References for H.E. Gochen Tulku Sang Ngak, Nyingma, and Great Perfection meditation

NAMO GURU SRI PADMASAMBHAVAYE.

On one tribe I was asked to develop the posting on Tulku Sang Ngak beyond that of a basic "listing". So I did, and the result follows, as it is equally useful here.

The point is to allow for and better understanding among meditation practitioners, so I support that both in content and in approach. You have been helped.

Sarva mangalam! Siddhi rastu!

KT



REFERENCES

The most basic reference has already been provided above. The full reference is
"The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen"
by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu (Author), John Shane (Compiler, Editor)

# Paperback: 176 pages
# Publisher: Snow Lion Publications (October 25, 1999)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 1559391359
# ISBN-13: 978-1559391351


Amazon.com Review
"Within Tibetan Buddhism, there is a little-known discipline called Dzogchen, the turbo path to liberation. In some traditions, the path to liberation extends over lifetimes of diligent practice, but Dzogchen is an accelerated way to achieve self-perfection. After many years of formal study, Chogyal Namkhai Norbu was initiated into this less-formal practice, which is one of the highest yet most accessible of Tibetan Buddhist teachings. Namkhai Norbu eventually made his way to Italy to teach, where John Shane transcribed and translated Namkhai Norbu's lectures, putting together what is now one of the most popular books on Dzogchen. Namkhai Norbu makes it clear that these teachings are not a handbook for practice but rather an overview of Dzogchen, notably its three divisions: the base, the path, and the fruit. The ultimate and immediate goal is to achieve the primordial state of non-dual awareness, the one taste, and to maintain it. With colorful anecdotes from his own experience (finding an ancient text manifested in a dream, for example, and visiting eccentric cave yogis), Namkhai Norbu's teachings illustrate that Dzogchen is not just theory but the way to a new, and almost incomprehensible, way of being. --Brian Bruya"

Review
"One of the most significant contributions to the understanding of Tibetan Buddhism to have appeared in recent years." --The Middle Way, Journal of the Buddhist Society, London

From Snow Lion:
"Chogyal Namkhai Norbu examines the spiritual path from the viewpoint of Dzogchen. He interweaves his life story with Dzogchen teachings, making them accessible through his living example. He discusses his education and how he met his principal master who showed him the real meaning of "direct introduction to Dzogchen."

"One of the most significant contributions to the understanding of Tibetan Buddhism to have appeared in recent years."--The Middle Way, Journal of the Buddhist Society, London.

Namkhai Norbu was born in eastern Tibet in 1938, and at the age of three was recognized as the incarnation of a great Dzogchen master. He received the full traditional education of a "tulku" or reincarnate lama, and went on to study and practice with several great masters in Tibet.

"The author distinguished between Dzogchen exposition and instruction; the former is what books do; the latter requires the direct teaching of a master. Instruction entails actual transmission of the primordial state from the master to the student. The student's task is then to engage in practices that enable direct access to that state -- and eventually to abide uninterruptedly in the primoridial state, even while living an ordinary life."-- The Quest

Outline and first chapter at
www.snowlionpub.com/chapters/crwali.htm


See
vajranatha.com/excerpt/GoldenLetters.htm
for intro and excerpts from book "The Golden Letters"

THE GOLDEN LETTERS: The Three Statements of Garab Dorje, the First Human Teacher of Dzogchen, together with a Commentary by Dza Patrul Rinpoche entitled
"The Special Teaching of the Wise and Glorious King;"
Foreword by Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche,
A Short Commentary on the Three Statements by HH Dudjom Rinpoche,
Translation, Introduction, and Commentaries by John Myrdhin Reynolds,
Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, New York, 1996.

"According to the ancient traditions of the Nyingmapa school of Tibetan Buddhism, the central teachings of dzogchen, "the Great Perfection," were first expounded in the human world by the great Buddhist master Garab Dorje from the mysterious country of Uddiyana (Eastern Afghanistan). This core Buddhist teaching directly introduces the meditation practitioner to the Nature of Mind, or innate Buddha-nature, which has been there from the very beginning, since before Samsara itself came into manifestation, but which goes unrecognized lifetime after lifetime because it is covered over by adventitious obscurations and negative karma. The practice of dzogchen purifies and removes these layers of the clouds of obscuration an d karma, so that one's own original nature, intrinsic awareness or Rigpa, shines through like the face of the sun in the sky free of clouds. From Uddiyana, the Dzogchen teachings were brought to India by Manjushrimitra and, in turn, his disciple Shrisimha transmitted them to three students, Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, and Vairochana the Tibetan translato, who brought them to Tibet. Since then these Dzogchen teachings have been preserved and propagated within the traditions of the nyingmapa school of Tibet established by Guru Padmasambhava in the eighth century of our era.

"The essence of Garab Dorje's message or kerygma is found in his last testament delived to Manjushrimitra after the master had passed into Nirvana by way of attaining the Rainbow Body of Light, the culmination of the practice of Dzogchen. Having dissolved his physical body into pure radiant energy and fading into the clear open spaces of the sky, he reappeared as a resurrected Body of Light in the guise of a sixteen year old youth inside a rainbow sphere of light suspended in the middle of the cloudless sky. This last testament or final posthumous communcation ('das-rjes) is known as "The Three Statements that Strike the Essential Points," (Tshig gsum gnad brdeg), and represents the quintessence of the Dzogchen teachings.

"In the nineteenth century in Eastern Tibet, the famous master Patrul Rinpoche wrote a brilliant commentary on these three statements, together with the contemplation practices relating to them, entiled "The Special Teachings of the Wise and Glorious King," (mKas-pa shri rgyal-po' khyad chos). In this volume these important Dzogchen texts of Garab Dorje and Patrul Rinpoche are translated from the Tibetan into contemporary English. Notes, commentaries, and glossary of Dzogchen terms are also included."


For a basic perspective on Dzogchen Primordial Awareness Yoga, see
www.keithdowman.net/dzogchen...storm.htm

which has information and excerpts related to book
" Eye of the Storm: Vairotsana's Five Original Transmissions"

Eye of the Storm is a translation of Vairotsana's five original transmissions (Snga 'gyur lnga) , the five seminal tantras of the Mind Series of Dzogchen Precepts, with a commentary from the Mdo bcu, by Keith Dowman, a foreword by Bhakha Tulku Pema Rigdzin, published by Vajra Publications in Kathmandu, Nepal.

For a short introductory meditation text on dzogchen, see book

"THE CYCLE OF DAY AND NIGHT,
where one proceeds along the Path of the Primordial Yoga"
A Basic Text of the Practice of Dzogchen by Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, ttranslated and Edited by John Myrdhin Reynolds

"The Cycle of the Day and Night where one proceeds along the Path of the Primordial Yoga" (gdod-ma'i rnal-'byor gyi lam khyer nyin mtsham 'kor-lo-ma) is a presentation of the fundamentals of Dzogchen practice in a clear and precise manner by one the leading exponents of Dzogchen in the West, Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche. Central to the practice of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, is the making of contemplation into a continuous process through one's activities during all twenty-four hours of the day. Thus, the author describes the Practice of the Day (nyin gyi rnal-'byor) where one simply observes the rise and fall of one's thoughts and gazes into the open clear dimension of the sky and a Practice of the Night (mtshan gyi rnal-'byor) entailing thge taking of awarenress into sleep and thereafter lucid dreaming. Followng these simple methods, the practitioner develops in the state of contemplation. Based on the teachings of Garab Dorje, the first human master in the Dzogchen lineage from Uddiyana, this volume consists of a translation from the original Tibetan of the author's verse text, together with a commentary drawn from the author's own more extensive oral comentary. A reproduction of the original Tibetan text, as well as a glossary of Dzogchen terms and a biographical sketch of the Tibetan author are included.



For information on Yeshe Tsogyel and the Nyingma school, see
www.keithdowman.net/books/sd.htm

which has introduction and excerpts from "Sky Dancer: The Secret Life and Songs of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyel"


'Among the great female adepts of Tibetan Tantra, Yeshe Tsogyel is foremost, and this masterpiece of Tibetan biographical literature conveys the meaning of her sublime apocalyptic life with lyrical beauty. Yeshe Tsogyel was an eighth century Tibetan princess who became the tantric consort of Tibet's Great Guru Padmasambhava. Her exemplary life story describes the ideal path of a yogini (a female practitioner) and in so far as it provides a blueprint for every woman who aspires to Buddhahood, Sky Danceris one of the most important translations to be made from the Tibetan. It describes her motivation, the initiations taken from the Guru, her path of practice, her tribulations and the impediments in meditation practice, and the signs of her success in realisation of her buddha nature. 'Skydancer' is a translation of the Tibetan word 'Khandroma' (dakini), 'female buddha'. Many of the songs provide secret precepts given to her by her teachers and by her to her disciples. These oral instructions belonging to the supreme path of tantra (anuttara-yoga-tantra) and Dzokchen provide the core of the biography.

'This work is important not only for its profound and detailed instruction on tantra-yoga, as an inspiration and guide on the tantric path, but also as an historical work shedding light upon the heroic period of Tibetan history, the epoch of empire, and the life and activity of Guru Padmasambhava.'

'Keith Dowman's four essays on the historical and religious background and woman's place in the tradition introduce readers to the Buddhist Tantra and elucidate the main points touched upon by the text.'

'Mr Dowman's translation possesses an immediate, compelling voice, its clarity all the more remarkable when one considers the relative inaccessibility of the spiritual biography he translates...The brilliance of this translation stems from the fact that Dowman combines the linguistic and historic skills of a scholar with the insight and practical wisdom of a sadhaka. Jane Casey in ReVision.

'No doubt it will be found relevant by feminists who yet have to make much headway against the taboos of Western Christianity. Tantra may provide an exciting alternative.' Iain Finlayson in the Glasgow Herald.

'Tsogyel's biography overflows with profound meanings that either cannot or may not be fully explained in print. Where many fools have rushed in before him, Keith Dowman has trod lightly and well. Anne Klein in Parabola.

'PREMATURE READING OF THIS BOOK MAY SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH.' Michael Hookham in The Middle Way

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