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For those interested in Dzogchen.
Citta
Veteran
in Philosophy
I think reading about Dharma is a mixed blessing at best...it is easy to end up in a confused tangle of other peoples ideas..
However I also know that reading can lead to seeking out living breathing people with beating hearts to learn from.
So in that spirit, and in response to several queries about Dzogchen I would like to recommend
" The Roaring Silence " by Ngakpa Chogyam and Khandro Dechen.
It provides an introduction to some very subtle ideas, that is immediately accessible.
Many of the publications that deal with the subject assume a good deal of prior knowledge and vocabulary...
The Roaring Silence is pragmatic without being condescending.
However I also know that reading can lead to seeking out living breathing people with beating hearts to learn from.
So in that spirit, and in response to several queries about Dzogchen I would like to recommend
" The Roaring Silence " by Ngakpa Chogyam and Khandro Dechen.
It provides an introduction to some very subtle ideas, that is immediately accessible.
Many of the publications that deal with the subject assume a good deal of prior knowledge and vocabulary...
The Roaring Silence is pragmatic without being condescending.
1
Comments
" Wearing The Body Of Visions " and
" Journey Into Vastness "
Both by Ngakpa Chogyam..one of the most intriguing and thought provoking of modern Dharma teachers.
Based upon what I have read so far I'm amazed at how much it speaks to me and reveals the nature of my spiritual experiences with agreeability and comfort. I have been so moved that I'm currently looking for a center in Southern California in the Nyingma tradition in order to receive formal instruction.
Although ChNN is a Nyingma Lineage holder he numbers among his students a number of Christian monks and nuns, and at least one Sufi teacher.
Although having said that it should be noted that ChNN does not encourage a new age or eclectic approach..all his students are encouraged to live out the exterior discipline of their own tradition..whether Buddhist or Christian or Bon etc..
He sees Dzogchen as the vehicle that points to the origin of all traditions,
PS I have just googled and there is a ChNN centre in Berkeley.
Whether that is South, East, or North California I know not. Posting as I am from drizzly England.
The Tibetan Gelug Buddhist and Eastern Orthodox Christian traditions I had previously followed brought me to Dzogchen, but I can't see adhering to either as I believe they have fulfilled their purpose for me spiritually.
It is difficult to explain, but they no longer nurture the view I have been blessed to glimpse and in a way restrict it, but I don't say this in a negative way though. For me it is what it is. I hope this makes sense.
Any other insights you can provide on the subject is greatly appreciated.
It wont be to everyone's taste
In short ( though "in a nutshell " is beyond my skills )
Dzogchen is a direct seeing into our original nature which happens through the intervention of a
realised teacher. Without such a teacher Dzogchen is impossible.
Many who receive the necessary transmission are followers of Buddhadharma, but many are not. It is therefore problematic to describe Dzogchen as a Buddhist school..
By far the best way to find out more is to link up with a local Dzogchen group in person.
Failing that there are books such as the one I recommend in the OP, and there is a new website
Vajracakra.com which hosts many western Dzogchen teachers and students including the former "Namdrol " who no longer identifies himself as a Buddhist and is known by his birth name.. Malcolm.
So goodwill to all and I may be back with the blooming of the Bluebells in the English woodlands..
Namaste.
Nothing to grasp. Nothing else needed.
-Dilgo Khentse Rinpoche
Longer version here:
http://www.nyingma.com/dzogchen1.htm
Dzogchen is a fairly specialist topic with its own vocab. This does not sit well imo with a generalist ( and extremely useful ) Buddhist forum like New Buddhist.
So I hope I am not out of line when I suggest that anyone interested in Dzogchen should drop into Vajracakra.com.
I don't think however that this implies a more advanced teaching...indeed, Dzogchen is simple.
It does require putting yourself unconditionally into the hands of a teacher.
It is vitally important therefore to be sure of any given teacher to the furthest degree possible before placing yourself in that situation.
What then follows is not so much a matter of more or less advanced teachings..its all in the relationship.
Obviously for Asians as well as westerners it is to a great extent self-selecting.
I think what worries some teachers is the western tendency to assume that they can do it from books.
And/or that it is like some other teaching already known to them. Or that it can be casually " tried " alongside a whole market stall of other means.
Anyone who sees themselves as sturdily independent and wary of what they see as authority figures will run a mile from Dzogchen.
This is not a matter of higher or lower.
Except that it starts by putting the forehead to the floor....literally.
And being faithful to one teacher and one tradition...being spiritually monogamous.
Is not voluntarily trusting completely in a teacher very like being independent? I always feel that this sort of commitment cannot be made genuinely by someone who is not an independent spirit. Only a thought.