In Dzogchen, the ground or base (Tibetan : གཞི, Wylie : gzhi) is the primordial state. It is an essential component of the Dzogchen tradition for both the Bon tradition and the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. [2] [3] Knowledge of this ground is called rigpa .
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A key concept in Dzogchen is the 'basis', 'ground' or 'primordial state' (Tibetan: གཞི་ gzhi), also called the general ground (སྤྱི་གཞི་ spyi gzhi) or the original ground (གདོད་མའི་གཞི་ gdod ma'i gzhi). [4] The basis is the original state "before realization produced buddhas and nonrealization produced sentient beings". It is atemporal and unchanging and yet it is "noetically potent", giving rise to mind (སེམས་ sems,), consciousness (ཤེས་པ་ shes pa), delusion (མ་རིག་པ་ marigpa) and knowledge (རིག་པ་་ rigpa ). [5] Furthermore, Hatchell notes that the Dzogchen tradition portrays ultimate reality as something which is "beyond the concepts of one and many." [6]
Thus in Dzogchen, the basis is a pure empty consciousness which is what needs to be recognized to achieve awakening. According to Smith, The Illuminating Lamp declares that in Ati Yoga, pristine consciousness is a mere consciousness that apprehends primordial liberation and the generic basis as the ultimate." [5] In other words, spiritual knowledge in Dzogchen is recognizing one's basis.
Since the basis transcends time, any temporal language used to describe it (such as "primordial", "original" and so on) is purely conventional and does not refer to an actual point in time, but should be understood as indicating a state in which time is not a factor. According to Smith, "placing the original basis on a temporal spectrum is therefore a didactic myth." [7]
The basis also is not to be confused with the "all-basis" (Tib. ཀུན་གཞི་ kun gzhi) or with the fundamental store consciousness (Tib. ཀུན་གཞི་རྣམ་པར་ཤེས་པ་ kun gzhi rnam par shes pa), since these are both samsaric modes of consciousness. [8] Other terms used to describe the basis include unobstructed (མ་འགགས་པ་ ma 'gags pa), universal (ཀུན་ཁྱབ་ kun khyab) and omnipresent. [9]
The basis is also associated with the term Dharmatā , defined as follows: "Dharmatā, original purity, is free from all proliferation. Since it is unaffected by ignorance, it is free from all obscurations." [10] According to Smith, describing the basis as “great original purity” (ཀ་དག་ཆེན་པོ་ ka dag chen po) is the only description which is held to be flawless according to various Dzogchen Tantras. [10]
The basis is also associated with the primordial or original Buddhahood, also called Samantabhadra, which is said to be beyond time and space itself. Hence, Buddhahood is not something to be gained, but it is an act of recognizing what is already immanent in all sentient beings. [11] This view of the basis stems from the Indian Buddha-nature theory according to Pettit. [12] Tibetan authors like Longchenpa and Jigme Lingpa specifically linked the Dzogchen view of the basis with Buddha-nature or sugatagarbha (especially as it is found in the Ratnagotravibhāga ). [13]
In the Great Commentary of Vimalamitra (8th century), the basis is defined as "one’s unfabricated mind" (rang sems ma bcos pa). As Smith notes, this indicates how the basis is not some transpersonal entity. [14] [ failed verification ] The basis is therefore not defined as being "one thing" (i.e. monism, Brahman etc.), since there exists the production of diversity. Regarding this, The Realms and Transformations of Sound Tantra states: "Other than compassion arising as diversity, it is not defined as one thing." [15] The Illuminating Lamp commentary explains the pristine consciousness of the basis thus:
In Ati, the pristine consciousness — subsumed by the consciousness that apprehends primordial liberation and the abiding basis as ultimate — is inseparable in all buddhas and sentient beings as a mere consciousness. Since the ultimate pervades them without any nature at all, it is contained within each individual consciousness. [5]
The Tibetan master Longchenpa (1308–1364) describes the basis as follows:
the self-emergent primordial gnosis of awareness, the original primordially empty Body of Reality, the ultimate truth of the expanse, and the abiding condition of luminously radiant reality, within which such oppositions as cyclic existence and transcendent reality, pleasure and suffering, existence and non-existence, being and non-being, freedom and straying, awareness and dimmed awareness, are not found anywhere at all. [16]
Moreover, Longchenpa notes that "ground" should be understood as a "groundless ground", which seems to be a ground and is posited as so only from a relative perspective, while in the true nature of reality it is empty of being a ground. Because it has no intrinsic nature, and from the a relative perspective the experiences of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa seem to arise from it, it is referred to as the ground:
[D]ue to supporting all phenomena of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, it is the abiding reality called "the ultimate universal ground"; it is unconditioned and abides as the great primordial purity. Moreover, it supports the phenomena of saṃsāra—karma and afflictive emotions—in the manner of a non-support, as the sun and space support cloud formations, they abide within its state without contact or connection with the basis. In reality, since there is no intrinsic nature, support and supported are not established; since it appears as such it is so designated [as the support]. [lower-alpha 1]
Namkhai Norbu (1938–2018) writes that the term basis denotes "the fundamental ground of existence, both at the universal level and at the level of the individual, the two being essentially the same." This basis is "uncreated, ever pure and, self-perfected, it is not something that has to be constructed," however it "remains hidden to the experience of every being affected by the illusion of dualism." [17] Jean Luc-Achard defines the basis as "the actual, authentic abiding mode of the Mind." [18] According to Achard, Dzogchen tantras define the basis as "Great Primordial Purity" (ka dag chen po). The Tantra of the Beautiful Auspiciousness (bKra shis mdzes ldan gyi rgyud) defines this as "the state abiding before authentic Buddhas arose and before impure sentient beings appeared." [18]
In the Longchen Nyingtik tradition, the ground has three qualities or aspects, also called the "three wisdoms". Each one is paired with one of the three bodies of the Buddha and with one of the three jewels (indicating that these are fully included in each sentient being). Norbu notes that "these three aspects are interdependent and cannot be separated from each other," [20] just like the various qualities of a mirror are all essential to the existence of a mirror. The three aspects of the basis are: [21] [22] [23] [24]
Namkhai Norbu warns that "all examples used to explain the nature of reality can only ever be partially successful in describing it because it is, in itself, beyond words and concepts." [35] Furthermore, he writes that "the Base should not be objectified and considered as a self-existing entity; it is the insubstantial State or condition which serves as the basis of all entities and individuals, of which the ordinary individual is unaware but which is fully manifest in the realized individual." [36]
The text, An Aspirational prayer for the Ground, Path and Result defines the three aspects of the basis thus:
Because its essence is empty, it is free from the limit of eternalism.
Because its nature is luminous, it is free from the extreme of nihilism.
Because its compassion is unobstructed, it is the ground of the manifold manifestations. [37]
Longchen Rabjam Drimé Özer, commonly abbreviated to Longchenpa was a Tibetan scholar-yogi of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. According to tibetologist David Germano, Longchenpa's work led to the dominance of the Longchen Nyingthig lineage of Dzogchen over the other Dzogchen traditions. He is also responsible for the scholastic systematization of Dzogchen thought within the context of the wider Tibetan Vajrayana tradition of philosophy which was highly developed at the time among the Sarma schools. Germano also notes that Longchenpa's work is "generally taken to be the definitive expression of the Great Perfection with its precise terminological distinctions, systematic scope, and integration with the normative Buddhist scholasticism that became dominant in Tibet during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries."
Dzogchen, also known as atiyoga, is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. The primordial ground is said to have the qualities of purity, spontaneity and compassion. The goal of Dzogchen is knowledge of this basis, this knowledge is called rigpa. There are numerous spiritual practices taught in the various Dzogchen systems for awakening rigpa.
In Dzogchen, rigpa is knowledge of the ground. The opposite of rigpa is ma rigpa. A practitioner who has attained the state of rigpa and is able to rest there continuously is called a Rigdzin or Rigma, which may be used as a title either pre- or post-nominally.
In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Ādi-Buddha is the "First Buddha" or the "Primordial Buddha". Another common term for this figure is Dharmakāya Buddha.
Semde (Tibetan: སེམས་སྡེ, Wylie: sems sde; Sanskrit: cittavarga, "mind division", "mind class" or "mind series" is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within the Dzogchen tradition. The Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism traditionally classifies its Dzogchen teaching into three main divisions: Semde, Longdé and Menngagde.
The Seven Treasuries, are a collection of seven works, some with auto-commentaries, by the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Longchenpa (1308–1364). They constitute his most influential scholarly output and together provide a systematic overview of exoteric and esoteric topics from the point of view of the Nyingma school's Dzogchen tradition.
The Kulayarāja Tantra is a Buddhist Tantra in the Tibetan language and the principal Mind Series text of the Dzogchen tradition of the Nyingma school. The Kunjed Gyalpo contains within it smaller Dzogchen texts such as the Cuckoo of Rigpa which appears in the thirty first chapter, as such it appears to be a sort of compilation of earlier Dzogchen literature .
Tibetan tantric practice, also known as "the practice of secret mantra", and "tantric techniques", refers to the main tantric practices in Tibetan Buddhism. The great Rime scholar Jamgön Kongtrül refers to this as "the Process of Meditation in the Indestructible Way of Secret Mantra" and also as "the way of mantra," "way of method" and "the secret way" in his Treasury of Knowledge. These Vajrayāna Buddhist practices are mainly drawn from the Buddhist tantras and are generally not found in "common" Mahayana. These practices are seen by Tibetan Buddhists as the fastest and most powerful path to Buddhahood.
The Gankyil or "wheel of joy" is a symbol and ritual tool used in Tibetan and East Asian Buddhism. It is composed of three swirling and interconnected blades. The traditional spinning direction is clockwise, but the counter-clockwise ones are also common.
In Tibetan Buddhism and Bon, Menngagde, is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within Dzogchen.
Melong is a Tibetan term that means "mirror", "looking glass". The melong is a polyvalent symbol, divine attribute, and quality of the enlightened mindstream or bodhicitta.
The Seventeen Tantras of the Esoteric Instruction Series or the Seventeen Tantras of the Ancients are an important collection of tantras in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. They comprise the core scriptures of the "esoteric instruction series" (Menngagde) of Dzogchen teachings and are its most authoritative scriptures.
The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva is numbered amongst the Seventeen Tantras of Menngagde within Dzogchen discourse and is part of the textual support for the Vima Nyingtik.
The Reverberation of Sound Tantra, is considered to be the root tantra of the seventeen tantras of the Menngagde class of the Tibetan Buddhist Dzogchen tradition.
Self- Arising Primordial Awareness is one of the Seventeen tantras of Dzogchen Upadesha.
In Dzogchen, trekchö means "(spontaneous) cutting of tension" or "cutting through solidity." The practice of trekchö reflects the earliest developments of Dzogchen, with its admonition against practice. In this practice one first identifies, and then sustains recognition of, one's own innately pure, empty awareness. The main trekchö instructions in the Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo state "This instant freshness, unspoiled by the thoughts of the three times; You directly see in actuality by letting be in naturalness."
In Dzogchen, the eleven vajra topics explain the view of the secret instruction series. These can be found in the String of Pearls Tantra, the Great Commentary by Vimalamitra as well as in Longchenpa's Treasury of Word and Meaning. The String of Pearls Tantra briefly lists them as follows:
Although reality is inconceivable, pristine consciousness has three aspects. Though there are many bases of delusion, it is natural perfection and compassion. Abiding within oneself are the kāyas, families, and pristine consciousnesses. The location of buddhamind is in the center of the heart. The path is the four nāḍīs; vāyu causes movement. There are four gates of arising: the eyes and so on. The field is the sky free of clouds. The practice is trekchö and thögal. The gauge is the yoga of four confidences. The bardo is the meeting of the mother and child. The stage of liberation comes first.
In Dzogchen, the view is one of the Three Dharmas of the Path of Dzogchen. The other two dharmas of the path are practice (gompa) and conduct (chöpa).
Dzogchen practice refers to the various contemplative practices which are part of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions of Dzogchen. Dzogchen contemplation or meditation relies on having the proper Dzogchen view, which, according to Tibetan Dzogchen teacher Namkhai Norbu, is not an intellectual view, but a "direct, non-dual, non-conceptual knowledge" of fundamentally pure absolute nature which has become veiled by dualistic conditioning. In Dzogchen, one achieves this view through one's relationship with a guru or lama who introduces one to our own primordial state and provides instruction on how to practice. This "direct introduction" and transmission from a Dzogchen master is considered absolutely essential.
Dzogchen, also known as atiyoga, is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. The primordial ground is said to have the qualities of purity, spontaneity and compassion. The goal of Dzogchen is knowledge of this basis, this knowledge is called rigpa. There are numerous spiritual practices taught in the various Dzogchen systems for recognizing rigpa.
