Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (Author) - Quintessential Dzogchen: Confusion Dawns as Wisdom

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PADMASAMBHAVA Treasures from Juniper Ridge Advice from the Lotus-Born Dakini Teachings

PADMASAMBHAVA AND JAMGN KONGTRL The Light of Wisdom, Vol. 1 & Vol. 2

YESHE TSOGYAL The Lotus-Born

DAKPO TASHI NAMGYAL Clarifying the Natural State

TSELE NATSOK RANGDRL Mirror of Mindfulness Empowerment Heart Lamp

CHOKGYUR LINGPA Ocean of Amrita The Great Gate Skillful Grace

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ADEU RINPOCHE Freedom in Bondage

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CHKYI NYIMA RINPOCHE Present Fresh Wakefulness

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ORGYEN TOBGYAL RINPOCHE Life & Teachings of Chokgyur Lingpa

DZIGAR KONGTRL RINPOCHE Uncommon Happiness

TSOKNYI RINPOCHE Fearless Simplicity Carefree Dignity

DZOGCHEN TRILOGY COMPILED BY MARCIA BINDER SCHMIDT Dzogchen Primer Dzogchen Essentials Quintessential Dzogchen

ERIK PEMA KUNSANG Wellsprings of the Great Perfection A Tibetan Buddhist Companion The Rangjung Yeshe Tibetan-English Dictionary of Buddhist Culture

MARCIA D ECHEN WANGMO Confessions of a Gypsy Yogini

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Publication Data:
Schmidt, Marcia Binder. Erik Pema Kunsang,
Quintessential Dzogchen: Confusion Dawns as Wisdom.
Introductory Teachings by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche.
eISBN: 978-962-7341-73-4
1. Eastern philosophyBuddhism. 3. VajrayanaDzogchen
(Nyingma).
I. Title.

Cover art detail: oil painting by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche
Design: Rafael Ortet

v3.1

The door of the Great Perfection has been opened by noble beings and the fortune of enjoying its wealth is within reach of ordinary disciples. It is, by all means, of vital importance to attain complete liberation through practice to make having met this profound path meaningful.

Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

How amazing to be able to connect with the rich, awe-inspiring tradition of Dzogchen!

How propitious to live in a time when we can meet these instructions and the lineage masters who propagate them!

How unbelievably fortunate to be able to actually practice and realize the teachings!

We rejoice in being able to have the opportunity to share some of this precious wisdom

And aspire that such an undertaking will bring immeasurable benefit!

The teachings in Quintessential Dzogchen fall under the fourth Dharma of Longchenpa and Gampopa, confusion dawns as wisdom, which involves acknowledging and training in our intrinsic buddha nature. When our confusion is purified, the wisdom that is our basic wakefulness becomes apparent. Once we have been introduced to this basic wakefulness and have managedthrough the combined power of our devotion and prior trainingto recognize it directly and definitively, then, through training in basic wakefulness (rigpa), we enter the ranks of true practitioners of the Great Perfection. Looking back, we then realize that all the previous spiritual practices we were engaged inthough earnestly undertaken and immensely beneficial as stepping-stoneswere based on only a theoretical understanding.

To enter the Vajrayana path, we need to mature our being through empowerments. The essentials for practice are the ripening empowerments, the liberating instructions, and the supportive reading transmissions. If we start practice without ripening our body, speech, and mind through receiving empowerments, the blessings will not enter our stream-of-being. The four empowerments are the vase empowerment, the secret empowerment, the knowledge empowerment, and the word empowerment. Quintessential Dzogchen covers the section of the Dzogchen path that is connected with the fourth empowerment: the precious word empowerment.

On the Dzogchen path, we practice in close association with and under the guidance of a genuine lineage holder of this tradition. Such a teacher must possess the ripening empowerments, reading transmissions, and liberating instructions, as well as accomplishment in these practices. For the blessings of realization to arise within our own experience, our master needs to be authentic and qualified. Quintessential Dzogchen is offered as a handbook of teachings to request from such masters, as well as an encouragement in carrying them out by providing source materials for practitioners to use when seeking pith instructions.

As was done with the previous books in this series (The Dzogchen Primer and Dzogchen Essentials), the teachings in Quintessential Dzogchen are arranged in the sequence used in Padmasambhavas and Jamgn Kongtrls Light of Wisdom: an explanation of the ground and how sentient beings become deluded, ways to practice the path, and how the final fruition is accomplished. This structure is designed to assist practitioners in carrying out these practices in a traditional order.

To help engender confidence in your practice, we begin with three introductory teachings to give an overview of the entire path. We continue with the historical background as well as sources of the Dzogchen teachings. It is crucial to take the support of genuine texts when doing these practices. As Tulku Thondup says, It is extremely important to rely on authentic scriptures such as the tantras and the writings of Longchen Rabjam as the basis and to have the teachers instructions as the keys. But some people rely on the oral instructions from a teacher and do not know anything about scriptures, the source of the teachings. In addition to conveying the blessings of the lineal Buddhas, Vidyadharas and masters, these scriptures contain various levels and means of practice in both detailed and condensed forms.

The importance of this is underscored in the biography of Khenpo Ngakchung, one of the greatest Dzogchen khenpos of recent times, when his teacher, Nyoshul Lungtok, told him, From now on refine your own mind with the meaning of the Seven Treasuries of Longchenpa as well as The Mother and Son Heart Essences. There are people who just listen to the words of an old lama and put the Seven Treasuries and Four Volumes aside and say, These books are textual expositions. The unexcelled oral tradition is given to me by so and so Lama, and they give new meanings to dwelling, moving and aware, to the tranquility with or without characteristics. These Nyoshul Lungtoks words summarize the tendency of half-baked Dzogchen practitioners to pridefully believe their understanding of rigpas awakened state. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche often stated that when one settles the case prematurely while still limited by inadequate learning and training experience, ones rigpa is often no more than a state of formless shamatha that