you discover it you will not overcome the problem. So don’t practice, but relax and perhaps you will discover why you don’t want to practice, and so perhaps tomorrow or the next day you will get over it. You should never force yourself to practice, you should always respect yourself.
In the Sutra it says we should practice as if our hair was on fire. If our hair is on fire we cannot think of putting out the fire slowly, we intervene immediately. But doing this in Dzogchen means forcing it, and if we force ourselves we will never reach the essence of the teaching. If we are practicing and while reciting a mantra, for example, we think, “I have to recite this mantra 10,000 times in two days,” then we cannot waste time, and if we force ourselves it doesn’t matter, because our aim is just that of getting through the 10,000 mantras. But in Dzogchen teaching it doesn’t work like that. Our aim is that of total realization, and this means finding our true nature; but we can only get to our true nature if we are relaxed.
When we relax we discover it and this way we can even reach enlightenment. If we are not relaxed, we cannot obtain enlightenment in any way. If you are aware and you are not distracted you will have fewer problems and even when there are problems you will overcome them more easily. If you have problems, try to be aware; don’t panic, thinking, “Oh, I’ve got a problem and there’s nothing I can do about it! “ You can always do something, above all you can always do some practice. And most of all try to relax, don’t get wound up immediately, otherwise everything will really become a problem. I think this is really important in daily life.
Practice in Daily Life
The main practice, first of all, is discovering instant presence, and secondly, integrating in that state at all times. Try not to be distracted, but to be aware of the life and circumstances in which you find yourself. These are the fundamental practices. If we are aware, and we know how the circumstances are, we will have fewer problems and our practice will become more concrete.
Being aware means knowing what our possibilities are. Some people have the intention of dedicating all their life to practice, which is a good idea, but it is not so easy. In particular, some people think of escaping from society or from their condition, which means they are not training themselves to integrate their practice with their life, and they think the samsaric situation is too heavy. But escaping is not the solution; you can escape from a certain situation, but when you are in another circumstance you will recreate the same situation again, even without wanting to.
Perhaps you think you will just be a practitioner, go off to live in a cave on a mountain, but first of all in modern society this is not so easy. In reality you have a physical body, so you depend on food and the circumstances in which you live. But even if you do get the chance to go and live in a cave, if you think you have found peace you have got it wrong, because if you can’t find peace within, then you can’t find it outside yourself either. You might not have problems here, but once you are in your cave on the mountain, you will begin to have them.
When I was 13 years old, I went to do a retreat in a very beautiful place in the forest, where under a rock there was a little house which belonged to a relation of mine. Since it was a sacred place, they had invited me to stay there. The first day I found it wonderful, there was a great silence, it was beautiful, but when night fell I began to be afraid because a wolf pack arrived and gathered, howling and making lots of noise on the rock above. When I was small I used to be scared of that sound, so I no longer felt the peace.
The day after, the howling stopped, but a whole load of monkeys arrived while I was peacefully practicing. They would gather round the window and try to break in. In all the time I spent there I never found real peace, by day and by night there were always problems. At that time I did not know what it meant to integrate, so I kept feeling that my practice was being disturbed. Later when I met my master, Changchub Dorje, and received Dzogchen teaching, I understood that the solution is not that of escaping, but of integrating, because if we feel disturbed, it is mainly due to our tensions.
For example, if I am sitting here practicing and outside someone is making a noise, I think, “Here I am all peaceful and there he is out there making a noise, he is not respecting me or my practice, he is disturbing me!” This situation is due to tension. If I am tense today, then tomorrow I will be even more so, and I will think, “There he is, still there making a noise!” So day by day tension develops, and in the end I rush out and quarrel with the person, or I run away somewhere else. As you can see, the root of the problem is linked to my tension.
If we are really integrating and we are in instant presence, then there is no difference between being up on a peaceful mountain or in a big railway station, because movement and noise are part of our energy; if we do not set ourselves up in a dualistic way, if we integrate, then our tensions disappear. This is the method for integrating practice into our daily life.
In Dzogchen teaching this is very important: our life is movement and not just quiet, but when we know that movement is a great part of our energy, we do not remain in dualistic thinking, “I am here, there is movement, movement is causing me problems.” If we do not fall into dualism, movement will not create problems. In life we can always integrate something, there is no need to change anything, we don’t need to change clothes, attitude, or the way we are, we stay as we are, take life as it is.
You should live in society. Up until now you have done work, which gave you the chance to earn money; naturally if you find something better, you can change your work, but that is your condition, it is nothing negative. You can integrate your work in your practice. You can integrate any kind of work; we can always work with awareness, and we can always be present instead of being distracted, and this is the practice of integration. If we work with awareness without being distracted, the work goes better. When tensions arise, we notice them but we don’t give them any importance; in this way your work will not become too heavy. So first of all we need to be aware of the condition of our life.
I am not saying that you should always practice sitting down cross-legged, chanting and visualizing something, but how can anyone say, “I cannot do the practice of being aware”? You can be aware at any moment, and it is better for you. If you don’t want to do this practice or you don’t consider it a practice, then that is another thing, but if you consider it a practice, then you can do it at any time, in any circumstances — while you are working, while you are walking, while you are sitting down, at every moment try to be aware — this is the practice.
The Direct Path
In all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, not only does one normally have to proceed gradually up through all the levels of Sutra and Tantra, but before being allowed to practice Tantra at all, one has to complete a sequence of preliminary practices, the Ngondro, which nowadays are also known as the four foundational practices. Their purpose is to develop the capacity of the individual where it is lacking, and it is absolutely correct and traditional that they are a prerequisite for certain levels of Tantric practice.
But Dzogchen, as the Path of Self-Liberation, approaches the situation in another way; its principle is different from that of the Tantras. Garab Dorje didn’t say: “First teach the Ngondro.” He said that the first thing to be done was for the master to introduce the disciple directly to the primordial state, so that the student would have a clear experience of it and would then have no doubts as to the fact that the state is the true condition of all phenomena.
Afterwards, he said, the disciple should continue in the state, and if obstacles arose that would make this impossible, he or she should apply the specific practices necessary to overcome those obstacles: if one discovered the lack of a given capacity, one should dedicate oneself to a practice that would allow one to develop it. Thus one can see that the principle of Dzogchen relies on the awareness of the practitioner in deciding what must be done, rather than on a rule compulsorily applied to one and all. This is how it must be in Dzogchen.
