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11thJuly2015
Dharmat is adorned with vidy, vidy is adorned with pristine
consciousness [ye shes], pristine consciousness is adorned with
compassion,*alsocompassionisunceasing.

GarabDorjefromIlluminatingtheMeaningoftheMajurNmasagti

*ThesecondtwoclausesarealsofoundintheVimaNyinthig.
Posted11thJuly2015byMalcolmSmith
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7thJuly2015

Lifespans

Thelifeofanembodiedperson
isimpermanent,likeadream
nothingisaccomplishedbyadream.
Thislifeisimpermanentlikeastrongriver.
Fallingwaterdoesnotstayinoneplace.
Thislifecannotbeheld,likethewind.
Apersoncannotholdthethewind.
Thislifeisshortlikeanapparition.
Anapparitionneverstaysforever.
Thislifeisfalselikeanillusion.
Thestateoftruthcannotbeheldbyanillusion.
Thislifeislikeaguestwhodoesnotstay.
Aguestneverstays.
Thislifeisuncertainlikearaincloud,
onecannevertimeacloud.[27/a]
Assuch,thelifespanofaperson
isnotfixedinonewaylikethis.
Thetime[ofdeath]issuddenandsurprising,
itcannotbeanticipated.

TheUnionoftheSunandMoonTantra
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Posted7thJuly2015byMalcolmSmith
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11thDecember2013

Vairocana'sSongofBodhicitta

TheSongoftheBeneficialQualitiesofBodhicittaIllustratedwithSixSimiles
Bodhicittaisprecious
likethesunandmoon,givingclearillumination.
Bodhicittaisprecious
likespace,havingneverexisted.
Bodhicittaisprecious
likeSumeru,neverchangingplace.
Bodhicittaisprecious
likeariver,alwaysflowing.
Bodhicittaisprecious
likearainbow,itcannotbeheld.
Bodhicittaisprecious
likeagem,thesourceofneedsandwants.
Posted11thDecember2013byMalcolmSmith
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21stNovember2013

PerfectKnowledge...

We all have moments of perfect knowledge, they happen all the

time.Weneedonlytorecognizethem.
Posted21stNovember2013byMalcolmSmith
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7thNovember2013

MindEssence

ariputra, that which is absence of change and the absence of

conceptsinallphenomenaiscalled"themindessenceofthemind".
ryadaashasrikprajpramitnmamahynastra
Posted7thNovember2013byMalcolmSmith
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3rdNovember2013

It'sallgood

Vairocanasaid:

Accordingtogradesofcapacity,thereareindividualgateways
intotheinnermostviewofultimatedharmat
Onewillobtainorrealizetheresultbyrealizingany
doctrineinthevehicleofthesublimeDharma.
Posted3rdNovember2013byMalcolmSmith
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26thOctober2013

Vidyandavidy

Vairocanasaid:

Atthetimeofvidy,wisdomarisesasthedhtu
atthetimeofavidy,wisdomappearsassamsara
thoughthereisagreatdifferencebetweenvidyandavidy,
allthebuddhasofthethreetimes
nevermovefromthegreatdhtuitself.
Atthetimeofavidy,itistheallbasis,
thatnevermovesfromthedharmatdhtu
atthetimeofvidy,itisthegreatblissfuldharmakya.
Posted26thOctober2013byMalcolmSmith
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4thSeptember2013

AvidyandVidy

...thoughsamsaraandnirvanaappearseparately,vidyandavidy
arebothinonesmind.

TheWheelThatAscertainstheViewoftheCuckoo
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Posted4thSeptember2013byMalcolmSmith
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ImpossibilitiesII

12thJune2013

Itisnotpossiblefordeludedthoughtstoarise
intheonewhodifferentiatessamsaraandnirvana.
TantraoftheBlazingLamp
Posted12thJune2013byMalcolmSmith
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Selfliberation

4thJanuary2013

Perfectdharmatisnonarising,
alternately,selfliberatedwithoutgrasping.
Why?Thecauseofselfliberation
isunceasingnonattachment.
Itisfreefromamindofgraspingattachment.
Recognizethisagainandagain.
Ifonefamiliarizesoneselfrepeatedly,
oneispersonwhohasseenthetruth.
TheTantraofSelfArisenVidy
Posted4thJanuary2013byMalcolmSmith
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23rdOctober2012

Impossiblities

"Itisnotpossibleforsamsaratocomefromvidy."
Vimalamitra'sAuralLineage
Posted23rdOctober2012byMalcolmSmith
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19thOctober2012

Rangrig

Ihaveoftenmentionedwhy,inmyopinion,itisincorrecttotranslaterangrig
as "selfawareness" or "intrinsic awareness". Beyond the fact that rig pa
means "knowledge", and is the antonym of ma rig pa ignorance, there is
muchconfusionregardingthecompound"rangrig".
Manypeopleincorrectlyassumethatrangrigisacontractionof"ranggisrig
pa" i.e. selfknowing, as indicated by the instrumental particle gis. The
compoundisinfactacontractionofranggirigpawhichwecanunderstand
from the genetive particle gi as we can clearly see in the comment on the
following line of the sgra thal gyur: /rang rig rtog pa kun 'bral bas/ [Adzom
Chogaredition].
Thecommentaryforthislinefoundinthesgrathalgyurcommentaryreads
/deyanggzhanlasmabyungbasrangrigpa/i.e."Further,sinceitdoesnot
comefromelsewhere,[itis]one'svidy".
Further proof of the above reading may by found in the rendering of this
citationintherecentlymentionedAuralLineage,[dgongspazangthal,vol4,
pg. 335, Simla edition] which gives a slightly different form of the citation:
/ranggirigpakungrolbas/i.e."Sinceone'svidyisfreefromall..."
ThattheauthoroftheAuralLineageglossessrangrigwithranggirigpais
significant,inthatitshowshowDzogchenmastersofthepastnaturallythink
aboutthisconstruct.

Posted19thOctober2012byMalcolmSmith
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18thOctober2012

Introduction

Thoughthenatureofvidypervadesall,
thedharmakyaisencounteredintheintimateinstructions.
TheUnwrittenTantra
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TreasuryofAti

Posted18thOctober2012byMalcolmSmith

search

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Classic Flipcard Magazine Mosaic Sidebar Snapshot Timeslide

14thOctober2012

TheStateofRealizationoftheTathgatas

Thestateofrealizationofthetathgatasisoftwokinds:
sensationsceasethroughunfabricatedequipoise
heatisobtainedthroughtheuncultivatedview.
TheTantraofTheUnionofTheSunandTheMoon
Posted14thOctober2012byMalcolmSmith
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27thSeptember2012 APreliminaryNoteonVimalamitra'sAuralLineage

[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/
CAgZcEG_wb0/UGNYFzEmaeI/AAAAAAAAAOU/hinCWHtWIlc/s1600/vimalamitra.jpg]
PanditaVimalamitra
Courtesy:S.Noskov
Up until now, Longchenpa's (13081364) Tshig don mdzod or Treasury of
Subjectshastakentheprideofplaceasthedefinitivesystemofexegesisof
the socalled Dzogchen "snying thig" tradition derived from the seventeen
tantras. David Germano's 1992 dissertation, Poetic thought, the intelligent
Universe, and the mystery of self: The Tantric synthesis of rDzogs Chen in
fourteenthcenturyTibet,wascertainlyamilestoneinthestudyofthistopic,
butleavesmuchtobedesiredintermsofexposingtheoriginsofthissystem
ofanalysisofthemanngagsdeclassoftantras.
Fortunately,wearenowinabetterpositionthanwewerein1992.Several
seminalcommentariesontantrassuchasthesgrathalgyurandsoon,have
201020111MalcolmSmith.DynamicViewstemplate.PoweredbyBlogger.
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come to light, which are now being critically edited by native scholars such
asChogyalNamkhaiNorbuandsoon.
Wealsohavehadthegoodfortuneofthepublicationofa12thcenturytext
authoredbyonemKhaspaNyi'bum,thesonofZhangstonbkrashirdorje,
calledtherdzogspachenpotshigdonbcugcigpabzhugsso(bodljongsmi
dmangsdpeskrunkhanglhasa2008)orTheElevenSubjectsofTheGreat
Perfection. We have also the good fortune of the publication of The Aural
LineageofVimalamitra(rgodkyildem'phrucan.dgongspazangthal.TBRC
W18557. 4: 187 406. simla: thub bstan rdo rje brag e wam lcog sgar ,
2000).
In regards to the third text mentioned above, TheAural Lineage, this latter
text is a slightly augmented recension with interpolations of supplementary
citations and brief summaries into the original text authored by Nyi 'bum.
PresentedasadialoguewithKingTrisongDetsenatChimpu,apartfromthe
introduction and a couple of scene specific interpolations, it presents a
version of the Nyi 'bum text in its entirety with differences accountable by
differing manuscript traditions and scribal errors. In several places where
there is a difference between The Eleven Subjects and the Aural
Lineagetheyareresolvedbyexaminingthesamepassagespresentedinthe
Treasury.In some cases sense can be restored to passages in the Eleven
TopicswiththeAuralLineage.
Moreover,thecitationsattributedtoVimalamitrainboththeTreasuryandthe
AuralLineagefindtheirorigininNyi'bum'sElevenSubjects.
Further,wecanunderstandthatatleastoneofthemajorcommentarieson
theseventeentantraswaspresentduringthetimeofNyi'bumfromwhichhe
must have derived his own presentation of the eleven topics i.e. the eigth
andfinalchapterofthecommentaryofTheStringofPearlsTantraattributed
to Vimalamitra the colophon of which notes that it was transmitted by Nyi
'bums'snephew,GuruJo'bertooneGruguJo'bum.
Thus,withthepublicationofthelattertwotexts,wecannowtriangulatethe
positionofTheTreasuryofSubjects.Germano'sthesislendstheimpression
thatTheTreasuryofSubjectsisauniquecontributionofLongchenpatothe
fieldofDzogchenexegesis.Butinfact,foritssubjectmatter,TheTreasuryof
SubjectsiswhollydependentonNyi'bum'searliertext,bothintermsofthe
general sequence of citations and of lifting entire passages or reworking
entirepassages.Thus,Nyi'bum'sseminaltext,TheElevenSubjectsofThe
Great Perfection provides the grand outline upon which the scholastic
exegesisoftheentirelaterNyinthigtraditiondepends.Itwasclearlythemain
textusedtoteachthegeneraloutlineofsnyingthingusedupuntilthetimeof
Kumararaja and it is absolutely certain that The Eleven Subjects was the
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text that Longchenpa had in front of him when he was composing his
TreasuryofSubjects.
Whilethereisagreatdealmorethatcouldbesaidaboutthesethreetexts,
and will be said about them in my forthcoming translation of The Aural
Lineage, for now it is sufficient to note that there are numerous interesting
questions about the transmission of Nyi 'bum's text, the relationship of the
two core texts of the mkha' 'gro snyin thig to it, the transmission of the
ElevenSubjects to Rigzin Godem (1337 1409, revealor of the dgongspa
zang thal), his rennovation of the text as a dialogue between Pandita
Vimalamitra and Trisong Detsen, the subsequent eclipse of The Eleven
SubjectsinfavoroftheTreasury(atextatleastfourtimesinlength),andso
on.
One ready answer is that the Treasury contains responses to 14th century
scholastic objections to Dzogchen (an overwhelming concern of
Longchenpa)whereasTheElevenSubjectswastransmittedinaclosecircle
ofdiscipleswithverylittleousidecontact.Hencethepolemicspresentedin
the latter, such as there are, mainly consist of a condensed review of
differenttheoriesofthebasiswhicharepresentedinexhaustivedetailinthe
fifth chapter of the exhaustive commentarary on the Tantra of the Six
Dimensions of Samantabhadra, attributed also to Vimalamitra. Further,
Longchenpa is clearly writing with a number of desiderata in mind such as
cleaning upand/oromittingincorrectcitations orcitations hecannotreadily
identify in Nyi 'bum's text, and so on, as well as elaborating the eleven
subjectswithfurtherrelevantcitationsfromtextsindirectlyreferencedinNyi
'bum.ItisalsointerestingtonotethatNyi'bum'stexthasbeenreplacedin
theVimaSnyingthigwithaquasitreasuretextauthoredbyLongchenpathat
justcoversthebarebonesoftheelevensubjectssanscitations.
It is important to point out also that Longchenpa does move a section
concerning the formation of the body to the second topic heading, the
delusion of sentient beings, from its place in the Eleven Subjects/Aural
Lineage in the fifth topic, the pathway of wisdom. He adds a detailed
discussion on the distinction between the allbasis and the dharmakya
whichisnotfoundineitherofthelattertwotexts.Thereareotherfeaturesof
theTreasuryofSubjectsthatmarkitforspecialconsiderationaswell,such
asLongchenpa'sgroundingofthethirdsubject,thetreatmentofthebasisor
seed of buddhahood present in all sentient beings explicitly within the
tathgatagarbha corpus of stras, and tagging the eleven subjects with the
same denominator, "rdo rje gnas", or "vajrapada", an evident homage to
the Uttaratantra of Maitreyanatha. While Longchenpa clearly upheld his
understanding of socalled Prasanga Madhyamaka as the definitive
expression of Mahyna view, it is also absolutely correct to state that
Longchenpa held the tathgatagarbha corpus of stras as the definitive
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expressionofMahynagivenhisseparatetreatmentofthisdoctrineinthe
sgrubmtha'mdzodandintheTreasuryofSubjects.
One might also speculate that the earlier text was rennovated by Rigdzin
Godem and included in the dgongs pa zang thal collection because it
representsanearliertraditionthanthatofLongchenpa,hasalesscluttered
presentation,isnotaslong,iseasiertoteachandsoon,andassuchdoes
indeedrepresentthebasisoftheauthenticaurallineageofVimalamitra.
However, as indicated above, the study of the three texts concerning the
eleven topics authored by Longchenpa, as well as the dgongs pa zang
thal'sAuralLineage,isnotcompletewithoutreferencetotheearliestextant
text we have on the subject, The Eleven Subjects of The Great Perfection.
Therefore, Nyi bum's text occupies a critical point in the history of the
evolutionofthesnyingthigtraditionandshouldnotbeoverlooked.
Posted27thSeptember2012byMalcolmSmith
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30thAugust2012

One'sknowledgeofthenondualityof
allphenomenaisbodhicitta.
Vajrasattvamyjlaguhyasarvdaranmatantra
Posted30thAugust2012byMalcolmSmith
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27thMay2012

WorldThigle

Maythesecrettreasuryofallvictors,
theunsurpassedDzogchenteachings,
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spreadwidelythroughalldimensions
justlikethesunrisinginthesky.

[http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8015/7274576886_71c7fb5004.jpg]
Posted27thMay2012byMalcolmSmith
Location:Ashfield,MA01330,USA
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16thMay2012

TheHeartofAllPaths

Dzogchen is the heart of all paths, whether of samsara or nirvana, and is

the truth that everyone is trying to discover. What is Dzogchen? We all
know the answer to that question it is our real condition.
Everyone, no matter what religion they belong to, is trying to discover the
truth. That truth exists in the heart of every single sentient being. So when
you discover that truth, there is no need to remain locked in the
limitations of "Buddhist" and "nonBuddhist".
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Limitations are what cause all the suffering in the world.

We cannot change the world for others, but we can change the world for
ourselves. The only way to do this is to evolve beyond the limitations of
religion, ideology, nation, class, race, and tribe. If we go beyond these
limitations through discovering our primordial potentiality, then we are
participating in changing the world.
As we have seen, for example, the six liberations are not just for Buddhists
you don't have to make someone a Buddhist in order to sing Song of the
Vajra for them, for example, or recite the Aspiration of Samantabhadra
any sentient being who hears these sung or recited will have a seed of
future liberation planted in their continuum, thos grol (liberation through
hearing). You don't have to make someone a Buddhist to give them some
myong grol (liberation through taste), or give them a btags grol (liberation
through wearing), or show them some image that is a mthong grol
(liberation through sight), or give them some incense which is a specially
formulated dri grol (liberation through smell), etc.
Of course I am a Buddhist. But where I used to be a Buddhist before I was a
Dzogchen practitioner, now it is other way around. This is not because of
some intellectual trip. This is based on my practice of Buddhism and
Dzogchen for 20+ years now.
I can see really clearly that we need to go beyond Buddhist provincialism.
We even complain about sectarianism among Buddhists. We also war with
each other about such things whose Karmapa is the real one; which is
better, gzhan stong or rang stong; is yogacara as high as madhayamaka or
not; is Theravada Hinayna or not; is Mahyna or the tantras the real
teaching of the Buddha or not. If we do not go beyond these kinds of petty
intellectual differences, we will never survive as a species and we will
continue to destroy ourselves.
In the end it honestly does not matter much whether we put our faith in
Jesus, Krishna or Buddha. There is no perfect faith that leads to liberation.
The only thing that leads to liberation is knowledge of our true condition.
When we know that state, we don't have need of faith since now we have
certainty.
We do not need to ecumenically pretend that all paths lead to the same
place. All we need to understand is that everyone is searching for the same
thing, the peace and happiness that springs from freedom. We can
overcome all our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race and
tribe just by maintaining presence and awareness of this fact.
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When we have overcome our own limitations regarding religion, ideology,

nation, class, race and tribe, then we can work with any circumstances. If
one is attached to some limitation, there is no way one can work well with
circumstances. One can only work with circumstances by seeing what one's
limitations are.
When we overcome our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race
and tribe then we are more free. We are more free to celebrate life,
sorrow at death, wonder at creation, we are more free to enjoy our lives
and the lives of others.
When we overcome our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race
and tribe we are more free to celebrate the threatening "other", to
celebrate the beauty of human diversity and difference, which is the
strength of our species.
When we overcome our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race
and tribe we are more free to act wisely, to cherish this beautiful planet
we live on and all the richness of life, the plants, the animals, the rocks,
minerals, oceans, mountains, rivers, and lakes it offers us.
When we overcome our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race
and tribe through knowing our own state through personal experience the
universe and all the beings in it are revealed as an astonishing panoply of
spheres of light and color, sound, lights and rays that has no boundary nor
center.
When we overcome our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race
and tribe through knowing our own state just as it is, we have no need to
ensure any creed, no need to confirm any ideology, no need to control
anyone or anything we can let the free be free as they have been all
along whether they know it or not.
When we overcome our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race
and tribe thorugh direct and perfect knowledge of our own state, then, if
we have the capacity, we can introduce others to their own state without
regard to religion, ideology, nation, class, race and tribe.
If, for example, Dzogchen teachings are only for Buddhists, how can we
ever hope to overcome our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class,
race and tribe? How can enforcing limitations of religion, ideology, nation,
class, race and tribe ever be useful in the project of overcoming our
limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race and tribe?
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Dzogchen teachings are for all who are interested. Because the ancient
peoples of Zhang Zhung and Tibet were interested in Dzogchen, Dzogchen
spread there before the formal advent of Buddhism in that country.
Originally Dzogchen was not a formal part of Buddhism. It spread through a
very small lineage of practitioners. This group of practitioners, beginning
with Majurmitra, saw that Dzogchen was the essence of what the
Buddha was trying to communicate. So they spread it slowly. Later,
because Padmasambhava, Vairocana and Vimalamitra brought it to Tibet
and some Tibetans too understood it was the essence of the Buddha's
teaching, they kept it in secret and it slowly spread among Tibetans. Then,
in the 1112th century, when the Nyingmapas gained selfawareness as an
independent school, they adopted Dzogchen as their official "position" in
competition with the new translation trends and incorporated it into their
school. But by this time, Dzogchen had completely died out in India. But
Dzogchen, as is proven by its presence in Bon, is not strictly the provence
of Buddhism. Though the Bonpos revised their teachings to bring them into
line with Buddhist teachings, Zhang Zhung Nyengyud is an authentic line of
Dzogchen intimate instruction that do not depend on Garab Dorje.
Therefore, in the same way that early masters of Dzogchen were free from
limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race and tribe and taught
Dzogchen to whoever came to them, we should also endeavor to overcome
our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race and tribe.
We must not consider the Dzogchen teachings as belonging to any religion,
ideology, nation, class, race or tribe. Instead, as practitioners of Dzogchen,
we should endeavor to overcome our personal limitations of religion,
ideology, nation, class, race and tribe through knowing our real state just
as it is. When we know our own state just as it is, we can engage with
people wherever they are without ourselves throwing up any barriers of
religion, ideology, nation, class, race and tribe. So I suggest it is very
important for Dzogchen practitioners, including myself, to overcome any
limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race and tribe. We already
have the means to do this we simply need to will to do it. If we ground
ourselves in the deep natural transformation that comes from recognizing
and integrating with our primordial potentiality, then we can go beyond
the limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race and tribe. By going
beyond these limitations (as well as the limitations of conceptuality,
imputation, paths, stages, realizations, attainments, buddhas and sentient
beings) through recognizing our own innate state that is originally pure and
naturally formed, we can move freely through the world and meet
everyone and everthing from the authentic space of recognition of great
original purity of all that is.
Posted16thMay2012byMalcolmSmith
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Phenomena

1stMay2012

Phenomenaarethesufferingofsamsara,
ifoneabandonsphenomena,blissisobtained.
TheTantraofSelfArisenVidy
Posted1stMay2012byMalcolmSmith
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Vehicles

24thApril2012

Thoughthedifferentvehiclesarebeyondconcept,
thereisnomorethanoneifwisdomisrealized.
TheTantraofSelfArisenVidy
Posted24thApril2012byMalcolmSmith
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