DRENPA NAMKHA

VETRI THASEL
dGos 'dod gsal byed bshad gzhai'i mchongs
COMMENTARY CHAPTERS REGARDING THE BASE OF THE TEACHINGS THAT
ELUCIDATE ONE'S WISHES (AND NEEDS)

TEACHINGS BY
YONGDZIN LOPON TENZIN NAMDAK RINPOCHE
PFAUENHOF, GERMANY, 8·14 SEPTEMBER, 2007

TRANSCRIBED AND EDITED BY CAROL AND DMITRY ERMAKOVI

SPONSORED BY
YUNGDRUNG BON STIFTUNG, GERMANY
EMAIL: YUNGDRUNGBON'5TIFTUNG@FREENET.DE
This book is reserved for those students who are sincerely devoted to
Yongdzin Lopon Tendzin Namdak Rinpoche
and who are seriously practising Dzogchen Teachings taught by him.
This is our Masters' wish; please respect it.

All rights reserved

Unauthorised copying prohibited

Copyright © Shenten Dargye Ling, 2007

Cover photo by Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung Rinpoche:

Drag Yerpa (brag yer pa) where the Teachings ofYetri Thasel
and Namkha Truldzo were given

Title page photo by Christophe Moulin

Wylie transliteration courtesy of Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung Rinpoche

Book and cover design by Dmitry Ermakov

 Vetri Thasel, Pfauenhof, 2007: dGos 'dod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

8 September

Welcome to all practitioners and Sangha members - everyon e .

We have been meeting here again a n d again many time s now .
And that is a good thing. I am always saying the same thing 1 , and one
person is moving their mouth , one person is moving their mind , so
these come together2 , and that is very necessary otherwise it wouldn't
work. It is a good thing to learn each other's language s . My English is
hard for other people to understand - except for a special perso n . So I
will continue with the Teachings I have been teaching for years now ; it
is the beginning of Dzogchen . Last year we began a text called Godo
Salgye Shezhi Chong3. It is a kind of commentary on the Yetri Thasel4•
We have come as far as Chapter Fou r . This is a complete set of
Dzogchen Teachings , it starts at the beginning and includes the
essential conclusion of Semde5, Longde6 and Mengagde7 • Everything is
here , there is no separate view. Nevertheles s , this time (these are)
Semde Teachings .

Importance of Guru Yoga

Although in fact all these Teachings come from D harmakaya and have
come down to us now through the Lineage Masters , this Knowledge
can only come through the blessing of the Lineage Masters . That is
why we have to do Guru Yoga first of all . I n particular, this Teaching
was composed by Drenpa Namkhas , so I think it is better to do Guru
Yoga with him as it is connected with his work. So maybe that is some
special reason . I f you have a picture , keep doing Guru Yoga with him .
So now we will practise Guru Yoga for a while . First, everyone
sit in the five-pointed po sture :
Legs crosse d ;
Spine straight;
Hands in the mudra of equipoise ;

1 I.e. always Teach ing Dzogchen

2 I e. R i npoche i s speaking in English (min d) and Jakob i s tran s l ating i nto Gcnnan (mouth)
.

3 Tib. dgos ' dod gsal byed bshad gzhai·i mchongs.

4 Tib. Ye khri mtha sel.
5 Tib. sems sde.
6 T i b . klong sde.
7 Tib. man ngag sde.
8 Tib. Oran pa N am mkha'.
 Vetri Thasel, PfauenhoC 200 7 : dGos ·ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

Shoulders hanging9 ;
Neck bent slightly 1 0 .

Your eyes should be looking ahead at the level of your nose .

Then visualize Drenpa Namkha in front of you , a little higher than you ,
facing you . Look carefully at this picture . Here he is red , but usually
he is blu e . It doesn't make much difference . On his sid e , he has some
reason as to why he manifests as red or blue , but it doesn 't make
much difference for us, only we shouldn 't change (from blue to red)
quickly . Visualize him in detail - his legs , his posture , his eyes , mouth
and so on; try to visualize everything as clearly as possibl e . He is in
front of you , a little higher , facing you , and his body is blu e , kind of
tran sparent. But don 't think that he is j u st like an image or a picture ;
think that he is full of wisdom and alive . Don 't j u st remember this
once or twice , but do this again and again and try to make it as clear
as possible .
Then after this , while you are visualizing him , develop devotion.
Whether he is the right guru or not 1 1 doe sn 't matter; don 't j udge at
that moment. He was a trustable being (who lived in) the early times,
and he is also an enlightened person . When you visualize Drenpa
Namkha and his picture comes to your mind , when his picture is clear
in your mind , keep it there as long as possible . Then when the next
thought comes and disturbs your visualization , because this
visualization must be clear in your mind , think of Drenpa Namkha
again . Then the vision will come to your mind clearly - don 't expect
someone to come in front of you visibly , that doe sn't happen easily .
You have to imagine him clearly and strongly . Keep on (with that
visualization) for as long as possible . That is real Guru Yoga. That is
one important point.
The second important point is that when you visualize him , you
must tru st him . Devotion is very , very important . The text say s : 'the
bles sings of the Lineage Masters are all received through devotion . ' If
your devotion is not very strong, if it fluctuates or if you are not
comfortable with it, then even if you do this visualization from time to
time , it will be hard to receive any blessings. Devotion is important for
any kind of visualization , for yidam practice and so on. Whatever

9 I . e. relaxed.
10
I . e. chin tucked in slightly.
11
I . e. whether th i s i s the usual form of Guru Yoga you do or not.
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(practice) you do, devotion is very, very important; you have to have
devotio n .

The various manifestations of Drenpa Namkha

O K . Now it is better if I explain a little bit about Drenpa
Namkha. I have often talked about this. There were three people with
the same nam e , Drenpa Namkha.
The first Drenpa Namkha lived in the country called Tagzig 1 2 in
the very early times . From the heart of Dharmakaya - Dharmakaya
has no form but we still say the heart - a white A descended into the
centre of a blue flower, to the very centre where the seeds are . That
happened in the country of Tagzig. Then the A emerged in the form of a
blue human being. His feature s are like this [ Rinpoche shows a
picture] . He is called the first Drenpa Namkha or the Drenpa Namkha
of Tagzig. He is the very , very early one .
Then from that time there were another five emanations of
Drenpa Namkha, and the fifth one , the last one , became the Drenpa
Namkha of Zhang Zhung. It was his fifth emanation , a kind of
reincarnation but not really ; a manifestation, another Drenpa Namkha.
H e was a prince of Zhang Zhung. His father was called Gyungyer
Mu kh6 1 3 and his mother was called Chatsun Gungmat4 , and he was
prince in the Ngari province in Zhang Zhung. He was the second
Drenpa Namkha, and we call him the Drenpa Namkha of Zhang
Zhung. His colour is quite often blue because when he descended from
Dharmakaya to Tagzig, the flower (he descended onto) was blu e , and
so as a kind of sign (of this) he usually keeps the blue colour. That is
the reaso n . When he grew up, he married an I ndian Brahmin girl
called O den Barma is and they had two sons. The first was Tsewang
Rigdzin 1 6 and the then a few minutes or maybe a few hours later, a
brother called Perna Thongdrol 1 7 was born . Or his other names are
Guru Rinpoche or Perna J ungne . So those were the two twin brothers ,
and this Drenpa Namkha was the father of Guru Rinpoche and
Tsewang Rigdzin . As they grew up, they both learned many things from
their father, including many practice s , everything. Then their mother

le
Tib. sTag zig, rTag gzigs.
1·' Tib. rGyung yar Mu khod.
14 Tib. Phya btsun Gung ma.
15 Tib. ·od ldan ·Bar ma.
16 Tib. Tshe bang Rig 'dzi n .
17 Tib. P ad ma mThong grol.
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advised the younger brother - he was maybe a few minute s or a few

hours younger, I don 't know - and , pointing to the southwe st, said that
he would find Kabj e is there . So his mother Oden B arma advised him
and said that in the future he would take this text and practise it. That
looks like the Nyingma tradition . There , a text called the Kabj e still
exists; the name is the same as far as I know . So that is the story of
Tsewang Rigdzin and Guru Rinpoche , but it is not clear how this goes
according to history . Anyhow, that is the second Drenpa Namkha.
As for the third Drenpa Namkha, he was around when Indian
Guru Rinpoche , a scholar and practitioner, was invited to Tibet in the
eighth century . This Drenpa Namkha was the sixteenth emanation
after the Drenpa Namkha of Zhang Zhung; he said there would be
another Drenpa N amkha. This third one is sometimes called Gyerpung
Drenpa Namkha. He was born in southern Tibet, we know the name of
his mother and father, and his country was Dagpo in southern Tibet.
The name of this place is still there , and the village is called Tsash o .
That is all very clear. S o m e texts say s that when he was 37 he became
Guru Rinpoche 's pupil , although other texts say this happened when
he was 47. Anyhow, at that age he became one of Guru Rinpoche 's
twenty-five close pupils ; that is quite clear. He was the sixteenth
emanation of Drenpa Namkha of Zhang Zhung. It is this third Drenpa
Namkha who is the author of this text - in fact , not only of this text ,
but of the whole commentary of Yetri Thasel, of Namkha Truldzo19•
So that is why we have to visualize Drenpa Namkha now .
I have already told you how to do the visualization . Then when
you are ready to end your session of visualization with Drenpa
Namkha, he sends his Knowledge and wisdom from his che st. That is
the meaning, but it looks like fire , water and wind . He sends these
three elements from his chest but the meaning is that they are his
knowledge and wisdom . These come to you and purify all your
ob scurations and defilement s ; they are all de stroye d . They are burnt
by the fire , washed by the water and blown away by the wind . His
wisdom and knowledge come as these three elements .
After this, you are ready t o receive teachings, knowledge and
blessings - everything. So visualize that , once you are purified in this
way , a white A, a red OM and a blue H U N G repre senting his body ,
speech and mind come from the three levels of his body (forehead ,
neck and che st) to you and integrate with your body , speech and mind

1 8 Tib. sKab brgyad.

1 9 Tib. N am mkha' 'phr u l mdzod
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 Vetri Thasel, PfauenhoL 200 7 : dGos 'dod gsal byed bshad gzhai'i mchongs

so that you are completely one . That mean s that you receive his
wisdom and knowledge so you are already connected with Drenpa
Namkha. That is taking initiation or empowerment or whatever you
want to call it. It is important to do this at the beginning of listening to
Teachings.
OK. We have to do this practice together now for a while .

Introduction to the Nature of Mind

When you have received the three seed syllable s , in fact these
are all created by your own thoughts. Your mind created Guru Yoga . If
you open your eyes , you can 't see anything in front of you2 0 because
you created everything. If (the image) is clear it means that your
imagination is stronger, but no matter how clear it is, you created it.
H ow did you create it? You can see that you created it with your own
imaginatio n . So then , look back to that thought at that moment. You
can 't see your imagination - it is supposed to be clear, so look at the
thought which is making the visualization ; it is all created by your own
mind , but if you look there , you can 't see anything special - no colour,
no form , nothing special .
Then , when you don 't see anything special , it is hard to explain
what remains . Then at that time , you can again look at the thought.
You look forward and back. I f you try to look at both side s then in both
case s there will be nothing special to see , and nothing describable
which remains. You must experience this clearly for yourself. If you
have this experience , it is called the Natural State . There is nothing
which can be explaine d , no thoughts, you can 't see anything, and yet
you have to tru st this becau se later on I will give you a sentence
taught by the speech of Dharmakaya; (it comes from the Dharmakaya)
so therefore you can trust it. This (experience) is very important for our
Teachings; this is the main purpo se . If you don't concentrate with this
clearly then listening to this text will be like listening to bla bla bla,
like listening in the normal way .
Do this now , and keep (in that state) for a while . It is the base
of our Teachings. If someone has doubts or doesn 't know this clearly , it
may be important to ask questions. But first we11 keep (in the state) .
In fact , when you remain in that way , thoughts appear
spontaneou sly . Maybe everyone has had experience of thi s . Hopefully .
A t that time, don 't try t o stop , check o r follow the thoughts, j u st leave

'0 I . e. Drcnpa N amkha is not there.

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 Vetri Thasel. Pfauenhof. 2007: dGos · ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

them . When you realize you are being di sturbed by the next thought,
at that moment , again try to look back at the thought and it will
liberate back into Nature in the same way (as the first thought did) . At
that moment, you experience Nature and that means there is nothing
which can be describe d , no thought of emptiness or of clarity ; there is
nothing special yet you are present in an unspeakable state . That is
called the Natural State . Or it is called Awareness or the Self­
Originated Nature of Wisdom , or it is also called Buddha Nature .
Whatever you call it, it is Basic Nature . If you don 't add anything, don 't
think anything, don 't stop anything but j u st leave it as it is without
doing anything connected with thoughts or perceptio n , then you can
tru st thi s ; it is the Natural State .
There is a quotation fr o m Namkha Chicho21 t o support or prove
thi s :

'A thought appears spontaneously. Look at it carefully and it will

liberate itself by itself. Once this thought has liberated, that is
called the Wisdom of Thogal, Nature.'

That is the quotation .

It is said in the Teachings of Dharmakaya, so you can trust it .

I wanted to explain something more . I said that it is very

important to look back at a thought, and that then the thought
liberates. After it has liberated , don't add anything, don 't take anything
out or think something is missing; leave it as it is. Clarity is there ;
Rigpa22 is there ; emptiness is there . Everything is there but there is no
need to try and distingu ish which is clear or which is empty ; leave it.
That moment shows you the clear Natural State . Awareness is there .
Otherwise , if you remain in this State for too long , it becomes less and
less clear. You can see this . It looks like (the state) when you rest after
having worked very hard when you can have an experience of
Hedewa 2 3 or something, but clarity is not there . You can only correct
(your meditation) or see what (the true state) looks like through your
own experience ; no-one else can say whether it is this or that . Don 't be

21
Tib. N am mkha' sphyi gcod.
22
Tib. rigs pa.
23 Tib. had de ba.
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 Vetri Thasel, Pfauenhot: 2007: dGos ·ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai"i mchongs

mistake n . Most meditators make this mistake , but in fact it is called

normal delu sion . For example , if you are in a deep sleep and suddenly
wake up, for a moment you can see and hear things but you neither
act nor perceive anything. However, this moment has no clarity . It is
called delu sion and is not the realization of the Natural State at all . It
is important for practitioners to check this themselve s . Otherwise ,
when I talk about meditation now , it looks as though it is something
important, but often when people talk about meditation it sounds as
though everyone can be meditating, even rabbits . When rabbits sleep,
they are very still and their eye s are open , so it looks as though they
are meditating. It is very easy to mistake this (for the Natural State) ,
but it is called delusion . It is not meditatio n , it is not the Natural State .
Only the practitioner themselves can make sure of this.

Are there any que stions?

Q: Sometimes it seems as though the State were clearer or more

intense than at other times . Sometimes it seems as though I can go
into the Natural State more (deeply) . How can I connect this with the
statement that I shouldn 't change anything?
A: You mean , you are keeping in the Natural State yet not thinking or
doing anything? Well , there are two things , you see . If an advanced
practitioner does something, it doesn 't disturb their meditation with
the Natural S tate , they can integrate walking, talking and so on with
the Natural State and their Nature is still stable and clear. They can
integrate anything and that is called Chapa Lamkyer24 . You need to do
something. But until you reach that level and are familiar with and
stable in Nature , it is better not to do anything - not even reciting
mantras or prostrations ; either what you do will disturb your
meditation, or your meditation will disturb what you are doing. I f that
is the case , then it is better not to do anything; it is better to stabilize .
Is that what you meant? It depend s on how familiar you are with the
Natural State , on how stable you are .

Q: Should we look at the thought or at the source , at what is looking

at the thought?
A: Same way . There is no difference . I f you look at the thought there is
nothing certain that you can focu s on or which exists as an obj ect, and
it is the same way for both (aspects) , so if you look at the sourc e , it is

24 Tib. spyod pa lam khycr.

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 Vetri Thasel, Pfauenhof, 2007: dGos 'dod gsal byed bshad gzhai'i mchongs

the same thing. If you look at that source , it will also liberate and
nothing will remain ; if something still remain s then that means you
are not looking at the thought in the proper way . The important thing
is not to merely look at the thought or its source ; at the same time
(think) who is looking. There is one thought, and you are looking at
that thought, and at the same time you can 't see anything, so at the
same time , look back to who is watching the though t . You have to
look , and then they will both liberate at the same tim e ; who is looking
and what they are looking at both go to liberation . (If they don 't , that
means) there is something connected with consciou sne ss and with
thinking. Here , there is neither subj ect nor obj ect, and what remains is
an unspeakable state ; that is what this is called . This is important .
When y o u look back a t a thought and can 't s e e or explain anything,
then look back at that thought once more and nothing exists or
remains there (either) . That means that this State goe s beyond
consciousness, thoughts or perceptio n . If it is beyond thought or
perception , who knows it? Where is it? Yet still we say it can come .
This is the Dzogchen View , you see . It is the special method of
Dzogche n . It is not common . U sually everything we learn or know
depends on our perceptio n , you see , but suddenly here it says it is not
connected with perceptio n . So then maybe you think you are kind of
lost, or something, but then you begin to tru st that State . That is
special .
As you practise more in that way , visions will appear
spontaneou sly . They come spontaneou sly but if you follow them then
our normal life begin s . So you must think of this. One point is that
Nature is beyond thought, the other point is that visions come
spontaneou sly and our normal life begins. It is not easy to understand
these two unless you fully understand Dzogche n ; you need to study
much more to know these things .

Chapter IV
S o , now we 'll go to the text . This is the fourth chapter , the Size
of Wisdom Awareness. The size of Wisdom Awareness is as that of a
mu stard seed and where it abides is inside the heart . All this comes in
the text . The heart looks like a preciou s paradise of luminou s light and
the Wisdom Awareness is the size of a mu stard seed . It has eyes and
the form of a body - many things : eyes , nose , mouth , all the organ s ,
everything, b u t generally t h e size is that of a mu stard seed . It is hard
(to understand) , but it is in the text . Wisdom Awareness has no size or

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 Yctri Thasel, PfauenhoL 2007: dGos 'dod gsal byed bshad gzhai' i mchongs

form at all , it is the unspeakable state , but here it means that it is very
hard to realize , that it is very deep . This is a parable, It is not easy to
understand so this is said to explain it, but actually , Wisdom
Awareness has no size . This kind of image is kept inside a vessel , a
bu mpa2s , and that means that the heart is like a vessel and inside
there is a small hole or hollow which is where the Natural S tate abide s .
In fact , the Natural State encompasses everything - all the universes ,
individual , particular peopl e , everything - b u t you have t o think where
it is, and so you recognize that wherever consciousness abide s , the
Natural State is there ; it is not far from consciou sne s s . This text
explain s Bu mpai Ku26 - the Form of the Ve ssel. What does that mean?
Usually we give an example . We say that a king stays in his palace but
his power controls all his subj ects (wherever they are), This is similar.
The N atural State has no particular form nor does it have some
particular place where it stay s ; generally it encompasses everything.
That is the meaning. These are all parables,
Another analogy is that of a lamp. If you light up a lamp inside
a vessel or bumpa, when the vessel breaks you can see the ligh t . This
means that the Natural State is integrated with u s but while we are
alive we can 't see it clearly . When our body and mind are disconnected
(at death) , at that time the vessel is broken and the light shines out.
But that is only an example - there is no need to wait until death !
When a practitioner practises Thogal and all the visions appear clearly ,
that is the same thing, the same source , and those visions all appear
to the practitioner during his lifetim e .
S o m e practitioners think a n d say that Wisdom c a n move , but
then (others) say that Wisdom and the Natural State cannot be moved
by wind s, Nature is integrated with winds and so (when the winds
move) , they make it go higher or lower etc . , they change , so it looks as
though the Natural State itself were changing or moving, but it isn't . It
isn't po ssible for the Natural S tate to wane or wax or move ; it is only
the winds moving.
How do the wind s exert an influence? Causes and visions are
influenced by Ignorance, the five poison con sciou sne sse s , emotions ,
karmic cau ses and normal perception s - everything is influenced by
wind s . First of all we need to explain what Ignorance i s , how emotions
are create d , how karmic cau ses are made - both sins and virtue s -

" Tih. bum pa.

"' Tih. hum pa'i sku.

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how thoughts and perceptions com e , and how they are influenced by
winds.

La Yi Sem Sum21
From the beginning, (there is) a very subtle Ignorance which
influence s very subtle wind , Yid . Generally we have three types of
mind / consciousnes s , La Yi Sem Su m .
Sem is like perceptio n , th e aspect which take s rebirth and
death ;
Yid is very subtle wind which is integrated with perception and
consciousness and make s movement or any activities. It is integrated
with Sem . La is karmic cau ses or Bagchag2 s .
So how are karmic cau ses collected or kept? It says that these
three ( La , Yid , Sem) are very important for every individual, and each
practitioner also has the m . There are several subdivisions of Sem :
mental con sciou sne s s ; Alaya (or Kunzhi29) , Ignoranc e ; the five sense s .
When t h e five senses g o and perceive all the five different obj ects, that
is collecting cau ses . Once they are collecte d , they are brought back
and saved in the basic Kunzhi ; they are kept by Ignorance . That is how
they are connecte d . The Kunzhi or the Alaya is where all kinds of
karmic traces are kept - good ones, bad ones and neutral one s . The
sign that this is so can be seen by everyone in their dream s . We have
dream s when we wake up from a deep sleep but before we are fully
awake , and we have many experience s in our dream s . Why? At that
time our mental con sciousne ss is reading all our karmic traces stored
in the Kunzhi and that produces dreams .

Kannic traces
As for how we save karmic cau ses or Bagchag, there are two
way s . One is when we see , hear, touch, taste or smell something; at
that time , all the senses are collecting obj ects. So if you see a flower,
for example , then through the eye sense you are collecting cau ses or
Bagchag, trace s , and these are brought back and kept in the Kunzhi.
That is one thing: you are saving the Bagchag of seeing the flower. So
that means that while you are acting3 0 , you are saving (karmic causes) .
The other way is saving without acting. This is the second way of

27 Tib. b l a yis scms gsum.

28
Tib. bag chags.
2 9 Tib kun gzh i .
301.c. look ing a t t h e fl ower.
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 Yetri Thasel, Pfauenhot: 2007: dGos 'dod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

collecting either negative or meritoriou s karmic cau s e s . Here , for

example , if one man is sitting quietly for a while (without acting) , but
he is thinking and getting angry or j ealou s or proud by himself, then
even though he is not acting or saying anything but j u st keeping quiet,
he is still keeping all kinds of Bagchag, and that is sin . He is angry ,
j ealous or has de sire , and at that time , he is not acting but still saving
(karmic causes) .
Then to go back to the first one , acting and saving, in this case ,
if the person is angry , he then starts to fight someone else , kills them
or beats them ; he does something. So he has saved (karmic causes) by
him self, and then he acts . They are both there , so that make s
Bagchag. That is called 'saving and acting', making Bagchag. Bagchag
can be both virtuous or sinfu l , and this is (an explanation of) how they
are mad e , how they are kept, who makes them and who keeps them .
Everything happens in that way .
Another aspect is acting without saving karmic traces . This is
like (the behaviour of) Drenpa Namkha or Guru Rinpoche . It looked as
though they were killing, chopping or beating beings but in fact they
didn 't keep any Bagchag becau se they were acting without any
intentio n , nothing. So it looked as though they were doing something
but no Bagchag was saved, That is acting without saving.
Usually people think that everything is related with karmic
cau ses but some people may not tru st or believe that this is the case .
But whether you believe it or not, that is the way it is, and this is very
powerfu l . That is the truth . It doesn 't matter whether you follow or
believe in karmic cau se s or not - you do some action and that
produces the result of that action according to (the laws of) karmic
cau se . You have no power, no choice .

Q: What is the connection between Yid , subtle wind, and Bagchag?

A: There are variou s meanings for the term 'yid ' in our literature , but
in this case , it is subtle wind which moves . You think (and) your
consciousness is influenced by very subtle wind, Or in another
context , 'yid ' can also refer to another consciou sne ss. You must be
careful with terms in Tibetan literature . Even with the word 'rigpa'. It
can be a synonym for 'mind' - Sem , Yid , Nampar Shepa3 1 . Or in
another context 'rigpa ' can mean 'nothing', 'emptine ss', 'wisdom
awareness', and that has nothing to do with consciousness at all . It is
the opposite meaning! That is the fourth Chapter .

11
Tib. mam par shes pa.
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 Vetri Thasel, Pfauenhot: 2007: dGos ·ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai · i mchongs

91h September

First of all we have to practise Guru Yoga as we did ye sterday ,

a n d then o n c e y o u have received t h e three s e e d syllable s into yourself,
try and keep in the Natural State as clearly as possibl e . So without
adding anything; j u st try after you have received the three syllable s
and integrated them , don't think anything, don 't add anything, don 't
mix anything - nothing. Just leave it as it i s . You must make this as
clear as pos sible and as (precise) as possible . Keep on. That is what
'clear' mean s .

Yesterday w e mentioned emptine s s , clarity and u nificatio n .

These three are called N g6wo32 , Rangzhin33 a n d Thugje34 in Tibetan ,
and altogether that means self-awareness. We gave parables for the
size , colour, for where this Self-Awareness abides - everything was
explained , but these are only parable s . There is a small hollow in the
centre of the heart and during our lifetime, that is where Awareness
abides. But it doe sn 't abide in j u st some specific place - nowhere . It
doesn 't only rely on the heart - someone can say it re sides in the
brain , or some other part of the body , but in fact it doesn 't abide in
any specific plac e ; it encompasses the whole of existence . That is
briefly what we said yesterday .
Ngowo means Nature , Rangzhin means clarity and Thugje
means unity .
These are sometime s explained i n a different way , but whatever the
Teachings say , while you are focu sing and relying on Nature , while you
are keeping in the Natural State , there is no need to distinguish (these
characteristics) or check which is clarity , which is unity and so on.
There is no need to check. (Awareness) is self-aware of itself, and
everything is in there . You can tru st that . It is very important to attend
the Teachings and listen to them . That is the main point ; the whole of
Dzogchen comes in there . We illustrate this with the parable of lighting
u p a lamp inside a vessel or bumpa; I mentioned that briefly ye sterday .
That is Chapter Four.

32 Tib. ngo bo.

33 Tib. rang bzh i n .
3 4 T i b . thugs rje.
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 Vetri Thasel, PfauenhoL 2007 : dGos " dod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

Chapter V
This (Awareness) abides in the heart . If it abides in the centre of
the heart , how does it come out? This is what is taught in the fifth
chapter.
Here it says that Awareness comes through the channels. There
are so many different channels in many different parts of the body , so
first we have to explain how the channels are connected with the body
of form . This depends on the present time35 , so here the explanation is
according to human life , the human body .
If you want t o know about the channels, you first have t o know
about how they are connected with the body ; if you want to know
about how they are connected with the body , you need to know how
the body started to form .

Mental Body
How is the body formed and how is it connected with the spirit
or Namshe36? First of all , when someone die s , they then enter the
Bard o . I n the Bardo they have lost their material body but they still
feel as though they have all their (sense) organs , their mind and so o n ;
they experience everything as though they h a d a l l of these still intact.
We call that Yidgyi Lu37 , the spirit-form or mental body . It is the same
in dream s . In a dream , your material body is lying in bed but you can
see , hear, taste and so on as normal . That is called Yidlu , the body of
mental con sciou sness or of spirit, the body of Yid . The condition in the
Bardo is j u st the same as this condition in dream s ; we have feelings
and (see) everything perfectly , but nothing is stable , things are always
moving and whatever comes into this being 's thinking, he cannot stop
it. This is very delicate Shepa Chicho Yalyol38 ; it is easily move d , not
stable .

How Bardo-beings take rebirth

When these kind s of spirits are in the Bardo time , they are like
flies or insects in summer - when flies see some meat , too many of
them come and swarm around it. In a similar way , when a couple is
uniting, too many Bardo- beings swarm aroun d . But it is not easy for

15 I . e. what birth you have taken and what body you have got.
16 Tib. rnam shes.
·17 Tib. yid gyi l u s .
18
Tib. shes pa phyad phyod yal yol.
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 Vetri Thasel, PfaucnhoL 2007: dGos 'dod gsal bycd bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

the Bardo- beings to be connected with the cou ple ; it is important to

have a previou s karmic cau se with them . Otherwise, the Bardo- beings
can see the couple but it is not easy to integrate with them . How they
integrate depends on previou s karmic cau se , whether it was good , bad
or neutral ; there are many way s . I f the Bardo-being was a practitioner
or a religiou s person in their previou s life , then (when a couple unites)
they may see a flower garden or a beautiful place or a palace and so
they go there and have a rest. But after they have re sted , they are
stuck there like an insect which has walked in some glu e . That means
they have united with this couple (conception) , and are beginning to
take the next life .
(The experience o f conception) very much depends o n karmic
cau se . Even for normal beings which were not connected with good
things , with religion or virtues and merits in their previou s life , which
were j u st ordinary , there are different capacitie s . Some are chased (in
Bardo) , they have enemies behind them and so they run away . In
some cases they try to hide in a cave , and that is how they take birth
in the Lower Realms . Once they have hidden , they can 't move any
more , j u st like an insect caught in glu e . So that is another way .
There are many different ways of taking birth. In general there
are four kinds of birth:
1. Miraculou s birth
2. Birth from an egg
3. Birth from a womb
4. Birth from damp heat .

Those are the four kind s of birth , and which one you take depends
very much on your karmic cau s e . Karmic cau ses are the essential
seeds . When the time comes to take birth , you cannot choose ; you are
taken and born wherever you are related to through karmic cau s e .
There are three categorie s of birth which are n o t connected
with birth of a womb and so on but which are miraculou s births . They
are birth in the higher Deva Lokas - there are several levels of Deva
Loka and (in) the higher ones (they) have bodies of light - birth in hell,
and Bard o .
That is h o w ( t h e mind) is connecte d , h o w w e take rebirth. Then
here the text explains in more detail about how beings take rebirth as
a human . Once the Bardo-being has j oined with the uniting couple,
winds and the elements com e . Sometimes these come together,
sometimes they are destroyed . Here it explains how the fetus develops
on the first day , the second day , each week, each month , it describes
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 Yetri Thasel, Pfauenhof. 2007: dGos 'dod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

the form and size , and how sometime s it is destroyed again ,

depending on the elements, the time and the circumstances - many
things are explaine d . There is quite a lot of detail here , but it is not
worth our while going on .
How does (the fetus) grow? This is mainly connected with the
mother's navel chakra. The mother eats and the essence goe s through
the navel channel and make s the baby grow . That is the connectio n .
Then how t h e baby is born , how it grows in t h e first few months
and so is all in here - there is a very detailed explanation here . But
everyone know thi s , you have already studied it in school, so I 'm not
going to read it now . You have studied may different things in school!

The lunar cycle and the human body

However, there is something interesting (for you) here . The
fifteenth day of the Tibetan month - what you call the full moon - is
generally a day when the body can grow. Each part of the body has a
different purpose and the fifteenth day is the day when especially the
(energy on the) crown of the head can develop in a good way . So at
that time you must be careful with things like moxa or acupuncture ;
you mustn't do them on the crown of your head on the full moon .
Instead , you can shave a little bit of your hair there , make a mixture
of sesame oil , musk and sandalwood oil , rub it onto your crown and
massage it. That will be very helpful for keeping you in good health ,
for preventing sickness and so o n ; it can be very helpfu l . At that time
you should check and choose what you eat . You don 't need a lot, but
if you eat pure , rich food it makes your body develop in a special way
and builds you u p . That is advice .
On the new moon , you need to collect all kind s of vegetable oil s ,
pure butter a n d Dzati39 , mix t h e m together a n d massage t h e soles o f
y o u r feet, preferably on a sunny day . That prevents disease a n d helps
people with weak health to develop ; it can help in many way s .

Five Lamps
In this chapter, the essential thing to explain is the channels.
Generally , there are Five Lamps - sometimes the texts talk about six
lamps - which are connected through the channels:
1. The Lamp of the Water-Lasso ;

19 Dzati or Kakola � C h i n ese cardamom/amomum medium/amomum sab u l atum/truit of cocu l u s

indicus .
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 Yctri Thasel. PfauenhoC 200 7 : dGos ' dod gsal byed bshad gzhai' i mchongs

2. The Lamp of the Empty Thigle ;

3. The Lamp of Self- Originated Wisdo m ;
4. The Pure Lamp of Empty Nature (Ying40 ) ;
5. The Lamp of the Smooth White Channel.

Seven Thigle
This chapter explains how these are all connected with the
heart , how Nature appears through them and comes out. Then the
sixth chapter explains about the doorways through which Nature
comes out. The Seven different Thigle4 1 are also named here , but they
are explained in detail later; it only gives the name s here .
1 . The non-dual wisdom of Empty Nature is called the Thigle of Nature
- Rangzhin Thigle42 ;
2. Nature is not material , only empty Nature , and this is called the
Thigle of Bonyi , of Emptines s ;
3. W h e n experiences develop, that is called t h e Thigle of Pure Nature ;
4. When your experience of the Natural State becomes more stable ,
that is called the Thigle of Stability .
5. After thi s , when your experience develops more , that is called the
Thigle of the developing of Nature ;
6. All these visions (experiences) wane , and that is called Kuntu
Zangpo Thugkyi Thigle , Kuntu Zangpo's Heart-Thigle or the Thigle of
the Heart of Dharmakaya.
7. After this, everything is in the Great Wisdom of Self-Awareness and
that is called the Thigle of Great Self-Originated Wisdom .
So that is the explanation of the channels given in Chapter
Five .

Chapter VI
The doonuay of Awareness
How does Self-Awareness appear? It abide s in the centre of the
heart , it comes through the channels, and it appears through the
doorways. Which doorway does it come out of? First of all , Self­
Awareness appears through the door of the Lamp of the Water Lasso ,
i . e . through the doorway of the eyes . There are many different
channels connected with the eyes , but in particular there is a channel

40 Tib. byings.
41 Tib. thig le.
42 Tib. rang bzh i n th ig le.
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 Yetri Thasel, Pfauenhot: 200 7 : dGos 'dod gsal byed bshad gzhai'i mchongs

which starts at the navel chakra and comes up through the heart and
is connected with the heart leve l . From there , it enters the seventh
vertebra, goe s inside the spine , up through the bone marrow to the
head where it goe s through the membrane to the crown , neither
through the brain nor outside the head . It goe s round anticlockwise
once and then splits into five branche s . U sually the texts talk about
two branche s , but here there are five . Each of these five branches
reaches one of the sense s . These are not normal channel s , they are
channels which only support Awareness. These five branch channels
are called : 'those which distingu i sh pure from impure , good from bad '.
As for the eye-channels, at first they are very tiny , and then they are
slightly bigger at the end . The text says they are like the horns of
Pamen43 . That is some animal , but I am not sure what it i s . Maybe it
has branching horn s . Not all channels are like this , only the channel
connected with the eyeball. It has one root and then splits into two to
reach each eyeball.
When it is connected with the eyeball , this channel is called
'the one which distinguishes black and white '. That means that this
channel can support both pure and impure . By 'impure ' we mean it
su pports the eye sense , and by 'pure ' we mean that it supports the
visions or Wisdom , so then it is called the pure channel. The main
thing to know i s that it is called the Lamp of the Water Lasso.
When we talk about Thogal , we usu ally explain in term s of Four
Lam p s:
1. T h e Lamp of th e Water Lasso
2. The Lamp of the Empty Thigle
3. The Lamp of Pure Nature
4. The Lamp of Self- Originated Wisdo m .
These fo u r are quite often explained in Thogal Teachings .
Generally , all the channels reach the crown and there , the
main purpose is to realize the Natural State clearly and purely . From
there , the channels separate , and the sign of this is that visions come .
H ow do visions appear? How do they come? This is all taught in
Chapter Seve n . But Chapter Six deals with which doorway they appear
through .

1' Tib. ba men - w i l d gayal ox, bos gavoeus.

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 Vetri Thascl, PfauenhoC 2007: dGos ·dod gsal bycd bshad gzhai·i mchongs

Chapter VII
Where visions appear
We have already explained that Rangjung Yeshe44 abides in the
centre of the heart , how it comes through the channels, through which
doorway it comes out, and so now (we shall look at) where visions
appear. It looks as though they appear in front of us, but they don't
really . This is all explained in Chapter Seve n .
What appears? Vision s .
Where do they appear? W e say they appear i n outer space , and
that is what it looks like . Space is where we u sually gaze , we gaze into
a clean , clear sky . That is one thing, and it is explained very often . But
we don 't only practise with the sky - we can practise in a dark room or
u sing sunlight. These are all supports for Thogal visions. Normally , we
never close our eyes whenever we keep in the Natural State and
meditate , we always keep them open . There is no particular way to
gaze , we j u st gaze into space without thinking. So why do we keep our
eyes open and gaze into space? The Natural S tate is not kept in any
particular plac e , it is connected through all our channels and there is
no focu s , nothing special , so it is linked with spac e ; Nature itself is
linked with space . Sometimes we give the example of an open door or
window; when you open a window , inner and outer space are
connecte d . In fact , it is not possible to divide spac e , nor is it possible to
divide Nature , but people could feel as though it were divided .
When (you meditate with your) eye s ope n , don 't focu s o n
anything with your perception o r with consciousness or with anything;
j u st keep your eye s open , look into space and then we say that outer
empty space without cloud s seems to be the obj ect while the Natural
State is kind of the subject. But when you open your eye s , subj ect and
obj ect are not separate so you cannot distinguish between outer and
inner.
There is a quotation from Yetri Thasel:

'If you don't realize what Nature is, just gaze into space without
being influenced by any perception; just gaze into space without
thinking anything. Thoughts will appear spontaneously, and
they will liberate themselves soon afterwards. After a thought
has liberated, no trace is left, just as no trace is left when birds
fly across the sky. So thoughts, too, leave no trace.'

44 Tib. Tib. rang ·byung ye shes.

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 Vetri Thasel. Pfauenhof, 200 7 : dGos "dod gsal byed bshad gzhai'i mchongs

That is the quotatio n .

Then there is another quotation from t h e same text:

'If you gaze into space, it is self-clear. That means that there is
neither judgment nor perception, but your presence is quite clear;
it is not dull and there are no disturbances. What is clear? Your
presence is very clear, and that is called Awareness.'

Awareness means emptiness and emptiness means Awareness

and there is no separation . There is no need to try and distinguish
which is which; external space and internal space are only name s .
There is no need t o try and distinguish anything.
This all come s from this text . Why do we talk about external
and internal Empty Nature? It is only to explain, to clarify , to open
things u p , and that is mainly to ( show) how (it) is pure , how it is
perfected .
Now, there are two aspects: Nature 's side and the practitioner's
side. The Natural State encompasses all Buddhas, all sentient beings ,
the whole of phenomenal existenc e ; everything is equally
encompassed . In the Natural State there is no separation between
Buddhas and sentient beings . There is no separation (into) perception
and what is perceive d . Neither does Nature's side have Bhumis.
Normally the Ten Bhumis and the Five Paths are explained in the
Lower Vehicles , but in this case there is not even the name of the
Bhumis or Paths . These are not named in the Natural S tate becau se
the Natural State has no degrees; it can neither show degre e s , nor
develop , nor wax nor wane , nothing - Nature is empty .

Dzogchen and the Dzogchenpa

That is called Dzogchen. Maybe people have u sually heard that
Dzogchen doesn't need to practise and develop Bodhichitta and so on.
That is the Dzogchen way . But the practitioner is not Dzogche n . The
practitioner must first realize Bodhichitta, impermanence , refuge and
so o n ; they must do all that . You need to distinguish between the
practitioner and Dzogche n , you see . Or I have heard people say that
Dzogchen refutes everything, that it doesn't (accept) the Ten Bhumis or
the Five Paths and so on . Dzogchen practitioners say : 'I am a
Dzogchen practitioner, so now I am free , I can do whatever I like , I 'm a
Dzogchenpa . ' But that is not right; a Dzogchenpa is not Dzogchen . A

19
 Yetri Thasel, Pfauenho( 200 7 : dGos 'dod gsal byed bshad gzhai'i mchongs

That is the quotation .

Then there is another quotation from the same text :

'If you gaze into space, it is self-clear. That means that there is
neither judgment nor perception, but your presence is quite clear;
it is not dull and there are no disturbances. What is clear? Your
presence is very clear, and that is called Awareness.'

Awareness means emptiness and emptiness means Awareness

and there is no separation . There is no need to try and distinguish
which is whic h ; external space and internal space are only nam e s .
There is no n e e d t o try a n d distinguish anything.
This all come s from this text . Why do we talk about external
and internal Empty Nature? It is only to explain , to clarify, to open
things up, and that is mainly to (show) how (it) is pure , how it is
perfected .
Now, there are two aspect s : Nature 's side and the practitioner's
side . The Natural State encompasses all Buddhas , all sentient beings ,
the whole of phenomenal existenc e ; everything is equally
encompassed . In the Natural State there is no separation between
Buddhas and sentient beings . There is no separation (into) perception
and what is perceive d . Neither does Nature 's side have Bhumis.
Normally the Ten Bhumis and the Five Paths are explained in the
Lower Vehicles, but in this case there is not even the name of the
Bhumis or Paths . These are not named in the Natural S tate becau se
the Natural State has no degrees; it can neither show degre e s , nor
develop , nor wax nor wan e , nothing - Nature is empty .

Dzogchen and the Dzogchenpa

That is called Dzogchen . Maybe people have u su ally heard that
Dzogchen doesn 't need to practise and develop Bodhichitta and so on.
That is the Dzogchen way . But the practitioner is not Dzogche n . The
practitioner must first realize Bodhichitta, impermanence , refuge and
so o n ; they must do all that . You need to distinguish between the
practitioner and Dzogche n , you see . Or I have heard people say that
Dzogchen refutes everything, that it doe s n 't (accept) the Ten Bhumis or
the Five Paths and so on . Dzogchen practitioners say : 'I am a
Dzogchen practitioner, so now I am free , I can do whatever I like , I 'm a
Dzogchenpa. ' But that is not right; a Dzogchenpa is not Ozogche n . A

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 Vetri Thascl. Pfauenhot: 2007: dGos ·ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai'i mchongs

Dzogchen practitioner is a Dzogchen practitioner and they have to do

everything. But if you realize clearly and properly and don 't j u st look
back to your thought, see nothing and think: 'Now I am a perfect
Dzogchen practitioner' (that is not right) . Don 't think like that .
Dzogchen is really hard to understan d , it cannot be understood in the
normal way . Normally we have to understand things u sing our
consciousness, our perception and do things with knowledge , but here
it suddenly says that this is far away from knowledge ; here you
suddenly have to start a different kind of knowledge . It is hard to
understan d ; this understanding mainly has to come through the
blessing of the Lineage Masters , that is why it is very important to
practise Guru Yoga .

How visions appear

S o , when you open your eyes and gaze into space , how do
visions come? At first , you won 't see anything, there is only
inseparable Wisdom and Awareness, only the Natural State which you
experience j u st after gazing into spac e . That means that your
experience is Empty Nature - Ying, or Dhatu in Sanskrit, or
Awarene s s , Rigpa. There is no separation , you can 't distinguish
(between emptine ss and clarity) , there is no duality , there is always
unificatio n ; emptine ss and clarity are not separate , subj ect and object
cannot be separated . The Nature which you experience at this moment
cannot be limited, it has neither end nor centre , neither high nor low,
neither thick nor thin ; there is nothing which can be measure d .
W h e n you gaze into space, you will s e e movements - black o r
white line s , some sparks . All these are called Yungdrung Lugu
Gyudkyiku4s That means that they are vision s which appear
continuou sly ; they self-appear. But whether you can call these Thogal
visions or j u st ordinary visions depends on the person . If the person is
quite stable in the Natural State , then they don 't perceive or think
anything, they don 't follow or j udge the vision s or anything, they j ust
leave them and keep in the Natural State . Meanwhile , that practitioner
experiences sound s , rays and lights or anything else as vision s ; he
experiences everything which comes to him as Thogal vision. H owever,
for a person who is not stable (in the Natural S tate) or who doesn 't
understand the Natural State , even if he goes into a dark room and
sees some lights or sparks or even visions, these are not Thogal visions

45 Tib. g . yung drung Ju gu rgyud kyi sku.

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 Yetri Thasel, Pfauenhof. 200 7 : dGos 'dod gsal byed bshad gzhai'i mchongs

at all . So it depends on the practitioner. Whenever visions come -

whether you are u sing space or a dark room as the support - if you
don 't follow them with your perception but rather j u st leave them as
they are then they themselves appear to Nature and are forms of
Nature ; they are not separate . It is not possible to grasp or perceive
these visions with consciousness or perceptio n . If you d o , then even if
you are practising Thogal , any visions which come will not be Thogal
vision s , they will j u st be like watching TV or some picture s . So if a
practitioner is stable in the Natural State , if their (experience of the)
State is clear and stable , if they are familiar with it, then meanwhile
even all the normal visions they see - they can still see normal things -
will be Thogal visions for them . According to such a practitioner, there
is no separation into subj ect and object, Awarene s s , Nature or
emptiness; everything is Ngonsum46 , 'direct vision'. It depends on the
practitioner not on the visions.
That is in the text , and there is also a quotatio n :

'All visions, pure and impure, depend on your understanding

and on whether you are blessed by the Natural State or whether
you fallow (vision) with your perception or consciousness.
Everything depends on the person; if the person has visions and
doesn't perceive or grasp anything, then everything is pure
vision, according to Thogal vision. '

These things are briefly explained in Chapter VII , so now we

have already done Chapter VII . Chapters VIII and IX deal with how to
really practise with Thogal and Trekcho . They give a detailed
explanation .
But I want everyone to recite the Drenpa Namkha prayer as
much as possible . Meanwhile , at least recite the mantra or prayer and
practise Guru Yoga as much as you can .

1 0th September

Non-sectarian Guru Yoga

We have to practise Guru Yoga again . When you do Guru Yoga
this time , do it with Drenpa Namkha. When (we recite the Refuge
Prayer) we say lama, yidam and khandro , these are all included in this

46 Tib. mngon sum.

21
 •
•
•
Vetri Thasel, Pfauenhof, 2007: dGos 'dod gsal byed bshad gzhai'i mchongs

one picture of Drenpa Namkha, in one image. On their side, there is no

sectarianism, no different Schools and so on. If you are not sectarian
then they are very tolerant, these things don't make much difference
and so you can think that all the yidams, dakinis, and so on (are all
integrated with Drenpa Namkha). You can think that all the Buddhas
are there; it is not 'his Buddha' or 'my Buddha' - there are thousands
of Buddhas - and so when we say lama, yidam, dakini, it is not his or
hers. So you have to visualize Drenpa Namkha as he is on this picture
here. But as I have already said, don't think that he is just a picture.
He is alive, he has a body of luminous light, he has purified all
obscurations and defilements; that is Buddhahood or people also say
'enlightenment'.
So visualize this now. The important thing is that first we are
purified by the three elements so everything external, internal, all
disturbances and sicknesses, all sufferings and miseries - everything
is purified. Then afterwards you receive the three seed syllables. These
represent Drenpa Namkha's body, speech and mind. They come from
him to you and are integrated with your body, speech and mind. That
is the real meaning of taking initiation and blessing. You have to think
- it is very necessary to be strongly motivated by devotion; your
devotion is like a tool for bringing blessings from him to you. Then
after this, try and keep in the Natural State for a little while. That is
the main purpose of attending these Teachings and the main purpose
of teaching here.

Chapter VIII
Now we have come to the eighth chapter of this text. This
chapter deals with how to practise Dzogchen in a regular way and how
a person should be qualified, how to follow, how a qualified Master
should be, how to make contact with a Master, how to receive
Teachings - everything is taught in order here. These (instructions) are
for Dzogchen practitioners in general and especially for teaching texts
on Trekcho and Thogal; but they are slightly different for general
Dzogchen Teachings and for Semde Teachings in particular. There are
also many things which need to be prepared for general Dzogchen
Teachings such as Preliminary practices - many things - but in this
particular context, we are talking about Semde Teachings, and how to
practise in the correct order.
First of all, the text teaches how to be motivated for Dzogchen.
In addition, it teaches here how to measure the teacher and the pupil.
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 Yetri Thasel, Pfauenhot: 2007: dGos " dod gsal byed bshad gzhai " i mchongs

That is adde d , it say s . So first of all it says that all those who attend
this Teaching must develop qualities in a special way . How? Generally ,
for the Tantric system and for Dzogchen in particular, you m u st be a
follower, it is not enough just to follow or listen in the normal way ; first
your body , speech and mind have to be turned and ripened. For that
purpo se , you must receive the perfect, pure empowerment ; you have to
take initiatio n . Before you take initiation , you have to think who is
giving it as the lama or Master has to be qualified to do so . Then the
pupil who receive s the initiation also has to be qualified .

Qualities of the student

1. As for the follower, to begin with he has to have N gej ung47 , he
has to realize what the human condition really i s , that life is
impermanent, that he is always circulating from death to birth to
death to birth and he has to realize how much suffering there is each
tim e . He has to be frightened and fed up and think about how to get
out of this cycle of suffering and misery . You have to have this basic
Ngej ung, to turn your thoughts deeply . It is very important to
understand , tru st and believe in this way .
2. Secondly , you have to know that the Buddha 's Teachings and
his message are all u seful, that they can purify all the circumstances
of suffering. So you have to realize that the Buddha's Teachings are
very powerful , a kind of antidote to sufferings and miserie s . You must
have devotion , very , very deep tru st and believe that everything (the
Buddha taught) is absolutely powerful and very strong.
Those are the first two intentions; you have to think in this
way . That is the first step dealing with who takes initiation , the
qualified follower.

Qualities of the Master

Then you must search for a Master who can give you
empowerment or initiatio n .
First of all , it m u s t b e a Master w h o knows a great deal about
Tantra , Gyude48 . That is one thing.
Generally , he has to have not only a brief understanding of all
Tantra, but he must have experience . In particular, he must be able to
read or follow all the explanation s , but that is not enough ; he must

47 Tib. nges · byung.

48 Tib rgyud sde.
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 Yetri Thasel, PfauenhoC 2007: dGos 'dod gsal bycd bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

understand the main purpose and Teachings and the main View of all
Tantras, and he has to be able to extract that from all these Tantras
and not merely follow the word s .
Moreover, i t is n o t enough j u st t o extract the essential meaning
and show that; he has to know all the words and contexts of Tantra
clearly .
It is not enough j u st to know something briefly or say
something; he has to have practised this and have experience of the
meaning of Tantra.
It is not enough j u st to have practised and experienced this
briefly ; he must understand the meaning of all the Four Activitie s :
peaceful; wrathfu l ; subduing (and extending) .
It is not enough j ust to say and talk about thi s ; he has to
practise and be very powerfu l .
Also , i f you need t o do something i n particular, i t is n o t enough
j u st to say and talk about it; he mu st have experience and practise .
However, having all of this knowledge is not enough ; he has to
know the View of all the Nine Ways in general . 'Know' doesn 't j u st
mean having some brief teachings , it means knowing properly and
clearly . That is for the Nine Ways in general .
In particular , as for the Dzogchen View, he has to know and
practise this clearly . That is a very important point.
Moreover, it is not enough j u st to know thi s , talk about it and
practise for some time ; that is still not enough . He has to have deep
and clear experience of the Dzogchen View .
Also , the Master shouldn 't be involved with worldly living
conditions; he has to take out and only practise the essential
Dzogchen View .
It is not enough j u st to practise sometimes and teac h ; if a
Master has not practised hard himself but j u st teaches without
practising with hardship and carrying o n , if he j u st teaches and goe s
round to public places or to towns nicely giving deep Teachings, then
no result will come .
If he is serious he should stay away from crowds of people and
also avoid all worldly living conditions . He should practise in cave s or
places of solitude and always have the intention of practising there in a
simple way . That is one point.

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 Yetri Thascl . PfauenhoL 200 7 : dGos " dod gsal byed bshad gzhai " i mchongs

Behaviour of both Master and pupil

The Master himself does this and he tells his followers and lets
them do as he doe s ; they are simple and seriou s and intend to practise
with this View.
If both the Master and the pupil behave in this way , they will
receive general and particular knowledge .
Both the Master and the follower should avoid worldly
condition s , worldly activities, emotion s and so o n . They must also have
great , deep compassion and love for all sentient beings , have great
opennes s , tolerance and generosity and not be prou d . They should not
act in a lordly fashion but should only act according to the general
public , like normal people49 - but that doesn 't mean going to bars or
dancing!
Those are the measurements of a qualified Master and pupil .
So in this way , the Teachings of Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen
each have limits in terms of who is qualified to be a practitioner or a
Master.

How the qualified pupil should approach the qualified Master

When such a qualified pupil has found a perfect,
knowledgeable, suitable and qualified Master, the pupil say s : 'I am fed
up with Samsara in general and especially with this cycle of death and
birth , of sufferings and miseries which are around throughout my
whole lifetim e . I want to be rid of these things . I want to practise the
preciou s path of Yungdrung Bon . My mind will only focus on the single
point of devotion to learn and practise . ' Then he offers all his
propertie s , whatever belongs to him, all his valuables , to this Master
and promises not to do anything connected with the worldly living life ,
but only t o receive initiation and ble ssing. 'I will only follow you and
learn and practise everything . '
This pupil 's manner should be naturally very bright and clever,
he should naturally be very deeply devoted to Mahayana. He naturally
has determination and is able to carry on his practice and study
de spite hard ship. He always wants to be close to his own qualified
Master once he has found him and never has any desire to return back
to the activities of Samsara, j u st as someone with nausea has no
de sire for food . He mu st avoid all worldly activities .

49 I . e. don " t b e eccentric o r haughty and don " t stand o u t i n t h e crowd .

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 Yetri Thasel. Pfauenhof, 200 7 : dGos " dod gsal byed bshad gzhai " i mchongs

Also , in his former lifetime , the pupil should have already

practised and been connected (to the Teachings) with devotion and
then these ripen in this lifetim e . By this, his understanding and
devotion to the View is strong, stable and permanent. This kind of
perfect, knowledgeable person become s qualified for great Dzogpa
Chen po .
Moreover, this qualified follower of Dzogchen should be
naturally less short-tempere d ; there is no need for him to train himself
in thi s , it is natural . Whatever he doe s , he doesn 't go against other
people or beings and naturally has le ss de sire . His behaviour is very
gentle ; all his actions and speech are very gentle . He does not
particularly desire or need things for himself, and he generally makes
less suffering for other beings . He spontaneou sly has very great respect
for Dzogpa Chenpo . Such a person is naturally qualified for Dzogchen .
If such a person goes to a qualified Master and offers gold ,
j ewel s , mandala and whatever belongs to him , he can ask him to give
the empowerment seve n , five or three years from now . He does this
long before receiving initiatio n ; you need to apply in advance . The
Master will then give permission and promise to give the initiation after
three , five or seven years . Meanwhile they may need to prepare
something.
Then the student begin s to learn and study from this Master.
He studies Dzogchen continuou sly and then the Master also teaches
him and thinks of this pupil as his heartso . It is like this . He teaches
him the text three or five times repeatedly , again and again and only
after that will he give the pupil the text ; he has to listen and study but
he can 't get the text straightaway . It is not like nowadays - when you
need a book , you go to the shop, print something and then they fly
everywhere . In those day s , there was one text , the Master read it and
the pupil had to listen very carefully and try to learn it by heart. Once
he had listened three or five times , then he was allowed to look at the
text , and he would copy it and write it down in gold . Then he had to
keep this text as his heart and promise not to waste or spoil it. Then
again he would offer whatever he could to the Master and liste n , and
promise to keep this text as his heart, i . e . as something very
important . He promised that in the future he would check and only
give it to qualified pupil s , not sell it to anyone who wanted it or asked
him for it.
There are three degrees of qualified followers :

5 0 I . e. holds h i m as dear as h i s h eart.

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 Vetri Thasel, Pfaucnhot: 2007: dGos " dod gsal byed bshad gzhai " i mchongs

1 . The first is very sharp and knowledgeable , he can understand

whatever his Master teaches and knows everything clearly and
properly ;
2. The second is not so sharp or clever but he is still able to offer all
his property to the Master, to learn and practise and know most
things ;
3. The third is not so sharp but he is very obedient, always working
and doing things for his Master; he always follows his Master.

[ Rinpoche give s tran smission of Drenpa Namkha Guru Yoga and say s :
(In t h e monastery) w e do a hundred thou sand ganapujas with t h i s text
every year. This text is a Termas 1 of Ponse Khyungotsa1s2 (and was
taken) from Zangzang Lhadrags3 in the eleventh century . That was in
Tibet, not Germany ! Why don 't you have any treasures in Germany?
(Audience : 'We have Mercedes! '
Rinpoche : Yes , that is a practical treasure ! But I have already said,
maybe you should avoid this kind of treasure ! O K . ]

Seven successive initiations

So now we have come as far as the qualified student asking the
qualified Master (for empowerment) and they both agre e , so the
qualified pupil is ready to learn and now he begins to receive the
initiation . In this case , there are seven different initiation s which are
given one after the other.
1. The first initiation given by the Master to the pupil is Tr6che54, the
external , extended or elaborate (initiation) . It relies on a sand mandala .
At that time , the Master teaches and explains all kinds of Samaya, the
Bodhichitta vow , and the Refuge vow as well as giving all the
explanations regarding the initiation and how to practise with
Nyenpa5 5 , propitiation , and finally about helping sentient beings ,
saving the m . That is the meaning and purpose of the first initiatio n .
2. For t h e second initiation, a mandala a n d offerings again have to be
mad e , and in particular, the pupil offers the mandala to the Master in

51 Tib. gter ma.

52 Tib. dPon gsas Khyung rgod rtsa l .
53 T i b . Zang zang I h a brag.
54 Tib. spros che.
55 Tib. bsnyen pa.
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 Yetri Thasel, Pfauenho( 2007 : dGos ' dod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

front of the sand mandala. The Master mu st visualize that all the earth
is filled with j ewels and variou s wish- fu lfilling j ewels as numerous as
the stars, that it is filled with turquoise , Zi56 , silver, conch , coral and
then the whole of the universe - the islands and the small islands, the
fence , the Six Realms and the beings therein - everything is offered to
the Divinities and the Three Jewels. The Master visualizes this and
tells the pupil so they both visualize this offering. The text doesn 't
mention computers ; we have to add that! This is the second initiation.
3. For the third initiation , a new sand mandala has to be made , a
ritual has to be performed and offerings prepared . Then after thi s , (the
Master performs) the common initiation of the Nine Way s . All the
Divinities and Views are explained very briefly , (the pupil) is shown the
face of all the Divinities and the meaning of the Nine Ways is explained
briefly .
4. Again you make a new mandala, prepare offerings and perform a
ritual of Zhitro57 mandala and make offerings . When all this is ready ,
(the Master) shows the D ivinities to the pupil . Be sides there he
explains the secret initiation or empowerment; that is taught at this
tim e .
5. Again a new sand mandala a n d offerings are made and t h e ritual o f
t h e dakini s , Lineage Masters and Secret Divinities is performed . These
rituals are all done and then (the Master) show s the face (of the Secret
Divinitie s) to the pupils and explains the meaning and significance .
That is the initiation in this case .
6. Again offerings are made . Master and student go to a cemetery or
wrathful place and offer the mandala, give secret Teachings and
initiatio n . This is the unelaborated initiation .
7. After this, they again go to a place of solitude and prepare a
mandala . Then the Master explains Dzogchen . In some case s he
explains (in terms of) meditation, or sometime s he explains: 'no
meditation yet meditate '. He explains what these mean , and gives the
Teachings of Lado58 - that is the main text of Yetri Thasel.
So these are the seven initiations. The names are listed here
but the real detail s come in the ritual texts . This is just a list. Each
initiation is explained in a ritual text , not here . So this qualified Master
gives the qualified pupil the initiation s and afterwards the seven
empowerments are complete . Then you have to have a great party !

5 6 Tib. gzi .
5 7 Tib. zhi khro - mandala of peacefu l and wrathfu l deities.
5 8 Tib. La zlo.
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 Yctri Thasel, Pfauenho( 200 7 : dGos ' dod gsal byed bshad gzhai'i mchongs

Perform as many ganapuj a s as you could , and that create s great

benefit for all divinitiess9 , and it is delightful for all the people ,
especially if they drink wine! It doesn 't say that here . Don 't only do one
ganapuj a , do one hundred , twenty- seven or at the very least , thirteen .
There should not be more than between five and seven pupils
at one tim e ; seven at the most . Big groups are not allowed , so there
should not be more than seven pupils at one time . If you perform
many ganapuj as then the best virtue s and merits from this will cau se
the earth to tremble .
After thi s , the pupils give a nine-tiered golden mandala to the
qualified Master. Whatever possessions the pupil has - his uncle ,
father, mother, wife , hu sban d , brother, property and people he is
deeply connected to , horse s , elephants, gold , turquoise , wish - fulfilling
j ewels - he offers everything to the Master. During this tim e , (because
of) whatever is offered and whatever ganapuj a s are don e , you will
receive the greatest merit . If you don 't offer much , you will not benefit
much from the initiation nor get blessing.
There is a quotation (from main text of Yetri Thaseij :

'If you don't perform a ganapuja or offer or do things in the

proper way then nothing will be successful. If you do something
in an improper way, that is a cause leading to the Lower Realms,
and maybe you will be connected with rakshas. '

Then there is another quotation :

'If a very clever, learned and qualified Master gives

empowerments to a qualified follower, from the outset both
Master and pupil have to check that they are qualified. They
have to read this text to see whether they are ready or not. It is
very important to check this at the beginning. These seven
initiations can be performed one after the other at the same time
or over many months and years. It doesn't make much
difference, you can choose whatever is convenient. So that is
how a normal person can become ripe to be a follower of Dzogpa
Chenpo. '

After receiving initiatio n , the empowerment should be stable

(within) the pupil . That means that he keeps his Samaya properly and

59 I . e. wor l d l y gods and wor l d l y P rotectors.

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 Yetri Thasel, Pfauenhot: 200 7 : dGos " dod gsal bycd bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

deeply . There are instructions on Samaya for External and Internal

Tantra; each text has many Samayas, but they are all included60 in the
Yetri Thasel by Drenpa N amkha - there is a chapter about Samaya, so
here it says to look and read that chapter. In particular, there are Four
Samayas for Dzogchen . You must learn them before we stop for today .
They are :

i. Mepa6 1
ii . Chigpu6 2
iii . Chalwa63
iv . Lhundrub64

O K . Then stop, it's time for the Water Offering. But I didn 't say
you should stop your Damtsig (Samaya) ! Then that is the Teaching for
today ; tomorrow I will have to teach on these four.

1 1 th September

We will begin with Guru Yoga in the same way . I 'm not only
showing this as something you do during this retreat ; this is how to
practise in your daily life . We chant the refuge and Bodhichitta prayers
as well , but (whether you use the melody or not) depends on your tim e .
But anyhow , do Guru Yoga a n d then keep in t h e Natural State for a s
l o n g as y o u have tim e .

Importance of knowing Samayas

Now, in the text we have reached the part on Damtsig,
Dzogchen D amtsig. Yesterday we talked about initiation and at the end
we mentioned Damtsig and said that the details are given in another
text , not here . Nowadays it is generally quite popular to talk about
taking empowerment or initiation, and when you take any
empowerment - it doesn 't matter which kind of Buddhist Tantra65 it
comes from ; initiation comes from Tantra - the main point is the

60 I . e. summed up.
6 1 Tib. med pa.
6 2 Tib. gcig pu.
6 3 Tib. phyal ba.
64 Tib. l h u n grub.
6 5 I . e. whether i t i s Yungdrung Bon Tantras or those of the other four Schoo l s of Ti betan

B u ddh ism.
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 Yctri Thascl, Pfaucnhof, 2007: dGos ·ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

Natural State66 . Different Schools have different Views of Nature , but

here we generally explain (the View as) the Natural State and
compassion . These two are really the foundation . Then you visualize
the yidam , divinity , dakinis or whatever, and they come from the unity
of Nature and compassio n . It is not enough j u st to think and practise
for a while ; you need to be able to unite the Natural State and
compassion perfectly without them causing any problems for each
other. When they are completely easily integrated in one point then
this become s the yidam form . That is one ste p .
Then t h e second step is that y o u have to know what y o u are
doing, what you are receiving, who is giving (the initiation) and then
once you have received it , what the basic Samayas or Damtsig are . If
you are j u st watching without knowing this then that create s
proble m s , you see . So when you take an empowerment, it is best to
read what kinds of things (it involves) and then secondly you have to
j udge whether it is convenient for you , whether it fits with your
lifestyle , whether it will be easy for you to handle or not. I f you j u st go
up (to receive the blessing) with your head down without knowing what
you are receiving then if your devotion is strong you can take and
receive something, but then the next step - Dam tsig - is very
important .

Dzogchen Samayas
(What I have j u st said) refers to Damtsig in general . Here , in
particular, it explain s the Dzogchen Damtsig. In the general the
Dzogchen Damtsig is not to go again st any (Teachings of) Tantra and
Sutra but a Dzogchen practitioner in particular mu st know the Natural
State otherwise they cannot be a Dzogchenpa. How can you know the
Natural State? Dzogchen means the Natural State , but how can you
know it? From the beginning, you do Semdzin67 • There are many
Semdzin methods to show and control your min d , then you look at
your min d , at who is watching your mind , and then all subj ects and
obj ects liberate completely into Nature ; there is nowhere else to go .
You have to know this clearly . How can you know it? It is very hard to
explain ; it is itself aware of itself. We always say that there is neither
subj ect nor obj ect, that it is not influenced by concepts at all . That is
not easy , it is very hard to understan d . We quite often use the word
'emptiness'. We say that you look back toward s the Nature of your

66 Th i s i s according t o t h e Bonpo H i gher Tantra.

67 Tib. sems ' dz i n .
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 Yctri Thasel , Pfaucnhot: 2007: dGos 'dod gsal byed bshad gzhai'i mchongs

mind , there is no colour, no form , nothing, so it seems easy to explain

but it is much harder and more difficult to understand . When you look
back and watch your mind , both the watcher and what it is watching
(disappear) at the same time . You cannot see , think or create anything.
What happens? There is an unspeakable state and presence there .
Everyone must know that clearly , it is very important. Each individual
must make sure that they know this presence . There is nothing you
can speak of, nothing you can think , yet there is a clear presence . Thi s
presence is very , very important; it is the basi s , it is the Natural State .
This N atural State has four kinds of qualities or perfections; we
can explain many things about the Natural State but they are all
condensed in these four: emptine ss (and) clarity , purity , unity and
perfection. I n this case , these correspond to the four points of the
Dzogchen D amtsig:
i. Mepa;
ii. Chigpu ;
iii . Chalwa;
iv . Lhundrub68 .

It is not easy fo r m e t o translate these into Englis h , I don 't

know the perfect words - it is better if you learn Tibetan and then I
can explain! The se four are the qualities of the Natural State , and if
you make a mistake with any of them then you are breaking the
Dzogchen vow . If on the other hand you know these four points
perfectly , then you will know Dzogchen perfectly .

i. Mepa
While you are in the Natural State , the unspeakable state ,
there is nothing which can be e:itplained - no causes, no karmic
cau ses , no here or there , no images - nothing; there is nothing to
explain at that moment when you are in the Natural State . That is
Mepa: there is nothing explicable in the Natural State .

ii. Chigpu
People often talk about Thigle Nyagchig, the Single Point.
'Single point' mean s that clarity , emptiness and unification cannot be
separated or pointed out (individually) . Wherever there is the presence ,
there is all these three . We use these three to explain the meaning, but
they are not divided ; they cannot be separated .

68 N othing, s i n g u l arity, pervasi veness, self-perfection.

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 Yetri Thasel . Pfauenhot: 2007: dGos " dod gsal byed bshad gzhai'i mchongs

i i i . Chalwa
This mean s pervasive . That means that (the Natural State)
encompasses the whole of existence , generally . But that is not enough ,
it i s j u st a little explanation .

iv . Lhundrub
Generally this means perfect. The (real) meaning i s the pure
point of the Natural State .

Detailed Explanation of the Four Damtsig of Dzogchen

What we explain for these Samayas or Damtsig is first of all the
Natural State , and then the mistaken view (misinterpretation) for each
point, and it is this (misinterpretation) which is breaking the vow .

i . Mepa
Mepa means that the Natural State has no cau se s , that it
doesn 't produce anything - nothing. It is a completely indescribable
state ; it has no cau s e , no re sult, no substance , nothing which can be
explained . There is a presence, so you cannot say nothing exists, yet
you cannot show anything to your con sciousness and say that it is this
or that ; that is not possible . The Natural State has already been largely
explained (in the Teachings before) . The State has no cause s , it doesn 't
produce anything, it has no form , no body , speech no mind , no
wisdo m , no sin - nothing. That mean s that Nature itself has nothing.
That is Nature .
Dzogchen says many things and negate s many things ; this is
often explained when we read the texts . I n fact , they explain that
Nature itself has no cau se , do�n 't produce any fruit and so on, but
they69 do not negate cau s e s , fruit and so on; it isn't explained this way .
So that is a mistake . When Dzogchen says there is no karmic cause ,
no result and so on, it is merely explaining that the Natural State has
nothing. You must realize thi s . When Dzogchen says that nothing
exists, it means that Nature itself has no cau s e , no fruit, nothing, but
in fact it does not negate anything else . Dzogchen accepts cau se , fruit
- whatever - but on Nature 's sid e , nothing exists; there is a clear
distinctio n . If you are not table to distinguish between these two

<>'> I . e. texts.
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 Yetri Thasel. PfaucnhoC 2007: dGos " dod gsal byed bshad gzhai " i mchongs

clearly then you have broken Mepa, and that means you have the
mistaken , wrong View of Nature .
Hopefully that is clear. It is very important to know thi s , you
see . Usually in Dzogchen texts they negate many things , but really
that means Dzogchen has nothing which can be explained yet it
doesn 't negate anything. There are these two aspect s .
There are still more things t o say! U sually there are many
things to say . In early times , people would come to me and say that
other Dzogchen Masters were open and said that Dzogchen is free ,
whereas I said that you have to do this or that , and so they told me my
Dzogchen was not correct as other lamas said Dzogchen was
completely free . But maybe they had misunderstood ; 'fre e ' means that
nothing is confirmed and nothing is negated , but the practitioner is
not Dzogche n . You (the practitioner) have to be careful and do
everything in the proper way , otherwise your attendance at the
Dzogchen Teachings will be wasted and maybe you will even go the
wrong way and collect negative things for no reason.

ii . Chigpu
This refers to the Natural State itself - we have already said
that . Emptiness, clarity and unification are all qualities or
characteristics of Nature , but if you look there , you cannot see them
separately . I t is impossible to distinguish what is empty , what is clear
and what is unified . While you remain in the S tate , everything is there .
'Clarity ' means self-aware of itself. When thoughts and everything
disappear and are liberated , your pre sence is still quite clear - there is
nothing you can explain or think about, yet this clarity is Awareness,
Awareness is Nature and Nature is clarity . Everything is in there . If
you don 't trust this tien Nature itself (still) pervades the whole of
phenomenal existence and then it explains in the text that this Nature
equally encompasses everything from Dharmakaya right down to the
hell s . This means that the qualitie s or characteristics of Nature are the
same, but the Nature itself is not the same at all . (So the
misinterpretation is that) without knowing and distinguishing between
these two , (you think that) there is one thing which pervade s
everything from Dharmakaya down t o t h e hell s . That is mistake n . It
says many things here . Vedanta has this idea, too . It is the
characteristics which are the same . How are they the same? For
example , a cow has consciousness and perception , and so doe s a
human , but these are not permanent ; they appear spontaneou sly and
then the thoughts liberate back into Nature . You may not know very
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 Yetri Thasel. PfaucnhoL 200 7 : dGos ·ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai · i mchongs

clearly or remember7 0 , but a cow also has perceptions, and these

change ; a cow is not always thinking one thing permanently . We can
see thi s . Sometimes a cow is bitten by a mosquito , and its mind
changes quickly7 1 • We can see thi s . Or if the cow is thirsty it quickly
goe s to search for water, and when it is hungry it quickly goe s to some
grass. So we can see that the cow's perception change s quickly O u st as
ours does) . Hence (we can see that) the N atural State pervades
everything without distinctio n . And whatever is pervaded by Nature ,
emptine s s , clarity and u nification are there in a similar way . These do
not only pervade one place ; they are similar everywhere , the
characteristics (of Nature) are the sam e . For example, (simultaneou sly)
one person has one concept , one person is happy and one person is
suffering, so that means that consciou snesses change (and are
different) . But Nature never change s ; it is the concept or perception
which change s . Each concept or consciou sne ss i s encompassed by
Nature . That is what we mean when we say the characteristics are the
same . If you don 't understand this clearly but think that one mind
pervades everything, then that is what is kept and learnt in Vedanta;
that is their very strong view . If you believe this then your Damtsig is
broken and you go against the meaning of Dzogchen.
I s that clear? You must make sure (of this point) . If you think
that (Nature) is one without individual partitions , that this 'on e '
pervade s everything, then that is breaking y o u r Dzogchen Damtsig and
goes against the Dzogchen View . Hopefully you have understood
clearly .

iii . Chalwa
One part of (Chalwa) is that the Natural State is pure , and one
part is that Nature pervades the whole of phenomenal existence -
external , internal , everything is pervaded by the Natural State .
But if you understand this to mean that this Nature is only
one, without partition , which pervade s the whole of existence , then
that is breaking your faith of Chalwa .
The characteristics of the Natural State are the same but each
individual's Nature is connected with their own consciou snes s . That is
one part of how Chalwa can be misunderstood .

70 I.e. you may not remember your previ ous ex istences as a cow.
71 I .e. the cow i m mediatel y swishes its tai l , l i cks the pl ace where the mosquito is, twitches.
scratches with its hoof and so on .
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Another part of Chalwa is like common Shamatha

practitioners. There are four categorie s of Shamatha: Namkha Thaye,
Namshe Thaye , Chiyang Mepa and Du she Memin72 , all of which do not
follow agitation or drowsiness very much ; they have purified all the se ;
if they had n 't , then it couldn 't be pure Shamatha . However, with thi s ,
they are mainly focu sing with their contemplation a n d Samadhi, and
for them , their Samadhi pervade s everything and is unlimite d , like
spac e . It pervades everything equally , but they grasp this with their
thoughts, so they are not away from thoughts. Thoughts are integrated
(in their Samadhi) ; they are always watching or thinking something.
That is included and integrated within Nature (for them) . If you do this
while practising with Dzogchen Nature , then that is the wrong way and
you have broken your Samaya of Chalwa. Nature is not integrated with
any concept or perceptio n , nothing. But here , the misunderstanding is
that it is like Samadhi, i . e . , something is integrated with thinking; you
think that Nature has no end, no limit, or you are looking at
something. That is breaking the Dzogchen Damtsig of Chalwa .

iv . Lhundrub
You cannot see Nature itself. I have already explained this.
Nature itself is empty , clear, unified and perfect - everything is in
there , but you don 't recognize these qualities individually in Nature .
Nevertheles s , this Nature is the Base of all . How is it the Base of all?
You can see this. If you keep in the Natural S tate for a while then a
thought will soon rise u p . You didn 't plan or create anything, it
appeared by itself spontaneou sly . That shows that Nature is perfecte d .
Anything c a n appear, but there is n o planning. Nature doesn 't have
any cau ses , nothing. So things appear spontaneou sly , and that is
Nature . If you don 't think that Nature has created something, then
whatever appears mu st exist spontaneou sly in the Base .
Vedanta u sually says that everything can appear because
everything is the result or the product of (an already exi sting) cau se
and that everything must exist as a fruit produced by a cause
otherwise nothing could appear. If, for example , you squeeze sand, oil
will not come , but if you squeeze mu stard seeds , they are
spontaneou sly perfected with oil , so if you do some work , the oil is
allowed to appear. This is evidence ; whatever exists must come from a
cau se , and therefore the cau se of this result already exi sts. That is the

72 Tib. N am mkha' mtha' yas, rN am shes mtha' yas, C i yang med pa, " Du shes med m i n .

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 Yctri Thascl. Pfauenhot: 2007: dGos · ctod gsal bycd bshad gzhai · i mchongs

thinking and the view of Vedanta. In a similar way , (some people think
that) whatever phenomena exist are all within the Basic Nature of
Dzogchen . If you think in this way then that is breaking your
Dzogchen Samaya of Lhundrub. (This mistaken interpretation)
explains that the Base has wisdom , image s , Sambhogakaya,
Nirmanakaya - that everything is already there in the Base of Nature . I
have already explained (with an example) : if you put images in a vessel
or pot and then break the vessel , the images appear. But if you think
(this is how things appear from and are perfected in the Natural State) ,
then this is not the right view of 'perfected ', and so you will have
broken your Samaya of Lhundrub, perfected . 'Perfected ' simply mean s
that things are allowed to come , so if you think that everything already
exi sts there , then you have broken (your Damtsig of Lhundrub) .

It is better if you ask questions about what we have been

talking about . This is a very important point.

Q: You said that the Natural State pervade s everything but that it can
be individual, too . That is hard to understand .
A: Ye s . That is a good questio n . Humans don 't all have the same
cau ses. There is general cau se and private cau se . General cause
means that we have collected similar causes, so for example , all
humans can see water, and even though we have different names for
it, we all recognize it as something drinkable or something we can
wash with . We all know that equally , and that comes from equal or
general causes. Private cause mean s that some people think that some
water is good or not clean and so on. That is private . It is like this with
everything; there is general and private.
I n general , there is not one common person but the proj ection
of the perso n . So everything has general and private ; 'general ' means
that we have collected similar cau se s .

Q: I have a question about Lhundru b . If you break your Samaya when

y o u think that the Three Kayas, the Ten Paramitas and so on are
a l ready perfected in the Natural State , then how is it perfected?
S o m etimes you say that the difference between a Dzogchen
pract i tioner and a Tantric practitioner is that in Dzogchen we believe
1 l i a t N a t u re is perfected but in Tantra they believe they have to add

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something . . . [The translator tran slates this to Rinpoche u sing the word
'containe d ']
A: N o . I didn 't say it contains anything. It is only (in) Vedanta (they)
say it contains things . They say that the fruit exists and the fruit is the
result of cau se . This is only the view of Vedanta, it is not in any
Buddhist text . The cau se can produce the connection (with fruit) . Take
sand for example . Sand doesn 't give oil, but a mu stard seed does give
oil . The oil is connected with the mu stard seed but not with sand . That
is the example given in this case .
Q: I think we need to distinguish between 'contained ' and 'perfected'.
We have learnt that all the Ten Paramitas are perfected (within the
Natural State) , but the Vedanta says something is contained . There is
a big difference between 'perfecte d ' and 'contained '.
A: Maybe .

I wanted to say a little more about general or private causes;

this is important . If for instance some people are eating the same food
sitting at the same table , then the general cau se is that the same food
is served at the table, but then someone thinks it is deliciou s , very
goo d , while someone else thinks it is only so-so So the general (vision
comes from karmic cause - obviou sly - but then whether someone
thinks it is good or bad (is their private vision coming from their
private karmic cau ses) . Or if ten people look at one other person , they
can all see that it is a human , and that is general (vision) . Private
(vision) is that one person thinks that other person is his good friend ,
someone else thinks he is their enemy . So each person has different
feelings about this one other individual , but on his sid e , you can find
neither friend nor enemy which exists inherently - everything is
proj ected . But generally , everyone can see that there is one individual
there . Everything is like thi s .

Q: W h e n w e break a Dzogchen Samaya, c a n w e repair it, a n d if so ,

how?
A: Ye s , you can repair it. You need to know the Dzogchen Samayas
clearly . You must check the Dzogchen View properly and clearly
according to the text , and then you won 't have broken your Samaya.
But if something happens then that means you have doubt s , hold the
wrong view or something . Then you can correct that . If you correct it
and (your View) come s back to being pure and clear, then that is
perfected - you don't need to recite something or do prostration s or
something - that doesn 't help to repair (broken Dzogchen Samaya) ;
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 Yetri Thascl, PfaucnhoC 200 7 : dGos ·ctod gsal bycd bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

you can only (repair it by) checking that you Nature is completely clear
and perfect. Pro strations don 't help ! !

Q: As regards private and general visio n , when you practise i n the dark
and lights come , is that the general aspect? And then when some
picture s or scenes and so on appear, is that the individual side of the
Natural State?
A: N o , no. What you see in the dark room cannot be common . That is
only private vision . Common vision is that we can see trees and flowers
equally through our eye sense , but in the dark room it is only the
practitioner who has visions - others cannot see them - dark is dark!
This kind of private visions or signs which the practitioner has are all
private , not common .

Q: External and internal are the same and everything is Empty Form ,
so sometimes when the practitioner meditate s he feels that his Nature
encompasses everything - the mountains , lakes and so on. Maybe this
is a wrong view , but maybe it is like a drop in the ocean - dissolve s .
A: That depen ds. Meditation is n o t integrated with anything, i t is j u st
pre sent and clear. So if you have any kind of visions or experience that
external and internal are separate or not separate , whatever you
experience is j u st right, there is nothing wrong. It depends on your
understanding of the Natural State . It should not be influenced by
perception or consciousne s s . If it is not influenced by perceptio n , if
your pre sence is clear and not influenced by here / there , dual / non­
dual , then whatever comes is j u st the sam e , pure and righ t .

So those are all t h e Damtsig of Dzogchen .

If this kind of (qualified) follower or practitioner of Dzogchen
who has received Teachings and many things and has all kinds of
MindroF3 , that means complete , is allowed to be taught many things
and to learn . Also , the qualified Master is allowed to give a copy of the
book to the follower. Thi s qualified Master has to choose who to initiate
- he cannot initiate more than seven pupils at one time, although as
for Teaching, he is allowed to teach some part of Dzogchen (to larger
groups) ; more people are allowed to listen and learn . They don 't
understand or learn serious Teachings, but they are allowed to listen
to some general things about Dzogchen, such as history or Semdzin ;
they are allowed to learn these things becau se that forges a contact

71 T i b . sm i n gro l .
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with Dzogchen . Otherwise , Dzogchen is not for common practice . If

you show or teach everything then your gold will turn to charcoal and
be waste d . If you decide this doesn 't matter and that you are allowed
to do these things , then they will be j u dged by normal people .
Similarly , if you show the texts or secret Teachings or talk about them
in public place s , then there will be fewer blessings and things . If you
j oke about these Samayas or j u st chat about them or if you talk about
the Teachings proudly or proudly say that you know something, then
that will be (counted as) the heavie st negative things and you will burn
in helL
If on the other hand you keep these properly and tightly , then
you will receive the achievement of Buddhahood .
It is important to check all these things ; the student must
check whether the Master is qualified or not and the Master m u st
check whether the student is qualified or not. In the text it say s :

'If the student does not check whether the Master is qualified or
not then the Master will become his enemy. The Master must
check the pupil, and if he is not qualified, he will become the
Master 's enemy.'

If you don 't see the qualities in the Master but only see faults, it
is better to avoid this kind of thing from the outset and not have much
connection (to such a master) .
That is about how the Master and student should prepare . Up
to here we have dealt with Minpa74, how to ripe n , and then the second
part is Drolwa7 5 , how to liberate . But now it is time for the Water
Offering .
1 2th September

Again we will practise Guru Yoga in the same way , then

afterwards , you look back at the thought (which arises spontaneou sly) ,
but once you have experienced (the clear state which is left when
thoughts disappear) , there is no need to check thoughts very often or
to gaze at A - you have your experience , you are familiar with it and
then when you remember Nature , you are already in the Natural State .
But you have to practise Guru Yoga first.

74 Tib. sm i n pa.
75 Tib. grol ba.
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 Vetri Thasel, Pfaucnhot: 2007: dGos · ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

Meaning of Mindrol
Now, we have gone through the Teachings from the
Preliminaries up to taking initiation or empowerment . U sually there
are four initiations or empowerments - many yidams have
em powerments and there are only these four categories:
External ;
Internal ;
Secret;
Essential .
However, here , in this text , it is special and we have seven initiations.
N evertheles s , from the Preliminaries u p to the fourth initiation (of
these seven) is what we call Minpa. Minpa mean s that a normal person
is beginning to learn , and train from the Preliminaries u p to the fourth
initiation in a regular way . This person has already found Nature and
has practised more or less so they have realized (the Nature of their
Mind) perfectly and clearly for themselves and become familiar with it.
Then when they reach the fourth initiation , that is introducing what
you have experienced as the Natural State . Your experience is one
thing, and this should be in complete agreement with what the Master
teaches, and then in addition you should read au thentic texts . These
three - your experience , what your Master says and what is written in
the text - should agree completely , and then you can receive the fourth
initiation. That is also the final limit of Min pa, of ripening.
There is an example (for this proce ss of ripening) : generally , a
normal person is like a field . Then you begin to work on the field , you
scatter seeds there and then you have to work , to add the supports of
water and manure , to plough the field , and once you have done
everything, then the crop begins to grow . When the crop is ready to be
harve ste d , we say it is ripe , and this is an example to illu strate Minpa.
H owever, once the crop is ripe , it is not enough j ust to harvest
it and then think that everything has been done . I n a similar way , it
says here that once you have been introduced (to the Natural S tate)
and know it very well, it is not enough j u st to leave it afterwards . There
are still many things that have to be done after the crop has been
harvested . I n Tibet we make tsampa , so here it says that after the
harve st you have to roast the barley , then grind it, and then it is ready
to eat. In the same way , it is not enough j u st to be introduced to the
Natural State and realize what it i s ; you must continue practising and
practising until you reach Buddhahood . Just receiving the
i n trodu ction is not enough . If you continue to practise with what has

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been introduce d , then what you have realized will not be waste d . In
the same way , here , you still need to develop and practise even when
you have realized (the Natural State) clearly . Many disturbance s can
arise at that time and you have to develo p , learn , study and practise ,
and for that you must always rely on a qualified Master if you don 't ,
then you won 't know what kinds of disturbances can come or how to
purify them or develop beyond them . You m u st always rely on a
qualified Master for these things .
Someone may criticize this saying that once a pupil is already
ripe , knows (the State) very well and has already been introduced to it,
that is good enough ; there is no need to practise more or develop.
The text answers that if, for example , you harve st your crop but
then don't do much with it until you want to eat it, then whatever work
you have done (in the field) will be waste d . In the same way , once you
have already been introduced (to the S tate) and know it very well , if
you don 't then develop and practise then the fact of having been
introduced and of being familiar with Nature will all be wasted , you
won 't succeed . That is why it is necessary to liste n , practise and study
more with a qualified Master, and to meditate .
That is called Mindrol , Minpa and Drolwa . This is the general
way in which to practise ; that is the name . Then once you have been
introduced and you begin to practise , that is called Minpa, but you are
not ready for Drolwa - that means liberation . Drolwa itself has many
different name s and there are many different explanations for it;
maybe this will come afterward s .

Three ways of practising

As the practitioner continues to practise , the Master will advise
three syste m s:
1. Practising like a beggar
ii. Practising like a wounded animal
111. Practising like a powerful king.

i. How to practise like a beggar

You should go to strange places where no-one knows who you
are or what you do and where you yourself do not know the place,
people or country . But you go there and go to different places, to caves ,
everywhere . Sometimes y o u g o t o some solitary places , sometimes you
go to cemeteries - anywhere . You don 't take up any fixed place but you
practise tightly day and night without wasting any tim e . Maybe you go

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to famous places where there are god s and where ghosts gather. The
point is that no-one knows you so no-one disturbs your practice . So
that means that when special sign s come through your practice , there
i s no need to proudly show anyone else . You hide everything and keep
on (practising) ; you have no desire , no anger, no j ealou sy - there is
nothing to show and so these emotions spontaneou sly become weaker
and wane .
Such a practitioner can have special signs - external or
internal , many ways - and he himself doesn 't show anything to anyone
and the others don 't realize what he i s ; maybe they see him as a
madman . Therefore he can be satisfied with his own work. These sign s
are proof of the reality of his knowledge , and that means that he has
received the truth of the Teachings to him self.

ii . How to practise like a wounded animal

This practitioner always goe s alone to solitary places because
he doesn 't want to be connected with worldly living conditions or
anything. So he is always (staying) away from people , keeping himself
in caves or gorges , cemeteries or empty places - wherever he can keep
him self easily . At that tim e , he avoids the Three Activities (of body ,
speech and mind) .

Body
With his body , he leave s out everything to do with farming,
animal s , family . He does nothing like thi s , everything is left out
(abandoned) .
If he stops moving his body , then his channels and breath become
calmer, gentler and more peaceful.

Mind
If his movements , channels and wind s are more calm and
peaceful then his thoughts become fewer and fewer. So when he does
thi s , his thoughts become gentler, softer and gradually sto p .

Speech
At the same time , he doesn't speak at all , he neither recites
mantras nor says anything; he remains silent.
Sometimes good things or bad things may appear
spontaneou sly for this practitioner, but even so , he realize s these are
n othing particularly u sefu l , even if they seem to be special visions. He
d o e sn 't have (any idea of) either good or bad - nothing. He realizes that
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 Yetri Thasel, P fauenhof, 200 7 : dGos · ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

any kind of thought - good or bad , it doesn 't matter, any kind of
thought - appears from Nature and that if he follows thoughts, they
will disturb his own realization of Nature . That means that his
realization is very stable . That is called Ngonsum . This practitioner has
experiences and visions, and that is one of the Four Visio n s .

iii . How t o practise like a king.

A king is very rich and all properties belong to him and are
perfect , so he doe sn 't need to de sire anything else at all - he doesn 't
focu s on or desire anything. So in a similar way , the practitioner doe s
not go alone to some place somewhere , but he has no desire to
integrate with property . In this case , it is not necessary to go away
from people or beings in general yet he could still practise . It depends
on your own control over your mind . This is like the example of the
king.

Three levels of practitioner

If a practitioner practise s continuou sly , there are three degrees :
1 . Most people are n o t ready t o g o o ff somewhere directly after they
have received the introduction (to the Natural State) ; they are not
ready to cut all connections with worldly living life . They sometime s
integrate with worldly life76 and slowly , slowly they practise .
2. These are normal practitioners who practise everything slowly ,
slowly in order.
3. The best practitioners are called Chigcharwa7 7 . They recognize the
Natural State and then (immediately) cut off everything, realize (the
State precisely) and practise .
So there are these three categorie s .

Integrating practice with daily life

Here it gives more general Teachings on how to practise and
integrate with normal life - almost normal life . Everything is taught
here in order.
There are four steps or categories dealing with how to practise
and integrate practice with daily life , according to the practitioner.
These four are :

7 6 I n th i s case, get d i stracted with wor l d l y l ife.

77 Tib. cig char ba.
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 Vetri Thasel, Pfaucnhot: 200 7 : dGos · ctod gsal bycd bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

I. Chopa78
2. Gompa79
3. Tawa80
4. Drewu8 1

1 . Chapa Gyundu Chepai Naljyor82 : 'the yogi with real practice

and activities '.
How does such a yogi act and practise? He tries to control all
visions, views and normal life with his realization of Nature . H ow does
he do this? He has to check the essence , nature and characteristics of
al l vision s and of his normal life individually . If, for example , he were
to check a flower, he would see the flower, see the petal s , the colour,
the ste m , the leaves , smell its scent and so on, but if you think about
it , none of these are the real flower and yet all together we say they are
a flower. In fact, you can 't find the reality of the flower as an obj ect.
This is called 'the View that the whole of phenomenal existence has
appeared from the Base of Nature '.
Then comes the que stion : if such a practitioner has realized
that the whole of phenomenal existence is as Empty Nature , then
what about his own emotions? What about his own I gnorance , his
own perception s? What happens to those?
The answer is: all that practitioner's emotions , Ignorance and
perception s are turned into Nature . Nothing is avoided , nothing is
changed into anything else83 - everything is liberate d , Drolwa . It is like
ice melting into water.
For a yogi who practises with activities , activities are generally
su bdivided into three categories :

a) When a practitioner act s , there are the thirteen different religiou s

activitie s such as reading (texts) , writing, building stupas, making
tsa-tsa, doing circumambulations and prostration s , reciting
mantras - there are many things , I can 't remember them all , but

78
Tib. spyod pa.
7" Tib. sgom pa.
80 Tib. lta ba.
81
Tib. bras bu.
82
Tib. spyod pa rgyun du byad pa ' i mat " byor.
81
I . e. there i s n o rej ection as in Sutra and no transfonnation as in Tantra.
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 Vetri Thasel, Pfauenhot: 2007: dGos ·ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

altogether these are known as Bonchyod Chu sum84 , the thirteen

religiou s activities.
b) Khorde Ru shen85 : there are nine parts to thi s .

c) Dulshug Lungdzingyi Ch6pas6 . These are the actions of holding

your breath with determination, Tsalung87 • There are subdivision s
here , too , but this will be explained later.
Many things are explained here - this one is not easy!

Three stages of conduct

You study many texts and take many teachings together, like a
bee searching for valuable sweetness. That is the example , and in a
similar way you study many texts and find many Teachers from whom
you learn and study Sutra, Tantra and other religiou s ideas or views -
everything. You study all these , but the main thing is that you take the
essence (of all of these Teachings) for yourself. You see how they
purify , how they can be the antidote to emotio n s , ignorance and
defilements . It is important to search for this and to try to avoid88
emotions and defilements . That is the work and purpose of this
practitioner. This kind of practitioner is mainly searching for reality .
There is an example to illu strate this . There is a bird called Thiwa89
and before it make s its nest it chooses one place and then it live s there
for a while to check whether it is a suitable , safe place for its nest or
not . If there are no disturbances nearby , then it decide s to make its
nest there , to live there and lay its eggs there . Once it has found a
place and decide d , it has no doubts and so it comes and goes all the
time without any worries . So in a similar way this practitioner studies
and learns many things but when this yogi or practitioner finds reality
- he searches according to his circum stances and finds his practice -
then he make s that his yidam . He practises that and has no doubts
any more , he doesn 't search any more .
So this practitioner finds his essential practice or yidam and
beside s there his actions are all like those of a wounded animal . A

84 Tib. hon spyod bcu gsum.

85 Tib. ' khor ' das ru shan.
8 6 Tib. rdu l shugs rlung ' dzin spyod pa.
8 7 Tib. rtsa rlung.
8 8 1 . e. remove.
8 9 Tib. thi ba, the ba.
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 Yctri Thasel. Pfauenhof. 2007: dGos ·ctod gsal bycd bshad gzhai · i mchongs

wounded animal always stays away from the herd , partly becau se the
rest of the animals don't want to be close to him, but also because he
himself doesn 't want to be with others. I n a similar way , this yogi finds
his own practice , keeps practising that and meanwhile he decides to
avoid and keep away from all worldly activitie s . So he doesn 't want to
reorganize or be connected with any worldly living conditions or people
- nothing. That is the purpose . He searches and run s away from being
in groups or from his relative s and he always goe s to solitary places
like cemeteries , haunted and empty places. The reason for doing this is
becau se he doesn 't want to be connected because he wants to develop
his practice away from disturbance s .
At t h e same time this practitioner doesn 't speak a t all , h e
always keeps silent. Because of this, when others see his action s ,
manner and behaviour, (they can think h e is a madman) . He will have
experience of spontaneous Nyam9 0 like suddenly singing to himself.
Without speaking, he himself is having a good time and enj oying
him self. He can experience happiness, bliss - he can have many
experiences, but if other people see him , they think he is like a
madman . His feelings , wishes and actions are all like those of a dog or
a pig - he doesn 't choose good or bad , nothing. He eats anything
without being choosy - he is ready to accept whatever he finds ,
anything.

Signs
As he practises more , these things come to him as sign s .
Moreover, as he continue s t o practise , more sign s come as visions. For
example , his knowledge about everything develops more and more , but
particularly about religiou s Teachings. He will have knowledge of many
things which he has not learnt before ; his knowledge will develop so
much by itself.
As for his feeling, he will have no fear no matter where he goes .
H e will b e as fearless as a lion . Moreover, h e won 't care o r b e ashamed
about anything. This practitioner has nothing to be wary of and if
ob stacles or disturbances come later, he is not afraid because finally
n o - one can disturb him .
One of his main experiences (or signs) is that he can control the
whole of phenomenal existence through the power of his knowledge .
H i s actions and knowledge are called 'the actions of controlling vision'.
His power and knowledge can also control other s ; if they are not

' " ' T i h . nyams.

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devoted to him or to some other religion , he can control them and

change their feelings and consciou sne ss to his own way9 1 . He has
power, so if he wants to he can kill someone9 2 , or he can save
someone ; he can perform many kinds of miraculou s actio n s . He is like
Drubthob93 - Mahasiddha.
He can do many things without any doubt. His own
consciousness is not proper, it is as though he were tipsy or
completely drunk. His consciousness is completely change d , but the
main thing is that in his own vision everything is controlled by and
integrated with the Natural State . It looks as though he were tipsy but
he is not really ; don 't think he has been drinking alcohol or u sing
some kind of drugs.
He can control water, earth , fire and wind so he cannot be
disturbed by anything at all which comes to him ; he can control all the
elements . Even if he uses or looks at simple things like rocks or fire , he
can easily destroy them or do whatever he wants; they cannot disturb
him . He can go through rocks or hou se s , anything. Nothing can
disturb him . On his sid e , everything is completely integrated with the
Natural S tate ; he j u st focuse s , and everything goe s as illu sion -
nothing has any substance , nothing is concrete .

The knowledge and actions of this great yogi still haven 't
finished . When he recognizes (the Natural State) , he has signs of
realization , and that is called Nangsid Zhirzheng94. That means that
the whole of phenomenal existence has come into the Natural State . In
that case , this kind of yogi or practitioner doesn 't particularly learn
any other knowledge , but he will spontaneou sly know many things
without having studied them previously . It says here that the
knowledge of many different things arises in him even without him
studying . At that time , particularly in his knowledge , all emotions and
the five Poison Consciou snesses in particular are perfected and
tran sformed into the Five Wisdom s . His five aggregates all become the

9 1 I . e. they n atural ly start fo l l owing h i s spiri tual teach i ngs.

92 Th i s i s no ord i nary k i l l ing but ' l iberation through k i l l i ng' when the con sciousness of an evi l ­
doer i s transferred i n to i t s own Buddha N ature.
93 Tib. grub thob.
94 Tib. snang srid gzh i r bzhangs.
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 Vetri Thascl, PfaucnhoL 200 7 : dGos · ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

Five Buddhas . How does he transform them? It is like a white cloth

which turns into many different colours.
These action s are all explained in a general way , not for one
specific person in particular. For most people things come in this
order, but this is a general explanation of the signs a practitioner can
have . The manner, characteristics and how to practise are all
explained here , too , but these are all general explanations ; not all
practitioners will necessarily go through them in these stages or in this
order but they are all helpful95.
Anyhow , that is (the section on) Activities . If a practitioner does
these actions and has these characteristics , then that is all explained
here in Activitie s .

2. Gompa
How can we integrate meditation? There are five subdivisions in
this section.
This is how to integrate with practice day and night. The name or
title is Gyatso Chozhag96 : 'remain established as an ocean '. That
means that the whole of phenomenal exi stence is integrated with the
Natural State and the practitioner's emotions and con sciou sness are
all as liberated to the Natural State . That is called 'sealed by N ature '.
Generally , 'meditation ' is a very common and popular nam e . H ere ,
for instance , it talks about three categories :

i) Lhami Zhentengi Gompa9 7 . Almost any kind of perso n , religion

or School has some kind of meditatio n , such as Semdzin or
trying to control or catch the mind . That is normal .

ii) Dewar Shegpai Gompa98 . This is the meditation or

contemplation of Buddha.

iii) Yungdrung Sempai Samten99 . Contemplation as a Yungdrung

Sempa or Bodhi sattva .

95 I . e. these signs show the degree of development of one's practi ce.

96 Tib. rgya mtsho cog bzhag.
97 Tib. Iha mi gzhan brtcn gi sgom pa.
98 Tib. bde bar gshegs pa sgom pa.
'
'' ' Tib. g.yung drung scms pa ' i bsam gtan .
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 Yetri Thasel. PfauenhoL 200 7 : dGos · ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai'i mchongs

iii) Contemplation of Yungdrung Sempa

In the Bodhisattva system we normally talk about Samten or
contemplation . There are three subdivisions:
a) Natural contemplation ;
b) Contemplation with neither virtue nor non-virtu e , nothing;
c) Foc u ssed or made Samte n . Making or focu ssing on contemplation.

a) Natural Contemplation - Rangzhingi Sam ten 1 00 :

This is the contemplation of:
- an archer shooting an arrow;
- a rabbit staying with its eye s open ;
- a hawk sitting in its nest
These are some example s but there are many others.

b) Longdu Tenpa Samten 1 0 1 :

There is no virtue and nothing negative ; this is neutral contemplatio n .
This is t h e contemplation of:
- the Lha in the Deva Lokas;
- someone who wakes from a deep sleep also has this contemplation
for a little while ;
- sometimes when someone is unconscio u s , their consciousness
seem s to disappear but they feel very sharp , so although it looks
as though they are unconscious, this is also a kind of
contemplatio n .
These are all type s of contemplation or mediation - there are so
many different kind s of meditation !

I n t h e Bodhisattva meditation they are familiar with t h e Sa 1 02 / Bhumis,

from the first to the tenth , and in each (Bhumi) has a different type of
contemplation and they are all called the meditation of the
practitioners of the Bhumis.

100
Tib. rang bzh i n gi bsam gtan .
101
Tib. long du bstan pa bsam gtan.
102
Tib. sa - l i tera l l y · earth ' .
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 Yetri Thasel, Pfauenhot: 200 7 : dGos · ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai' i mchongs

c) Chomai Sam ten 1 0 3 - made contemplation :

The practitioners make s contemplation . There are two kinds of
di sturbance s :
t) temporary : (food and clothes) ;
f) (ultimate) : dream s and Bagchag.
Temporary disturbances are food and clothes while the main
disturbances come from dream s and Bagchag. These two disturb the
practitioner very deeply .
What do we mean when we say that the main disturbance s are
dream s and Bagchag? B agchag pre sent the main disturbance s for
controlling your mind and for taking cau se s for the next life and for
Kham sum 1 0 4 - the Three Worlds . These are the worst and they are not
easy to control ; they are the worst kinds of disturbance .
Generally , when you contemplate o r practise with meditation ,
you have to do four sessions (Thuns) so you learn how to control
(desire) .
These are all important ways (of contemplation) so you must learn
them carefully .

t) Temporary disturbances:
How to stop the desire for food
There are many auspicious method s for doing this which are
taught and learnt in Tantra. There are variou s practices of alchemy or
Chudlen 1 os . The best Chudlen is Rinpoche Chudlen , precious Chudlen .
Then there are also method s to stop (the desire for food)
connected with the element s ; you con serve (the e ssence of) the
elements, especially by eating air. That is one method .
Then there are methods connected with the same elements as
we have in our body - earth , water, fire and air, and Namkha Chudlen ,
space or empty Chudlen .
There is also Chudlen u sing the essence of urine and
excrement.
If you are able to u se these , you will have great and good
po ssibilities and knowledge .
How to do this is not taught here ; the text says it is taught in
another text .

i o.i
Tib. bcos ma· i bsam gtan .
1 04
Tib. khams gsum.
1 05
Tib. bcud lcn.
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 Yetri Thasel. Pfauenhot: 2007: dGos · ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

How to stop the de sire for clothes

This method is only taught here briefly but the text says it is
taught in detail elsewhere .
You gather together flesh , rocks, herbs and flowers and mix
them with some other material (substances) and then , together with
contemplatio n , you try and cut and stop your desire for clothes .
The e ssential point here depends on air , i . e . , on your breathing.
The body posture is the Rishi Po sture , and then (you inhale and) keep
the air in your stomac h ; focu s on the lower part of your stomach and
hold the air there for as long as pos sible . If you do this more and more
then you will develop more and more heat . Each time , when you are no
longer able to hold your breath , when you exhale you should do it
gently . If you practise this for a longer time , slowly your body heat will
increase . If you do this over a long period of time , the sign (that your
practice is successful) is that your body no longer has parasite s (fleas
and so on) . As your body gradually heats up, your thoughts also wane
more and more . This is also taught in detail in another text , called
Khandroi Drubthab1D6 , Teachings on the 'Motivation' of the Dakinis.

1 3th September

We will begin with Guru Yoga in the same way and afterward s
keep in the Natural State for a little while as clearly as pos sibl e . This
lead s you and shows you how to integrate with your lifetime ; it is not
only (a practice) for today . That is the guid e .

:J:) Using dreams to remove obstacles to practice:

Now we have come up to the section on checking dreams .
Yesterday w e talked about Chudlen and s o o n , and now w e have come
to the part on (how to remove the obstacle s of) dream s (and karmic
cau ses) . There are two parts here :
a) How to check your dream s ;
b) Teachings o n how t o practice with dream s .

a ) How t o check your dream s .

First of all , relax for a few days a n d have some massage in the
daytime , and then you can check your dream s each night to see which
kind s of dreams come . There are three main categories of dream s :

106
Ti b. mkha' ' gro " i sgrub thabs.
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If you dream about things connected with early times l 0 7and you
have a lot of desire and attachment to your early times , then
that is the medium category of dream . They are not so difficult
to control .

If you have more dream s about the pre sent, then that is easy to
control.

The hardest one is when you dream about things you have no
experience of, things you don 't know , places you have never
been to , people you have never met, or when you see or hear
strange things and everything is unfamiliar. That is difficult to
control. It means that you are seeing very , very early things and
karmic traces (from previou s lifetime s) .

So there are these three (main) categories - very , very early things ;
things which come from early times but which are familiar, and things
from the present.
Moreover, dreams give clear evidence of karmic traces . U sually we
talk about karmic cau se s and call them sins or virtue s , negative or
positive and so on, we can say many things about karmic cau ses, but
you have to know for yourself. When do (karmic traces) come? How do
they appear to our perception? You can know all these things clearly
through your dream s . For example , I said that this third category of
dream s comes from very early times, and the other day I said this is
like rummaging around in the property our ancestors saved. If you
look there , maybe you don 't know what everything is. This doesn 't
happen so much nowadays, but in my early life , in Tibetan houses
everyone had things like j ewellery that had been kept by their
ancestors and sometimes the young people would take them out and
look at them , but they didn 't really know very much about what they
were . That doesn 't happen nowadays - everything has been destroyed
and change d ; you can 't even talk about these things , they don 't
understan d ; everything has been de stroyed. But nevertheless,
(whatever you do) , you inevitably save (karmic trace s) , then you use
them . There are many possibilities to use your ancestors ' things 10 8 •
That is an example .

1 07
Le. w i t h y o u r chi ldhood or di stant past.
i ox
L e. your karm i c cau ses are never wasted and can produce fru it any time in many different
ways.
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 Yetri Thasel. Pfauenhof, 2007: dGos ' dod gsal byed bshad gzhai' i mchongs

So by watching your dreams you can see your own karmic

cau se s . Dreams show three different kinds of things ; those are the
three part s . Sometimes, however, dreams are mixed and you dream
about some things which you know and some things which are
unfamiliar. These are mixed dreams and they are hard to control.

Three methods working with the dreams

There are three method s :
i . Jangwa 1 0 9 - purifying;
ii. Gyurwa 1 1 0 - turning 1 1 1 ;
iii . Chepa 1 1 2 - cutting.
For the third category of dream s , the ones that are hard to
control, you need to use all three of these method s , otherwise it is not
easy to control your dreams .
For the medium category o f dream s , you need t o u se two of
these methods and then you will be able to control your dream s .
For the dream s which are easy t o control , the ones about the
present, you only need to use one of these three and that is enough 1 1 3 .

i. Jangwa
You can u se this to control the medium dreams , those that are
not too hard or too easy to control. So whatever you dream , it is
something you are familiar with but not something relating to the
present. If these things come in your dream , you can keep o n , think
and focus on this dream . So when you wake up, you think (about) this
dream again very clearly . That is the first step.
Then the second step is that while you are focu sing on this
dream , you think and look at the thought which is focu sing on the
dream , and then it liberates into the Natural S tate . While you are in
the N atural State you are not focu sing, but the cause (for the dream) is
the thought that focuse s , perceives and grasps (at Bagchag) , and then
this thought liberate s . So that means that the obj ect of this kind of
dream is not concrete , it doesn 't exist. The person who practises and

109
Tib. sbyang ba.
110
T i b . bsgyur ba.
1 11
I . e. tran sfonn ing.
112
Tib. bead pa.
1 13
You can choose any of the three.
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 Vetri Thasel, Pfaucnhof: 200 7 : dGos · ctod gsal bycd bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

this thought are liberated together - the grasping consciousness and

the subj ect 1 1 4 are liberated together. That is the method of Jangwa .

Q: Do we do this while we are dreaming or the next day?

A: Afterward s . You can 't do anything during the dream . During the
daytime , when you have woken up, remember your dream . Focu s on it,
imagine and visualize it, and then you will realize that the dream is
only your own imagination , you can 't see anything concrete . So you
can think many things about this dream . During the dreamtime you
can see everything clearly as though everything were concrete , but in
the daytime you can realize it was all only a pictu re , only your
perceptio n .
Do t h i s often , n o t j u st once , a n d then (your perception) will
change and the whole of phenomenal existence will become as your
dream ; nothing will exist (concretely for you) ; you can see things and
do variou s things, but nothing will exist concretely . That is the
purpose of practising Jangwa.
This is not something which is only mentioned here ; many texts
explain that the whole of phenomenal existence is as a dream . When
you dream , everything seems clear and solid at that moment, j u st as it
does during the day , but although we can say that the dream is not
real , we still think that our life is real . We only recognize our dreams
are not real . While we are dreaming, everything is very clear and looks
like reality , but when we wake up, nothing exists, we can only
remember what happened and what our dream conditions were ; there
are no traces, nothing is left behind once we have woken up. Our
phenomenal exi stence is very much the same - for the present,
everything seems very real , solid and clear and we trust it, but in fact
it is not so different from the dreamtime . Dreams are short , so when
we wake up we can realize and prove that what we dreamt doesn't
exist. We feel that our present lifetime goe s on for much longer, but
finally it is the same . We can see ruins and cemeteries , we can see how
many skeleton s and ruins there are , but in those times 1 1 5 those beings
thought their lives were concrete reality , j u st as we do. Finally we will
all be like them and nothing will be left . We can see the skeleto n s , and
nothing is left . So then we can compare our dreams with our present
l i fe and phenomena - the time scale may be a little different, but finally

1 1 1
I . e. t h e thought.
1 1'
l . e . before t h e bui ldings col l apsed a n d t h e peopl e died.
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 Yctri Thasel, Pfauenhof, 200 7 : dGos ·ctod gsal bycd bshad gzhai · i mchongs

the result is the just the same , so that is why the text gives
explanations according to dreams here .
I can give a recent example . When I was in America some time
ago , I visited the Twin Towers in New York and they seemed like
mountains , you see , but then came September 1 1 and then a few years
later I went again to New York and looke d , and nothing remained, only
picture s remaine d . This isn't only the case with the Twin Towers - it is
the same with everything. For me, that was strong evidence .
O K . That is the first thing. You m u st think about your dream ,
and that gives you evidence about (the nature of) this life .

i i . Gyurwa - turning
How do we turn? First of all , you have to look in a mirror and
hold up (a picture of) your yidam or whatever to the mirror. Look there
very carefully , look and look. You can see all the features , the colours
and form very clearly - although it has no senses - so look there . You
can see everything very clearly (but you know it is only a reflection) , so
after you have looked in the mirror and focused on the image there ,
you can think that the whole of phenomenal existence is the sam e ; you
can think that everything is a reflection .
[Translator asks for clarification and Rinpoche explains again : ] I f you
look in a mirror, you can see your face . So look and look, it is as clear
as possible , but if you touch it, you only touch the mirror, not your
face . Nothing exists. Yet it is clear. So when you look there , you can
see everything but when you try and touch something, there is nothing
there . Yet you can still see it clearly ! When you tru st that condition 1 1 6 ,
then you can move onto other people - your friend o r someone - and
there is no need to use the mirror; you can see that nothing exists
(inherently) in a trustable way . Everything is j u st like your own
features reflected in the mirror.
That is 'turning'. At first you can see something clearly , but
then according to our feelings it turns into something real although in
fact you cannot find anything concrete . That is Gyurwa .
The meaning is that in dreams we have evidence of how karmic
cau ses are create d , collected and kept, of how karma work s , how
results are produced - there are many way s . But we can compare
these method s and copy or take dreams as an example , and then we
can transfer (our understanding) onto the whole of phenomenal

1 16
I . e. when you rea l i ze that it is an empty refl ection.
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 Yetri Thascl, Pfauenhof, 200 7 : dGos · ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

existence . In the text it say s : 'This is very , very important; think about
this carefully and practise it . '
These are all methods we can use to work with dream s ; we
have to think carefully about how the whole of phenomenal existence
i s like a dream . Nowadays we don 't only have the example of dreams -
we can go to the picture s , to the cinema, too .
The purpose of this method is that when you realize that all
phenomena are as a dream , then what is the point of grasping
emotions or obj ects to strongly? What are you going to get? What can
you u se? What is permanent reality? Nothing. So you can compare
your dreams and phenomenal existence, and the point is to realize that
there is no u se in having too much desire or in increasing emotion s or
in grasping obj ects.

iii. Chepa - cutting

This is the same way . Everything is created by perceptio n , so
when you look at a thought, the thought is not permanent - it liberate s
by itself soon afterwards and disappears . That shows you . Even our
own perception is neither stable nor reliabl e ; it is always changing,
always moving. So how then can we grasp obj ects? (Obj ects) are only
temporary - nothing exists inherently on the side of the obj ect at all .
You must think about this carefully .
'Chepa' mean s looking back towards thoughts. If w e d o thi s ,
t h e n thoughts themselve s are n o t permanent, they soon liberate back
into Nature . Once one thought has disappeare d , not all thoughts are
gone forever, something else will soon appear. This goe s on and on all
the time . When we look back towards a thought, we can see Nature .
Nature is only Nature - it cannot be changed or move , nothing. That is
the real truth .
So Chepa or 'cutting' mean s that everything is liberated to
Nature and nothing remains. Why do we call that 'cutting? (It is
becau se) if you realize the Natural State then all kind s of thoughts and
concepts are liberated back to their own Nature . Even the Kunzhi itself
- the Alaya or base where all karmic causes are kept - goe s to N ature .
It is empty and clear and then there is no base where traces can be
kept. That means everything is purified through cutting. Karmic traces
continuou sly disappear into N ature becau se there is nowhere to keep
them . It is like painting with chalk or paint in space - space cannot
keep any colour, there is no base . So if the Alaya or Kunzhi is liberated
i nto Nature , then there is nowhere to keep karmic traces, they are
purifie d , and that is called cutting.
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 Yctri Thasel, P fauenhoC 2007: dGos · ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai'i mchongs

This is the metho d . Many religions try to explain how to purify

with confession , Bodhichitta or something, but once you realize that
the base , Kunzhi, goe s to Nature then there is no base , nowhere to
keep karmic traces, so then the karmic traces are all purified . This is
much more powerful than reciting mantras, doing prostrations or
circumambulating and thinking of how to purify your body , speech
and mind . This is the logical way to purify . It is quicker - the short­
cut. It is hard to understand , but if you understand then you are
qualified to be a Dzogchen practitioner. Talking (about this) but not
tru sting it is OK, so- so ! But don't think that all these activitie s are not
u seful! That would be dangerous! You must recite as many mantras
and do as many pro strations as you can if you are not ready to accept
this method . If you are ready to accept it, then O K .
If you practise with these three method s of Jangwa , Gyurwa
and Chepa, then a practitioner of average capacity will at least realize
the whole of phenomenal existence as a dream , as not tru stable . There
are three qualitie s of practitioner, and even one who does not have very
advanced knowledge can still understand that everything is not very
tru stable , that everything is always changing like a dream . That is why
there are many ways in which dream s can be helpful in purifying
sufferings and miseries for a short while ; if you are not ready to cut off
everything in the high way all at once , then dreams can be very useful.
I t says here : 'This is very important; try to practise , please ! '

Cutting off desire tied to Bagchag

After this there is a kind of summary, the contemplation
session which cuts off all desire for karmic trace s . That means that
there is no need to rej ect whatever belongs to you , but neither should
you expect or search to earn in a special way . The important thing is
not to grasp whatever belongs to you - your property and so on - too
deeply . Nothing is tru stable . That is the summary of the first advice .
Don 't search for anything; thoughts come spontaneously , but
don 't follow them anymore . As for the future , don 't think or plan too
much . As for the present , look at all your perceptions and concepts ,
and don 't care about which antidote s there are for karmic traces ,
where they are kept , what the Alaya i s ; don 't care . Just look a t your
thoughts and all thoughts and concepts will liberate spontaneou sly
and disappear. Once they have liberated and disappeare d , don 't think
or follow anything; leave everything as it is. For a little while your

58
 Yctri Thasel, Pfauenhof, 2007: dGos · ctod gsal bycd bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

presence will be clear. Leave it and that is clear, you can see 1 1 7 that
you are in the Natural State . Wisdom and Self-Awareness are all there .
That is the Natural State , that is Buddha Nature .
There are many things to explain in this context but there are
not many things which are comparable to the Sutra system , for
exampl e . They explain many things which seem contradictory (to this) ,
they talk about antidote s and explain very deeply and highly , but this
cannot be compare d . N evertheles s , even if it cannot be compare d , don 't
think Sutra is u sele s s ; it is something very important. Even if it doesn 't
sit well with your understanding, don 't think it is u seles s . I 'm saying
this because there are many criticisms and volumes and volumes have
been written about this.

As I have already said, look at thoughts. It is always the same , I

am saying this again and again . But while you look at thoughts - you
don 't need to do this very often once you have experience of the
Natural State and are familiar with it, otherwise it is like wrestling, you
are looking at thoughts and waiting for them to disappear. However, if
you realize how the Natural State is, then you j u st remember it and
you are in Nature and there is no need to watch thoughts. It is not j u st
me repeating this - the text has already said it many times, and it
repeats it again here because this is the foundation of all the
realization of all these lines of Teaching.
When you keep in the Natural State as clearly as possible , if
(you) keep on for a long time your pre sence will get weaker and weaker
and then at one moment you will be very relaxed but not very clear. It
goe s deeper and deeper and so finally there isn't much difference
between your meditation and sleep . Whenever you realize you are
beginning to lose your clarity , stop and begin again. There is no need
to look back at a thought agai n ; j u st remember Nature and you are
clearly in Nature . If you do thi s , don't close your eyes or ears - leave all
your organ s as they are . Meanwhile , you can see , hear, taste and even
drink tea or something and it won 't disturb you , so we say it is like
watching images in a mirror - you can see all the reflections and
pictures there but you don't grasp anything. The pictures don 't disturb
the mirror and the mirror doesn 't disturb the picture s , they are both
O K . So in a similar way , while you are in meditation or have realized

1 17
I . c. you are aware that you are in the State.
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the Natural State , you can see all phenomena clearly but you don 't
j udge , follow or stop the m . They are j u st the same as reflections in a
mirror. We call that realizing that all phenomena are as Empty Form .
The text say s : 'All visions are liberated by them selve s becau se
there is no grasper whatsoever, so there is no influence coming from
perception s . That is called purifying perceptions and grasping. '
Vision s are all self-liberated into Nature but still that doe sn't
mean that everything disappears; visions and phenomena appear to
the eye - sense , but if there is no influence coming from perception then
nothing is grasped . We give the example of a hawk catching a small
bird ; when the hawk sees a small bird , it comes and snatches it up
without any doubt .
Meanwhile , all visions are there but they don 't di sturb Nature
or your realization of it. That is something very importan t : Nature
doesn 't di sturb the visions and the visions don 't disturb your own
realization of Nature . We call this Empty Form ; the whole of
phenomenal existence is Empty Form . It is the same when you look
back at a thought and that thought disappears spontaneou sly . Until
you are a completely advanced practitioner, thoughts will keep coming
but they won 't disturb you ; they are j u st like drafts in space . At that
time , your visions and perception are both liberated into Nature
together, like water flowing into the ocean . When they reach the ocean ,
all rivers and streams are no longer di stinct or separate . This is the
same thing; all phenomena and consciousness liberate into Nature
without leaving any trace , nothing. All delu sion is purified into Nature .
No traces are left behind once everything has liberated into Nature . If
you are able to remain in that State continuou sly then that is called
'unmi staken Buddha Nature '.
While you are practising this State there is no measure of time;
day or night, the State is the sam e . This can arise in the experience of
a great practitioner.
Again the text say s : 'It is very important to practise this . '
But first, it goe s back (to) the beginning, you see , to Semdzin . If
you do this in the regular way then it helps you u nderstan d ; you
prepare by doing the Preliminary Practice s , then you receive
empowerments and become purified so you become a qualified
practitioner, and then come the practice s of Semdzin . Many things are
taught here about the Natural State and that is the Four I nitiations.
Most texts explain about four categories of initiation or empowerment
and the last one is called the Authentic Empowerment. That means
that you have done all the preparation s , and - in our Bonpo way -
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initiation means firstly that which prepare s and purifie s the person ;
secondly , the initiation which introduces one 's own body as the
Divinity or Yidam ; thirdly , looking back towards consciousness and
seeing the base of the realization of Nature . It is this way . Everything is
encompassed by Nature in the same way but in particular you have to
know through your own experience and realize your own Nature , but
even when you have done thi s , you need to become familiar with it. So
the fourth initiation is the introduction which explains what you have
experienced as Nature . So if what the text say s , what your Master has
experienced and what you experience come together very well , are
correct and in agreement , then this follower is ready to receive the
fourth initiatio n . So, we have explained u p to here .

Semdzin
So now we have come to Semdzin . There are many different
Teachings (on Semdzin) ; some other texts explain twenty-four methods
but here they are condensed into seven method s .
If someone is devoted to th i s View, to Dzogchen or to the
Lineage Masters, such a person should first think of Bodhichitta and
want to release all sentient beings from sufferings and miserie s .
However, i f they think back t o their own present condition , (they see
that) they have no power nor any method to help any other beings . So
they realize they need to make themselve s powerful to be able to
release others and that is why they find a qualified Master, go to him
and offer or do whatever they can to make him happy . They do
whatever they can and also make offerings like ganapuj a s and so on to
accumulate virtues. They do this beforehan d .

i) Semdzin with a white A

Then such a person searches for a comfortable place - they have
already received the introduction from their Master, so when they find
a comfortable plac e , they sit cross-legged on a comfortable cu shion
and visualize a white letter A . There is no need to place it somewhere
in front of you , you visualize it. Where do you visualize it? On the tip of
your nose . Visualize this white A, and when you breathe out, you pu sh
this white A away from you . When you breathe in , it comes back. So it
goe s , come s , goes , comes and you only focus on the white A and your
breath. Do this until you have completely controlled your mind without
being distracted by any other thoughts. This also helps for agitation ,
so if you do it sometimes it can help .

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1 4th September

The principle behind Guru Yoga practice

We begin with Guru Yoga, as we did before . [ Practice]
First of all I wanted to explain some interesting things about
Guru Yoga . When we do Guru Yoga we visualize Drenpa Namkha in
front of u s , but Drenpa Namkha is a historical figure who lived in early
times . We each visualize him in front of us and we each have a
different picture , but if you think your visualization is the real Drenpa
Namkha, how can that be? In fact Drenpa Namkha was only one
person, not many , so then when you (and many others) visualize him ,
is he the same person or a different one? If it is a different perso n , then
what is the point in visualizing him? Or if, for in stance , you visualize
your friend and his image or picture comes to your mind , he can 't help
you or anyone else! So you have to think (about this) .
We have four classes of Tantra. In the first one , the yidam is
considered to be something very special and highly realized
somewhere , so when you call , recite or chant something and invite
them , they come and sit down where you have made the mandala and
everything . The second class of Tantra still thinks that the yidam is
higher, but not so very high ; he is more like a friend. According to the
third category of Tantra , they still believe that someone different
comes, but that there is not much difference between the practitioner
and the yidam . As for the last category , I will explain that later.
So these four classes have different ideas or degrees of
visualization , but generally they think it is better to recite mantras or
pray and they expect a high yidam to come and change something,
ble ss them or help their condition s . They think that quite often .
The fourth class is what w e d o when w e practise Guru Yoga
with Drenpa Namkha. Drenpa Namkha is j u st an example - whenever
we visualize any dakini, yidam or guardian , the principle is the sam e .
Guru Yoga is n o t included in Dzogchen - Dzogchen doe sn't n e e d to
visualize anything, Dzogchen is the Natural State . So if someone asks
what Dzogchen mean s , you can say it is the Natural State . That is real
Dzogchen - there is no need to visualize any yidams or do Guru Yoga;
nothing is needed . But a practitioner needs thi s . You need to try to
prepare the vessel and become a qualified follower. That means we
practitioners need to practise Guru Yoga and recite prayers . Dzogchen
doesn 't need anything - whatever we pray or visualize doesn 't do

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anything to Empty Nature . Also , if you do sinful things like chopping

or killing, nothing matters - it is empty .
So for u s , we have to understand what we are doing. The fourth
class of Tantra is much closer to Dzogche n . It criticizes the lower
classes saying: you are always visualizing and calling yidams with
great re spect, you invite someone and then when they come , you
integrate them with yourself - the practitioner and the yidam are
integrated . But how? If a guest comes to visit you , the guest and the
host cannot become one person ; that is not possible! So in the same
way , you invite a very high yidam down to your place, but is it possible
to invite a guest and then finally become one with them? So the fourth
class of Tantra criticizes the lower one s . This is what the lower classes
of Tantra do, they invite , receive the three seed syllables and then
integrate (the yidam's) body , speech and mind with their own - we
always do the same! But if there is one Drenpa Namkha and ten people
visualize him individually , how can Drenpa Namkha integrate with all
of them? One Drenpa Namkha is not enough , there would have to be
ten! Or all the practitioners would have to be one! So the method in
this fourth class of Tantra is the connection with the real Drenpa
Namkha who is the author of this text , he taught u s and we follow and
obey this Teaching, so that is the connection : Master and pupil . We
visualize Drenpa Namkha in front of u s - there are many ways - and
we receive the three elements from him which purify all our
obscurations and defilements . Then we receive the three seed syllables;
this is all visualized by ourselves . How do we visualize this? U sing our
own perception and consciou sne ss, we think. Visualization mean s
thinking. We think, use our consciousne s s , and something appears, or
thoughts appear spontaneou sly . This thought is the cau se I IB for the
Natural State , it is not far from the Natural State ; it comes from the
Natural State , is the Natural State and liberates back into the Natural
State . So the Natural State make s everything Empty Form 1 1 9 . Many
things emerge , visions come , and so in the same way , whether Drenpa
Namkha or emotions come, whatever comes is N ature . Nature
emanate s the thoughts (anyway) , and the only thing that change s is
that we visualize Drenpa Namkha, otherwise it is j u st the same if we
think about lunch or breakfast, drinking tea or coffe e . That mean s that
thoughts created (both the visualization and any other thoughts) , and
thoughts are not far from the Natural State ; as long as thoughts are

118
I . e. looking back towards the thought can l ead us t o t h e N atural State.
1 19
I . e. because everything comes from the N atural State, everythi n g is Empty Fonn.
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there , the Natural State is there . It is very important to realize that our
own Nature is formed as thoughts and called visio n s . These visions are
not far from the Natural S tate . The Natural State is always there . If you
realize the Natural State properly then it can be u sed to purify all
obscurations and defilements , everything. That is the purpose of
realizing all visions and thoughts are formed as N ature . If you
understand this purely , if you practise and become familiar and stable
with it, then this Nature has blessings - in other word s , it can purify
all obscurations and defilements for the practitioner. That is real
ble ssing, receiving real, practical blessing.
Don 't think that I said before that the lower Tantras are not
good ; those followers are also all practitioners of Tantra or of different
School s , and if someone doesn 't really know high Tantra then whatever
they do according to their practice and knowledge will bring result ; no
doubt. So don 't think that everything (they do) is u sele s s . That is
harmful. Don 't mistake what I said . ( I am telling you this because) in
China they say 'blind faith ', so it is better to know what you are doing,
what the purpose is - you need to know something about all these
otherwise j u st following what you see or hear and accepting it lightly is
not so u seful.
I have said variou s things , but if you have any questions,
please ask.

Q: When I visualize Drenpa N amkha can I also think that he

represents all the Teachers from whom I have received Dharma
Teachings?
A: That depends on your own devotio n . If your devotion is strong
enough , if you are tolerant and not sectarian , then on the Masters' side
they are completely open . They are not sectarian becau se they have no
thought of my / your, no difference between my Teacher or your
Teacher. They are simply completely open and they know the Natural
State very well . If you know the Natural State well and you have
realized it fully , then that means you are completely open . Also , if you
make offerings to one ( Master / yidam) in particular - for example
Drenpa Namkha, a Siddha or a yidam - if you make your offering in a
pure and seriou s way then since everything comes from the Natural
State , everything is Empty Form , that represents an offering or an
accumulation connected with all the Buddhas , everything. That is j u st
enough . Everything depends on the practitioner's side .

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Semdzin (continuation)
Yesterday I talked about visualizing a white A on the tip of your
nose . That is one exercise .

ii) Semdzin to remove Gegse11 20

a) The second one is to purify , to remove obstacle s , Gegse l . If
you have a fever 1 2 1 , for example , instead of visualizing a white A on
your nose , visualize a white thigle the size of a big pea there . When you
exhale , this thigle goe s about one metre away . Then when you inhale,
it comes back i n , first through your nostrils , then to your heart or your
forehead between your eyebrows or through your whole body , and it
becomes very cold , like white water. It is very , very cold , and so then
your whole body is covered in this water which is nearly ice . Focu s
there and then (exhale and) inhale i n the same way , then hold (your
breath) for as long as you could while focu sing continuou sly that cold
water covers your whole body . When you exhale , breathe out slowly
without any sound very gently . Think about this very stably , and keep
on for as long as you could . This is how to cure fever.
b) If your health is not right and you are disturbed by cold
disease s , Drangne 1 22 then visualize (three) golden thigle the size of a
big pea, one on the tip of your nose , one between your eyebrows and
one at the level of your heart at your chest. When you exhale , they go
one metre away and when you inhale , they come in through your
nostrils , go down and become fire . The fire becomes stronger and then
as you hold your inhaled breath , your whole body is burning insid e .
Hold for as long as y o u could a n d in t h e meantime your whole body is
burning, very hot . When you are unable to hold any longer, exhale ,
and the air you breathe out also becomes fire . Then when you inhale ,
the air is fire again and fills your whole body . So fire goe s out and fire
comes back, goes , come s . Each time , hold your breath for as long as
you could , so the length of time you do this for depends on that . Don 't
only do this once ; you can exhale and inhale several times with this
visualization .
If you do this, you can cure yourself without depending on
medicine . The se two parts are related with healing.

1 20
Tib. gegs sci .
121
Or hot di seases according t o Tibetan medical theory.
1 22
Tib. grang nad.
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Before I spoke about the white A. If you do this more , it can be

helpfu l . But while you are keeping (in concentration) , don 't focu s on
the A particularly , you j u st use it temporarily to see the Natural State ,
so soon afterward s , j u st keep on in the Natural State . Day or night,
any spare time you have , always remember the N atural State . If you do
this more , for a short time without disturbanc e s , then this N atural
S tate will become more familiar and stable , you will have fewer and
fewer thoughts and perceptio n s . This experience must come soon if
you can keep in that meditation or knowledge purely .

iii) Semdzin with PHA T

If you are disturbed by agitation when you are meditating, one method
to purify that is to practise with the method of PHAT, the text say s .
H o w do y o u do this? Before w e focu sed with A but sometimes y o u are
no longer interested in doing this so you don't meditate , you j u st relax,
don 't even keep your breath - j u st leave it as it i s , so it looks as though
you are relaxing for a little while . But agitation is already there . You
are not concentrating on anything or visualizing anything e specially ,
j u st the movements of thoughts are there . So suddenly you have to say
PHAT! very strongly - if no-one else will complain or be disturbe d ; you
have to be careful. Then j u st after you have said PHAT strongly , don 't
add anything or change anything, your presence is very clear, very ,
very clear. That is how to realize Self-Awareness purely . You can see
and understan d . That is one method to purify agitation . It also clearly
shows you Wisdom , the Wisdom of Self-Awareness. Whenever you have
doubts as to whether your meditation is clear or whether you are really
in the Natural State or not, or if sometimes you carry on meditating
but almost lose your clarity , then at this time it is better to do this
(exercise) . Don't concentrate for a little while , j u st keep kind of relaxed ,
and then suddenly say : PHAT! J u st after this, remain (as you are)
without adding anything . This is the method you can use to check
whether you have realized the Natural State purely or not. At that
moment, don 't add anything or take anything out, j u st leave it as it i s ,
a n d that will show y o u t h e real , clear Natural State .
You must always meditate , and meditation mean s continuing
to leave this as it is; you are not integrated with any thoughts at that
moment, so this is a kind of method to check, and also to help purify
agitation . But don 't do this too often - if you d o , it could become a bad
habit , so therefore there is no need to do it too often . Only do it if you
have either agitation or doubts . Then at those times, you have to do
this strongly a few time s , but not very often .
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iv) Semdzin of the wrathful Deity laughing

Again there is another method to purify agitation or to show you the
Natural State correctly . It is called 'the wrathful Deity laughing'. How
do you do this? Just relax your body , there is nothing special to d o ,
and relax y o u r mind , don 't concentrate on anything special . Then
suddenly say : HA! several times. Then afterwards you can keep on in
the Natural State . This is a similar metho d ; it is helpful . But you
yourself, the practitioner, have to check which of these methods is
better for you . You choo s e .
Sometimes if y o u have t o o m u c h agitation or y o u r m i n d is not
very peacefu l , if you are angry or emotions and sufferings and miseries
come up spontaneou sly without much reason , then (you can use this
method of HA) . You say HA, think of that and focus your mind on that .
So there are three points: you say HA; you focu s on the letter HA; and
you think HA. Visualize a letter HA a little outside of you , not in any
particular plac e . Meanwhile , don 't think about anything else except
this HA. Your mind is only focu sing on the HA, you say HA (and you
visualize HA) , so the se three are not separate d , they come together.
Say HA strongly quite a few time s , and then sto p . Just after you have
stoppe d , as with the method u sing PHAT , your state and condition at
that moment show you whether your realization of the Natural State is
correct or not, and purifies it. At that moment, you cannot explain
anything external or internal , nothing; everything is away , you are only
alone and clear with Nature . Do this and you will correct (your
realization of N ature) so you can know and experience the N atural
State clearly . You can also do this to purify thoughts or mental
activity .

v) Semdzin with a yidam

This is another method . First of all , a little above and in front of you ,
visualize a thumb- sized peaceful or wrathful Deity in a rainbow circle
facing you . Visualize this clearly . Then when it comes into your mind
clearly , leave it and go back to your visualization or consciou sne ss.
Your mind remains in N ature ; don 't always focus it (on this Deity) . Try
to keep the picture but your mind then liberates back to N ature . Keep
on. On one side the image is there , but after this your mind liberates
to Nature . Try to keep both Nature and the picture as one without
them disturbing one another. There is no special breathing at this
time .
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The purpo se of this practice is (to realize that) all visions are
Empty Form . Usually , Divinities and visions - everything - are in the
Natural Sate together with Empty Form and clarity , or forms appear as
visions . This practice is to learn thi s . It is not very easy , but when you
become more familiar with it, all Deities or visions must become like
this 1 23 _ But for now you need to learn , you are learning how to remain
(in Nature) .

Sounding PHAT and HA are useful methods. We are always

talking about the Natural State , but most of the time only the
practitioner themselve s can check whether their State is pure , clear
etc . You can check yourself whether it is the real Natural S tate or what
we call illu sion . Illu sion looks as though you are meditating, but you
are wasting so much tim e . It looks like meditation , but really you are
j u st relaxing your body and mind ; you relax more and more but that
quite often leads you (to drowsiness or illusion) . At first you are
remaining in the Natural State but as you meditate for longer, you
lose your clarity more and finally your body and mind , everything,
looks very calm and relaxing. But there is no need to do this kind of
thing - you are wasting your time if you don 't try to meditate in the
proper way .

vi) Keeping the mind through the method of Asuras fighting

There is another method . This is quite a hard one . Again , if you need
to do something more to develop your meditation or purify
disturbanc e s , (you can use this method) called 'keeping the mind
through the method of Asuras fighting'. As for your body , there is
again nothing special to do , no special po sture and no special
visualization . Go to the highest mountains - but not Everest! If there
are no mountains , then what can you do? You can go on the roofl Or it
says here you can also go to some rocks, but whatever you find should
be the highest place around . Sit there alone . First rotate only your
head , then slowly move your whole body . Move slowly at first, then
quicker and quicker until finally you are spinning your head like a
whee l . Do this for quite some time with only your head , and then do it
with your whole body - slowly , slowly then quicker and quicker. Spin
your whole body as much as you could for three or four day s .

1 23
I . e. Empty Fonn.
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If you do this very hard , you will have vision s . First of all
something red , yellow or blue will come , or sometime s black or very
dark , or sometimes everything will be like the dawn l 2 4 . When you do
this more and more , all your vision s or the whole of phenomenal
existence will change . For you , you could see colours or forms
changing, nothing will be really clear or stable ; all your visions will be
moving and changing .
At t h i s time, you must take care of your health . I t is better to
eat rich food otherwise you can get the sickness of Lung disturbance .
You need to eat food which is good for Lung. You must also visualize a
RAM inside your central channel, down below in the navel chakra, and
focu s your mind there . Then turn and spin your body as much as you
could . Your visions will not be fixed , they will all be changing. That
starts to show you that all phenomena are not fixed or certain , that
they can be moved and changed.
Move your head and your body together. It doesn 't matter
whether you spin clockwise or anticlockwise , but you should move
strongly , very strongly . Anyone can do it slowly and gently , but this is
a hard one ! If you do this properly , your visions can change , but if you
don 't do it hard , they don 't change .
O K . There are many method s here !

vii) Seizing the mind and leading it by HUNG

This is called 'seizing the mind and leading it by the HUNG of
Namtog 1 25'. Go to a place of solitude where no-one goes . Go there
alone , and when you go there , first of all sound H U N G . I t sounds a
little bit like chanting: H U U U N N N GG G . Do this for a long time , very ,
very gently at first. Then sometimes do it quickly , so you alternate
sounding H U N G very , very gently and then sounding it short and
quick. If you do this for quite a long time your mind will go together
with and focu s on the H U N G . If you continue doing thi s , your mind
won 't be deluded any more , it will always be caught by the H U N G . It
helps to stop everything. If you do this more and more again and
again, then sometime s you can come back and look at the thought
that is focu sing on the H U N G , so you can realize that the H U N G and
your mind liberate into Nature . So when you do thi s , focu s on the
H U N G and at the same time , think or look back toward s Nature . Doing
this helps you to extend (the length of time you can remain in Nature)

1 24
I . e. greyi sh and pale.
1 25
Tib. m am rtog.
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and make s it easier to remain in the Natural State . The text says that
your experience will become stable and (remaining in Nature) will be
easy .

After this there is another method t o help you remain in Empty

Nature . First of all , check your own body . Normally we look and think:
this is my body ; that is his body but in reality our body is formed from
the five aggregates. Each of these is also split up so there are many
different forms gathered together. If you look more carefully and check,
then finally you cannot find anything on the side of the object. You can
think about your own head first, for example . When you look at your
head it seems OK, you can find it, but if you really check, you can find
the upper part of your head , the lower part , the right sid e , the left sid e ,
t h e ski n , y o u r hair, your n o s e - each part has i t s own name , so where
is the real head? You have to check and try to find this out. It is
similar with your body . Indee d , everything is the same way . Check all
phenomena and try to find out reality . Even if you cannot find
anything real you still can 't negate everything - there is karmic cau se ,
there is happiness, sufferings , miserie s - many things exist. But how
can that be? Without finding reality it still looks as though everything
is there . These two conditions or characteristic s seem to go against one
another, yet still we think everything is absolutely tru e , that this is
reality . If you check the side of the obj ect, you can 't find anything yet
we still spend our whole lives with thi s . You have to think about this
very carefully . If you think and check yourself, your body and your
mind - our human life is made up of body , mind , speech and activitie s
- and everything looks like reality , but if you look you can see piece s
and you can 't find anything special which exists inherently . Yet still we
think (that whatever pieces we see are real) . If we see a flower or
anything, we think it is real , we always grasp and think that the obj ect
exists concretely . That is Ignorance . According to Ignorance , everything
is real . O n Nature 's side , nothing exists inherently , everything is
illu sion . This is quite clear on the obj ect-sid e . We see one person and
we think that he is concrete reality . Someone can think he is their
friend, someone else thinks he is their enemy , but that depends on the
other people , not on him self. They are all looking at this one person
and someone thinks he is their friend, someone else thinks he is their
enemy , hu sband , son and so on - they proj ect many things onto this
one perso n , but as for his sid e , you can 't j udge whether he is a friend
or enemy - there is nothing special . All (these j udgments) are according
to the other people , to the other sid e , they are only proj ecte d . N othing
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exists on his side . We can project an enemy , friend is also there ; these
are not against each other - one person can be both enemy and friend
depending on other people . This shows that nothing is real, that
everything is proj ected .
These are all methods, and some of these methods are
according to Madhyamaka 1 26 but they can still be helpfu l . But in the
Dzogchen way when we concentrate with the Natural State we don 't
close our eye s and ears , all our sense are there . Obj ects are not
stoppe d , we can still see and hear, the whole of existence is there . At
that time you have to realize that things are like water . When you look
into water you can see many reflection s there . You can count them ,
see their colour and form , so if, for example , you hold some steps in
front of the water, you can count one , two , three steps and so on in the
water, but if you touch them they are all water; there is nothing else
there . That shows you , you see . The whole of our normal phenomenal
existence is like thi s . The Natural State is like water, like the ocean ,
and all phenomena are like reflections or visions in the water. Those
are all called Empty Form . Nature itself is like water and all
phenomena are like reflections, so everything is spontaneously
encompassed by Empty Nature . We can check u sing these methods,
but in reality nothing exi sts inherently . We can see ruins and
cemeterie s but nothing remains apart from what the archaeologists dig
up; nothing else. Same thing. That is the proof. O K . But while
everything is OK and your conditions are fine you can say that this is
right or wrong, true or false - we can say many things , but in reality
we have no power, we must go one way only 1 27 . That is why it is better
to think that everything is illusion and not think too much about
pushing emotions or grasping. That can be helpful until we realize the
final goal of emptiness or rainbow body . But that is very far away.
O K . Our time is over.

1 26
I . e. the l ast one.
1 27
I . e. we must a l l d i e.
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 Yetri Thasel. Pfauenhot: 200 7 : dGos · ctod gsal byed bshad gzhai ' i mchongs

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