Chogyal Namkhai Norbu

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu is a Tibetan master of the Dzogchen tradition. He has been a professor at the Oriental Institute of the University of Naples, Italy, and is the author of many books, including The Crystal and the Way of Light, The Supreme Source, and Dzogchen: The Self-Perfected State.

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu is a Tibetan master of the Dzogchen tradition. He has been a professor at the Oriental Institute of the University of Naples, Italy, and is the author of many books, including The Crystal and the Way of Light, The Supreme Source, and Dzogchen: The Self-Perfected State.

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GUIDES

My Reincarnation, featuring Chogyal Namkhai Norbu

We're proud to share about My Reincarnation, a documentary featuring Snow Lion author Chögyal Namkhai Norbu. It is available online.

Visit his author page to view the full selection. This offer is valid through the end of June.

The trailer is available here.

Watch My Reincarnation - Trailer on PBS. See more from POV.

 

Synopsis

Filmed over 20 years by acclaimed documentarian Jennifer Fox, My Reincarnation chronicles the epic story of exiled Tibetan Buddhist master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu and his Western-born son, Yeshi. As Namkhai Norbu rises as a teacher in the West, Yeshi, recognized from birth as the reincarnation of a famed Buddhist master, breaks away to embrace the modern world. Can the father convince his son to keep the family's spiritual legacy alive? With intimate access to both the family and H.H. The Dalai Lama, Fox distills a decades-long drama into a universal story about love, transformation and destiny.

Learn more about Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche's 2012 Summer Teaching Tour at tsegyalgar.org.

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Jamgon Mipham Rinpoche: A Reader's Guide

Related Reader's Guides

Guides to Nyingma Lineages: Dudjom Tersar | Longchen Nyingtig | Namcho & Palyul
Guides to Other Important Nyingma Figures: RongzompaLongchenpa | Jigme Lingpa | Patrul Rinpoche

Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche (1846-1912)

Mipham Rinpoche is a celebrated Nyingma scholar and practitioner. He is revered for being a prolific writer and for reinvigorating the Nyingma monastic university tradition with his commentaries on central Indian Buddhist texts including the Five Treaties of Maitreya, Chandrakirti's Introduction to the Middle Way, Shantarakshita's Adornment of the Middle Way, and his commentary on Shantideva's Wisdom Chapter. In addition, he is well known for his lengthly composition, The Epic of Gesar of Ling, which arose out of Tibet's oral tradition and is said to be equivalent to the Greek Iliad or the Odyssey. Lama Mipham was a student of the famed Nyingma master, Patrul Rinpoche, and was the principle teacher of Shechen Gyaltsap Rinpoche who went on to teach beloved teachers such as Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö.

Powerful in his striving and discernment,

A yogi [kusalī] of great learning and experience,

Who labored long in search of the deep meaning:

My great confederate, master Mipham...

-words of Lozang Rabsel from Lion of Speech: The Life of Mipham Rinpoche

Books On The Life of Mipham Rinpoche

$27.95 - Hardcover

Lion of Speech
The Life of Mipham Rinpoche
By Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche; translated by Padmakara Translation Group

Jamgön Mipham (1846–1912) is one of the great luminaries of Tibetan Buddhism in modern times. He has had a dominant and vitalizing influence on the Nyingma school in particular and, despite spending most of his life in retreat, is one of Tibet’s most prolific authors.

The first half of this volume comprises the first-ever English translation of the biography of Mipham Rinpoche written by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

In keeping with the identification of Mipham as an emanation of Manjushri, the lion of speech, the second half comprises a selection of Mipham’s writings, designed to give the reader an experience of Mipham’s eloquent speech and incisive thought. It includes both a new translation of The Lion’s Roar: A Comprehensive Discourse on the Buddha-Nature and A Lamp to Dispel the Dark, a teaching of the Great Perfection, as well as excerpts from previously published translations of his works on Madhyamaka and tantra.

$34.95 - Paperback

Jamgon Mipham
His Life and Teachings
By Douglas Duckworth with select translations of Mipham Rinpoche's work

Jamgön Mipam (1846–1912) is one of the most extraordinary figures in the history of Tibet. Monk, mystic, and brilliant philosopher, he shaped the trajectory of Tibetan Buddhism’s Nyingma school. This introduction provides a most concise entrée to this great luminary’s life and work. The first section gives a general context for understanding this remarkable individual who, though he spent the greater part of his life in solitary retreat, became one of the greatest scholars of his age. Part Two gives an overview of Mipam’s interpretation of Buddhism, examining his major themes, and devoting particular attention to his articulation of the Buddhist conception of emptiness. Part Three presents a representative sampling of Mipam’s writings.

Prominent Shedra (Monastic University) Texts with Commentary By Mipham Rinpoche

Texts from the Madhyamaka Tradition

Madhyamaka, or the Middle Way, is founded on the idea that all phenomena are empty of an inherent, unchanging, and permanent ‘nature.’ Nagarjuna, believed to be the first proponent of Madhyamaka, identified two aspects of truth: the relative, being the functional aspect of the phenomenal world, and the ultimate, which is beyond conventions and mental elaboration.

$32.95 - Paperback

Introduction to the Middle Way
Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Ju Mipham
By Mipham; translated by Padmakara Translation Group

Introduction to the Middle Way presents an adventure into the heart of Buddhist wisdom through the Madhyamika, or "middle way," teachings, which are designed to take the ordinary intellect to the limit of its powers and then show that there is more.

This book includes a verse translation of the Madhyamakavatara by the renowned seventh-century Indian master Chandrakirti, an extremely influential text of Mahayana Buddhism, followed by an exhaustive logical explanation of its meaning by the modern Tibetan master Jamgön Mipham, composed approximately twelve centuries later. Chandrakirti's work is an introduction to the Madhyamika teachings of Nagarjuna, which are themselves a systematization of the Prajnaparamita, or "Perfection of Wisdom" literature, the sutras on the crucial but elusive concept of emptiness.

$39.95 - Paperback

The Adornment of the Middle Way
Shantarakshita's Madhyamakalankara with Commentary by Jamgon Mipham
By Mipham; translated by Padmakara Translation Group

In the Madhyamakalankara, Shantarakshita synthesized the views of Madhyamaka and Yogachara, the two great streams of Mahayana Buddhism. This was the last great philosophical development of Buddhist India.

In his brilliant and searching commentary, Mipham re-presented Shantarakshita to a world that had largely forgotten him, defending his position and showing how it should be understood in relation to the teaching of Chandrakirti. To do this, he subtly reassessed the Svatantrika-Prasangika distinction, thereby clarifying and rehabilitating Yogachara-Madhyamaka as a bridge whereby the highest philosophical view on the sutra level flows naturally into the view of tantra. Mipham’s commentary has with reason been described as one of the most profound examinations of Madhyamaka ever written.

$29.95 - Paperback

$39.95 - Hardcover

The Wisdom Chapter
Jamgön Mipham's Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of The Way of the Bodhisattva
By Mipham; translated by Padmakara Translation Group

Shāntideva’s guide to the training of a Bodhisattva is one of the most important and beloved texts in the Tibetan tradition. The ninth chapter, however, dealing with Madhyamaka, the Middle Way, the most profound wisdom view of Mahayana Buddhism, has always posed unique challenges to readers. This commentary by the great scholar Mipham Rinpoche presents in quite straightforward terms Shantideva’s exposition of emptiness, the essential foundation of all Buddhist doctrine, demonstrating that it is not only compatible with, but in fact crucial to, the correct understanding of other important Buddhist teachings such as karma, rebirth, and the practice of compassion. Mipham interprets Shāntideva according to the view of the Nyingma school, which in some respects was at variance with the religiously and politically dominant interpretation of the text in Tibet at that time. As a result, his commentary stirred up a furious debate. With the addition of a critique of Mipham Rinpoche’s view by a prominent scholar of the time, along with Mipham’s response, that debate is beautifully captured in this volume.

Mipham's Commentaries on the Five Treatises of Maitreya

These works are part of a collection known as the Five Maitreya Teachings, a set of philosophical works that have become classics of the Indian Buddhist tradition. Maitreya, the Buddha’s regent, is held to have entrusted these profound and vast instructions to the master Asaṅga in the heavenly realm of Tuṣita.

$22.95 - Paperback

Middle Beyond Extremes
Maitreya's Madhyantavibhaga with Commentaries by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham
By Mipham and Khenpo Shenga; translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee

Middle Beyond Extremes contains a translation of the Buddhist masterpiece Distinguishing the Middle from Extremes. This famed text, often referred to by its Sanskrit title, Madhyantavibhaga, is part of a collection known as the Five Maitreya Teachings. Maitreya is held to have entrusted these profound and vast instructions to the master Asanga in the heavenly realm of Tusita.

Distinguishing the Middle from Extremes employs the principle of the three natures to explain the way things seem to be as well as the way they actually are. It is presented here alongside commentaries by two outstanding masters of Tibet’s nonsectarian Rimé movement, Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham.

Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Intrinsic Nature PB

$18.95 - Paperback

Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Intrinsic Nature
Maitreya's Dharmadharmatavibhanga with Commentaries by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham
By Mipham and Khenpo Shenga; translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee

The Buddhist masterpiece Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Intrinsic Nature, often referred to by its Sanskrit title, Dharmadharmatāvibhanga, is part of a collection known as the Five Maitreya Teachings, a set of philosophical works that have become classics of the Indian Buddhist tradition. Maitreya, the Buddha's regent, is held to have entrusted these profound and vast instructions to the master Asanga in the heavenly realm of Tusita. By divesting the mind of confusion, the treatise explains, we see things as they actually are. This insight allows for the natural unfolding of compassion and wisdom. This volume includes commentaries by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham, whose discussions illuminate the subtleties of the root text and provide valuable insight into the nature of reality and the process of awakening.

$69.95 - Hardcover

Ornament of the Great Vehicle Sutras
Maitreya's Mahayanasutralamkara with Commentaries by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham
By Mipham and Khenpo Shenga; translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee

The Buddhist masterpiece Ornament of the Great Vehicle Sūtras, often referred to by its Sanskrit title, Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra, is part of a collection known as the Five Maitreya Teachings, a set of philosophical works that have become classics of the Indian Buddhist tradition. Maitreya, the Buddha’s regent, is held to have entrusted these profound and vast instructions to the master Asaṅga in the heavenly realm of Tuṣita.

The Ornament provides a comprehensive description of the bodhisattva’s view, meditation, and enlightened activities. Bodhisattvas are beings who, out of vast love for all sentient beings, have dedicated themselves to the task of becoming fully awakened buddhas, capable of helping all beings in innumerable and vast ways to become enlightened themselves. To fully awaken requires practicing great generosity, patience, energy, discipline, concentration, and wisdom, and Maitreya’s text explains what these enlightened qualities are and how to develop them.

$24.95 - Paperback

Maitreya's Distinguishing Phenomena and Pure Being
By Mipham ; translated by Jim Scott

Distinguishing Phenomena and Pure Being was composed by Maitreya during the golden age of Indian Buddhism. Mipham's commentary supports Maitreya's text in a detailed analysis of how ordinary, confused consciousness can be transformed into wisdom. Easy-to-follow instructions guide the reader through the profound meditation that gradually brings about this transformation. This important and comprehensive work belongs on the bookshelf of any serious Buddhist practitioner—and indeed of anyone interested in realizing their full potential as a human being.

Listen to Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche teach on the Ornament of the Mahayana Sutras

Stephen Gethin from the Padmakara Translation Group discusses his translation of A Feast of the Nectar of the Supreme Vehicle, Mipham RInpoche's commentary on the Ornament of the Great Vehicle Sutras Mahayanasutralamkara.

$69.95 - Hardcover

A Feast of the Nectar of the Supreme Vehicle
An Explanation of the Ornament of the Mahayana Sutras
By Mipham; translated by Padmakara Translation Group

A monumental work and Indian Buddhist classic, the Ornament of the Mahāyāna Sūtras (Mahāyānasūtrālamkāra) is a precious resource for students wishing to study in-depth the philosophy and path of Mahāyāna Buddhism. This full translation and commentary outlines the importance of Mahāyāna, the centrality of bodhicitta or the mind of awakening, the path of becoming a bodhisattva, and how one can save beings from suffering through skillful means.

The Epic of Gesar of Ling

An interview with Sangye Khandro and Lama Chonam on the creation and relevance of this landmark translation of The Epic of Gesar.

The Epic of Gesar of Ling
Gesar's Magical Birth, Early Years, and Coronation as King
By Mipham Rinpoche; translated by Padmakara Translation Group

The epic of Gesar has been the national treasure of Tibet for almost a thousand years. An open canon of tales about a superhuman warrior-king, the epic is still a living oral tradition, included on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This book is a translation of the beginning portion of this enormous corpus that Mipham Rinpoche compiled.

Born in the pure lands the son of two wisdom deities, Gesar takes rebirth in the human realm in order to defeat the demon kings who had taken over the empires of Asia and to thus liberate the people from suffering. His jealous uncle Trothung proves to be the first major threat to this goal, but Gesar outwits him every time using magic. In the last chapters of the book, he and Trothung’s son face off in a high-tension horse race to decide who will win the throne of Ling and the hand of the coveted Princess Drugmo in marriage.

Gesar’s story is popularly read as an allegory, with Gesar representing the ideal of spiritual warriorship—that is, fearlessness in the face of obstacles on the path to enlightenment. Just as Gesar rides his flying steed, we too can ride the energy of our inherent dignity, confidence, and strength, subduing inner demons and claiming victory.

Hardcover | Ebook | Paperback

$49.95 - Paperback


$120.00 - Hardcover

Born in the pure lands the son of two wisdom deities, Gesar takes rebirth in the human realm in order to defeat the demon kings who had taken over the empires of Asia and to thus liberate the people from suffering. His jealous uncle Trothung proves to be the first major threat to this goal, but Gesar outwits him every time using magic. In the last chapters of the book, he and Trothung’s son face off in a high-tension horse race to decide who will win the throne of Ling and the hand of the coveted Princess Drugmo in marriage.

Book cover for The Taming of the Demons From the Epic of Gesar of Ling
 Ebook | Paperback

$39.95 - Paperback

This volume recounts stories of Gesar fending off demons and liberating his foes as an enlightened leader. While the first three volumes cover Gesar’s birth, youth, and rise to power, this volume recounts the martial victories and magical feats that made him a legendary figure in Tibet and beyond.

More Commentary By Mipham Rinpoche

A Garland of Views Audiobook
Read by Simon Callow

Garland of Views 3d Padmakara
 Ebook | Paperback

$22.95 - Hardcover

A Garland of Views
A Guide to View, Meditation, and Result in the Nine Vehicles
By Padmasambhava and Jamgon Mipham; translated by Padmakara Translation Group

A Garland of Views presents both a concise commentary by the eighth-century Indian Buddhist master Padmasambhava on a chapter from the Guhyagarbha Tantra on the different Buddhist and non-Buddhist philosophical views, including the Great Perfection (Dzogchen), and an explicative commentary on Padmasambhava’s text by the nineteenth-century scholar Jamgön Mipham (1846–1912).

Padmasambhava’s text is a core text of the Nyingma tradition because it provides the basis for the system of nine vehicles (three sutra vehicles and six tantra vehicles) that subsequently became the accepted way of classifying the different Buddhist paths in the Nyingma tradition.

Mipham’s commentary is the one most commonly used to explain Padmasambhava’s teaching. Mipham is well known for his prolific, lucid, and original writings on many subjects, including science, medicine, and philosophy, in addition to Tibetan Buddhist practice and theory.

More Books By Mipham Rinpoche

The Just King

$24.95 - Paperback

The Just King
The Tibetan Buddhist Classic on Leading an Ethical Life
By Mipham; translated by Jose Cabezon

Leadership. Power. Responsibility. From Sun Tzu to Plato to Machiavelli, sages east and west have advised kings and rulers on how to lead. Their motivations and techniques have varied, but one thing they have in common is that the relevance of their advice has reached far beyond the few individuals to whom they were originally addressing. Over the centuries, millions have read their works and continue to be inspired by their teachings.

The nineteenth-century Buddhist monk and luminary Jamgön Mipham’s letter to the king of Dergé, whose small kingdom straddled China and Tibet during a particularly turbulent period, is similar in the universality of its message. This work, however, is unique in that it stresses compassion, impartiality, self-control, and virtue as essential for long-lasting success—whether as a leader or an individual trying to live a meaningful life. Mipham’s historic contribution to ethics and governance, until now little studied outside of Buddhist circles, teaches us the importance of protecting life, implementing fair taxation, supporting environmental sustainability, aiding the poor, and safeguarding freedom of religion. Both present-day leaders and those they lead will find this classic work, finally available in English, profoundly illuminating on political, societal, and personal levels.

$24.95 - Paperback

Mo
Tibetan Divination System
By Mipham; translated by Jay Goldberg

The Tibetan divination system called "Mo" has been relied upon for centuries to give insight into the future turns of events, undertakings, and relationships. It is a clear and simple method involving two rolls of a die to reveal one of the thirty-six possible outcomes described in the text. This Mo, which obtains its power from Manjushri, was developed by the great master Jamgön Mipham from sacred texts expounded by the Buddha.

Dzogchen and Tantra

Dzogchen

Mipham Rinpoche's Beacon of Certainty, a very important text used by Nyingma monastic colleges, includes an in-depth treatment of Madhyamaka, tantra, and Dzogchen.

He also wrote a song expressing the view of Dzogchen which Thrangu Rinpoche uses to illustrate the unitty of the paprroaches of Dzogchen, Mahamudra and Madhyamaka in Harmony of Views: Three Songs by Ju Mipham, Changkya Rolpay Dorje, and Chögyam Trungpa.

Fundamental Mind , which also includes a sixteen-page biography of Mipham Rinpoche by Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche, consists of the first volume of his trilogy called the Three Cycles of Fundamental Mind,  a Nyingma text on ultimate reality that emphasizes   the introduction of fundamental mind through a lama's instructions.

There are also a few selections contained in other books, including In Praise of Dharmadhatu by Nagarjuna with commentary by the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. This book contains a few selections by Mipham Rinpoche.   In the first, from his Exposition of the Madhyamakalamkara, he emphasizes the critical importance of directly connecting with the experience of Dzogchen by first gaining certainty in primordial purity-otherwise one ends up with a view that will get one nowhere.

In Straight from the Heart there is a short teaching which is a pith instruction on Mahamudra

In Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light, Chapter 10 consists of a short Dzogchen text by Mipham Rinpoche on the nature of mind entitled The Quintessential Instructions of Mind: The Buddha No Farther Than One's Palm.

Tantra

Mipham Rinpoche's work on Tantra is also very extensive. His main work in English is his commentary on the Guhyagarbha Tantra, which is the essence of the eighteen Mahayoga tantras.   There are two translations of this: The Essence of Clear Light, which includes the Tibetan, and Luminous Essence.   For this text, it is really important that they be read by those who have received the initiation and have permission and guidance from a qualified teacher specifically for this text.   By all accounts, there is no point to read these without having completed the proper preparation.

In White Lotus: An Explanation of the Seven-Line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava, he gives a detailed explanation of this foundational prayer, explaining to us how to understand it according to its many layers of meaning.

White Lotus

$18.95 - Paperback

Books With Selections by Mipham

Two other works include wonderful pieces by Mipham Rinpoche that we should mention. As mentioned above, he really reinvigorated the Nyingma tradition during a time when there were many critics who did not properly understand it. The Ri-me Philosophy of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great: A Study of the Buddhist Lineages of Tibet includes a scathing eight-page rebuttal of critics of the Nyingma tantras.

A short but extremely moving prayer by Mipham Rinpoche in praise to Yeshe Tsogyal called The Longing Melody on Faith  is included in Thinley Norbu Rinpoche's masterpiece on ngondro, or the preliminary practices, A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar.

Mipham Rinpoche also wrote a short text on the Treasure tradition entitled The Gem that Clears the Waters: An Investigation of Treasure Revealers, in which he presents a funny, honest look at the terma tradition.   This is included in Tibetan Treasure Literature.

Mipham Rinpoche is central to the curriculum at the vast Buddhist community of Larung Gar, founded by His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche.  It is therefore no surprise to find Mipham RInpoche's work throughout the 2021 release of Voices from Larung Gar: Shaping Tibetan Buddhism for the Twenty-First Century.  In particular, there is a translation of Mipham Rinpoche's Wangdu, Great Clouds of Blessings: The Prayer That Magnetizes All that Appears and All That Exists.   This is a practice that is credited for making Larung Gar the important center that it remains to this day.  Khenpo Sodargye provides a detailed explanation of this magnetizing practice over thirty pages, the benefits of which he describes as follows:

"By relying on the prayer, one gains, in the outer sense, the ability to benefit all living beings, while its inner effect offers one the ability to control discursive thoughts and thereby attain full control of the body and the mind."

Voices from Larung Gar

$24.95 - Paperback

By: Holly Gayley & Jamgon Mipham

In Ruby Rosary, Kyabje Thinley Norbu Rinpoche quotes Mipham Rinpoche at length - over eight pages, describing the life and impact of Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo (Rongzom Mahapandita).

"The teachings of the Early Translation school constituted the principal practice of the Great Rongzom. In particular, all the Secret Mantra teachings of the Early Translation school—the instructions given by Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Vairotsana, and others—were contained within and transmitted to Rongzompa. His main practice was the Nyingma teachings. He mastered the approach and accomplishment of Mātaraḥ, Yamarāja, and Vajrakīla, and with this power he subjugated all the gods and demons of the eight classes throughout Tibet, who offered him their life essence."

The Ruby Rosary

$39.95 - Hardcover

By: Thinley Norbu

Related Literature

On the Path to EnlightenmentThere are many other books where Mipham Rinpoche's work and influence is discussed.

Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre refers to his contributions to the Gesar epic, his book on how to prepare colors, ink, and gold for thangka painting, as well as his vast contributions to philosophical literature.

The recently released anthology by Matthieu Richard, On the Path to Enlightenment, has four short pieces by Mipham Rinpoche.

The Buddhist Psychology of Awakening (to be published in 2019 by Shambhala) also contains an evaluation of his contribution to the understanding of Abhidharma.

Mipham Rinpoche Today

In his remarkable book Incarnation, Tulku Thondop Rinpoche says:

This great scholar and adept said, at the time of his passing, "After this life, I will never take rebirth in this mundane world. I will remain only in pure lands. However, because of the power of aspirations, it is natural that the display of my tulkus as the Noble Ones will appear as long as samsara remains. " When people urged him to live longer, he said, "I certainly will not live. I will not take rebirth either. I am going to Shambhala in the North. "

But his legacy is very much with us today, directly through his teachings and the many masters who continue to pass them on in the East and West.

Your Mind is Your Teacher

In Brilliant Moon, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, who was one of the most influential teachers of our generation, talks about Mipham Rinpoche throughout, with over 170 references to him.

It is no surprise that Mipham Rinpoche's teachings continue to appear in the written and oral teachings of many contemporary teachers.   As one example in many, Khenpo Garwang's recently released Your Mind Is Your Teacher is a detailed instruction on contemplative or analytical meditation based on Mipham Rinpoche's Wheel of Analytical Meditation.

We look forward to seeing more and more of Mipham Rinpoche's material to be published in English in the coming years.

Additional Resources

lotswa houseSelect translations from Mipham can be found under the 'Mipham Rinpoche Series' on Lotsawa House

BDRCAnd for Tibetan readers, TBRC/BDRC of course provides downloadable pdfs of Mipham Rinpoche's works in Tibetan

More can be found on Longchenpa's live on Treasury of Lives

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Dzogchen Teachings

The following excerpt is from

Dzogchen Teachings

Dzogchen Teachings

by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu

Dzogchen Teachings

$29.95 - Paperback

By: Chogyal Namkhai Norbu

Vajra

The symbol of Tantra is the vajra, which has five points at both ends and a sphere in the middle. That sphere, or thigle, represents our potentiality, which means that our real condition is beyond limitations and any kind of division into this aspect or that. At the relative level there are manifestations of all kinds of aspects, and the two main aspects are impure and pure vision, which we normally call samsara and nirvana. In the Sutra teachings they are referred to as relative and absolute truth respectively, while in Tantra impure vision corresponds to the five aggregates, and pure vision to the five Sambhogakaya Buddhas. In the symbol of the vajra, both these aspects are linked to the central sphere, which reminds us that in a real sense both of them are our own nature, our own energy. Energy is part of our real nature.

Transformation

Based on this recognition of energy as being part of our own nature, the Tantric teachings work with the path of transformation. When we speak of transformation it means that we understand the true value of things. At the level of samsara or impure vision we have the five emotions, but in Tantra we understand that their inherent nature is energy. That energy is our real nature. Only the ways that energy manifests are different. That which manifests as the five passions when we have impure vision, manifests as the five wisdoms in pure vision. In the central sphere or thigle of the vajra both of its seemingly opposite ends join, showing that pure and impure vision, afflictions and wisdoms, are both aspects of our own energy. At the level of the thigle there is no difference between the two manifestations. That is the knowledge of Tantric teachings.

Continuation

Why is this level of teaching and practice called Tantra? The real meaning of Tantra is “continuation,” or “continuity,” something continuing without interruption, which is considered our real nature. But what is it that continues? And how? We can discover this by observing ourselves. For example, if we observe ourselves we know that we have thoughts. If we observe attentively where the thought is, where it arises from and where it disappears to, we can search for a long time but we won’t find anything concrete.

What we find in the end is always emptiness because that is the basis of our condition. When we try to find our thoughts, we find this base from where thoughts proceed. Even if we find the base, that doesn’t mean that our thoughts disappear forever. After a few seconds we have another thought. We can observe it again but we won’t find anything. We can do this research for many days, but we will find only emptiness. At the same time, we also have countless thoughts which are continually arising. This continuation of thought is also part of our condition, and in this way we can find that our condition is the alternation of thoughts and emptiness. Emptiness is the base, and thoughts are its manifestation.

This manifestation occurs because there is a continuation of energy. Since this is so, how can we remain in our real nature? If we think a little of how thoughts arise, sometimes it seems that there is a connection between one thought and the next, but in the real sense they are not connected, there is always an empty space between two thoughts. If we are doing practice like Shine—the meditation practice used to develop a calm state—sometimes we can discover that this empty space is experienced for a longer duration, and we can stay for some seconds in it without any thought arising in the mind. We have a longer experience of emptiness, and then we notice that a thought arises again.

Without practice, just observing the ordinary way we habitually think, it is sometimes not so easy to discover this empty space; but in the real sense thoughts and empty space are always alternating continuously whether we are aware of this or not. That continuity is our real nature, and that is what is meant by Tantra. Tantra means our real condition. When you say the word Tantra or speak about it you already have recognition of your own energy.

The commitment of Tantra, particularly of the Higher Tantra, is to train ourselves to remain in pure vision. If you transform into a deity, whether it be peaceful, wrathful or joyful—depending on your root emotion—transforming your impure vision in this way into pure vision, you are applying that method. When you use this method according to the Tantric point of view, you are always working with pure vision.

If, for example, you are working with your anger, and in order to transform that passion, you visualize yourself as a wrathful manifestation, when you make that transformation, you are in pure vision and are no longer bound up in impure vision. When you are angry with someone in the ordinary dualistic state of mind, you are caught up in thinking that that person is very bad and that you don’t like him or her; you are angry and charged and develop that emotion. This is impure vision.

The anger that you feel is your own energy, so it is not necessary that you stop it. You can transform your feeling so that instead of being angry with someone you transform this anger into a wrathful manifestation. You don’t manifest as a wrathful form to fight with that person. You are simply no longer caught up in that impure vision. You are in pure vision, so that even if you were to continue for hours and hours in your feeling of anger you would have no problems. This is an example of how to use your pure vision. Training in pure vision is the samaya or commitment of the Tantric teachings.

That is good also for Dzogchen practitioners. For example, if you see your Vajra brothers and sisters as enlightened beings, as if they were your teacher, you will never have problems with them. On the other hand, if you always think that it’s him or her that is creating difficulties, you will always have problems. Thus it is very useful to train a little in pure vision according to the Tantric system. This is why we also need this knowledge and understanding.

Of course the methods of the various levels of the path are different. In Tantra we use transformation methods, whereas in Dzogchen the method used is that of self-liberation. If you understand how Tantric methods work, when you learn the method of self-liberation as it is practiced in Dzogchen, you can better understand what the difference is between them.

Chögyal Namkhai Norbu is a Tibetan master of the Dzogchen tradition. He has been a professor at the Oriental Institute of the University of Naples, Italy, and is the author of many books, including The Crystal and the Way of Light, The Supreme Source, and Dzogchen: The Self-Perfected State.

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John Myrdhin Reynolds on What You See Is What You Are

The following article is adapted from 

Self-Liberation through Seeing with Naked Awareness

Translated with commentary by John Myrdhin Reynolds

Whether we see the world as chaos or as a divine mandala depends on the states of our minds, says John Myrdhin Reynolds in this adaptation from Self-Liberation through Seeing with Naked Awareness.

All of us here in this lifetime are experiencing human karmic vision because we all possess in common the cause for such a vision. Therefore, we share this common vision. But this is not so with beings in other destinies of rebirth whose vision possesses different causes. For example, when we humans look at a river in summer, it appears to us to consist of cool and refreshing water. But to a Deva, who possesses a different kind of vision, the river seems to consist of fragrant sweet-tasting divine nectar. On the other hand, to a Preta or hungry ghost it seems to be a sluggish stream of foul-smelling excrement, and to a denizen in hell it seems to be a river of molten lava. In this way, external appearances are perceived by living beings in such a way as is determined by internal karmic causes. The same river is perceived quite differently by beings in different dimensions of existence.

But when our mind is transformed, all external appearances are transformed. If these two, Samsãra and Nirvana, arise to us as reflections of our mind, then when our mind is transformed, when impure karmic vision is transformed into pure vision, the one will seem to change into the other. Instead of the usual chaotic mess which is the world around us, we perceive everything as the pure mandala of the Buddha. This is the principle of tantra: transformation. This, of course, indicates something much more radical and profound than a superficial visualization of a wish-fulfillment fantasy: it is a radical transformation at the very root of the mind. But here in this context, the meaning is a bit different. In the Tantras a great deal of diligence and effort in meditation is required, a great deal of practice in clear visualization. But in Dzogchen, there is nothing to be transformed, nothing to be visualized such as beautiful mandalas and magnificent deities, nothing at all to be constructed by the mind, because all appearances are already spontaneously self-perfected from the very beginning.

All this is very easy to say. But external appearances seem to us to be very much real, very solid and substantial. It seems that there must be something actually out there and not just empty space, incredibly cluttered up with phantom projections of the mind. Why do appearances seem to be so solid and real? We must understand that it is the mind that grasps at appearances, at their reality and their substantiality. But these seemingly solid appearances are empty, being only space; they are nothing in themselves, save in the context of their relations to everything else. As distinct concrete isolated entities with their own individual reality they are nothing. And in terms of this, there is no error in them; rather the error lies in our grasping at them as real. It is this grasping that leads to attachments and aversions; this is the problem and not the things in themselves. But if we can come to understand that no matter how long we search, no matter how far we wander in this quest, we will not find anyone there who is doing the grasping, then we will discover liberation in that very fact. Whatever arises and whatever is liberated are only appearances of mind (sems kyi snangba).

John Myrdhin Reynolds (Vajranatha) is a writer teacher translator and scholar/practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism. He was trained and ordained as a Tantric Yogin or Ngagpa in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

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Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light

The following article is from the Spring, 2002 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, ed. & intro. by Michael Katz.

This revised and enlarged edition includes additional material from a profoiuid and personal Dzogchen book which Chogyal Namkhai Norbu has been writing for many years. This material expands and deepens the first edition's emphasis on specific exercises to develop awareness within the dream and sleep states.

Rinpoche gives instructions for developing clarity within the sleep and dream states. He goes beyond the practices of lucid dreaming that have been popularized in the West, by presenting methods for guiding dream states that are part of a broader system for enhancing self-awareness called Dzogchen. In this tradition, the development of lucidity in the dream state is understood in the context of generating greater awareness for the ultimate purpose of attaining liberation.

Also included in this book is a text written by Mipham, the nineteenth- century master of Dzogchen, which offers additional insights into this extraordinary form of meditation and awareness.

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche is one of the greatest Tibetan meditation masters and scholars teaching in the West today. His luminous Dream Yoga teachings are invaluable. I myself read this book with great interest, and recommend it to my own students.Lama Surya Das, author of Awakening the Buddha Within

Chogyal Namkhai Norbu is a Tibetan master of the Dzogchen tradition. He has authored many books including The Crystal and the Way of Light, The Supreme Source, and Dzogchen: The Self-Perfected State.

The following is an excerpt from the chapter The Practice of the Night from Dream Yoga and the Practice of Natural Light.

When we start to dream, as previously mentioned, we may have one of two general types of dreams. One type is karmic dreams and the other is dreams of clarity. In addition to those dreams reflecting karma from our current life, karmic dreams can also be linked to our past lives.

The other type of dreams are dreams of clarity. Why do we have dreams of clarity? Because everybody, since the beginning, has infinite potentiality; that is a quality of the natural mind that we all possess. Sometimes, even if we are not doing a particular practice, a dream of clarity will manifest because we have that nature. If you are doing the practice of the night and becoming more familiar with it, then not only occasionally, but on a regular basis, you will become familiar with manifestations of dreams of clarity.

You may now understand what the theory is and its importance. Now I will explain how you practice it.

If you are an agitated person, then before you go to sleep, you can do a little deep breathing to regulate the flow of air and calm yourself. Then concentrate on a white Tibetan syllable at the center of your body. If you prefer an English A, it is acceptable. The important thing is that it corresponds in your mind to the sound ahh. It is important that when you see that letter, you automatically know what its sound is.

If you do not succeed in concentrating and seeing this US at first, it may be that you do not know how to visualize. Try writing an US on a piece of paper, put it in front of you and stare at it for a while. Close your eyes and this 1*1 will appear before your mind immediately. In this way you will get a more precise image.

So, you try to concentrate on this white 1*1. Or you fix on the presence of this white US, and you stay with it as long as you can.

You can also do a kind of training to have greater precision in feeling this presence: imagine that from the central US, which is viewed at heart level within your body, a second arises, and from the second, a third arises, until you can see a chain of USs going up to the crown of the head. Then you visualize these USs coming back down. You can repeat this a number of times if you do not fall asleep immediately. Whenever you have difficulty in feeling the presence of the it is very useful and important to do this chain. This is a way of charging your clarity.

The most important point is that when you fall asleep, you try to have this 1*1 present. Initially, it should be accurate and sharp; afterwards, you relax. Relaxing does not mean you drop the 1*1 or that you give it up. You retain a sense of its presence, and you relax, and thus you fall asleep. You should try to do the practice of natural light each night, just as you should try to be in the state of contemplation continually. For every moment and every activity there are ways to do Dzogchen practice. If, however, Dzogchen practice of the night is difficult for you, and you have had more experience doing Tantric style dream practice, and you have had an initiation on a particular deity, then perhaps it would be useful for you to continue with your Tantric practice. For example, if you do the practice of Vajrayogini, then upon sleeping, you should try to visualize a very tiny Vajrayogini at the center of your body. We call this tiny being Jnanasattva, which means wisdom manifestation.

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If you are doing the practice of the night and I becoming more familiar with it, then not only occasionally, but on a regular basis, you will become familiar with manifestations of dreams of clarity.

You keep this presence and continue your sleep. There are other visualization practices similar to Guruyoga in tantric dream practices. For example, you might visualize Vajradhara as the unification of all your gurus and manifest that visualization in the center of your body. You would keep the presence of this visualization, relax, and slowly, slowly go to sleep. Because these are tantric exercises, you should practice only the special instructions you receive from your master.

By contrast, in Dzogchen we generally do the visualization of the white as described above, for the purpose of coordinating the energy. We visualize the white 1*1 at the center of the body. After having manifested this white, luminous US, we slowly relax. We relax slowly but completely when we do this visualization so as not to have tension. If we do not relax completely, we will be unable to sleep. We must spontaneously manifest the white US without thinking, without creating, and then relax all effort and go to sleep.

In order to remind yourself to visualize this white US and to do the Dzogchen practice of the night, it is very useful to put a picture or a sign of a white US near your bed. No one will know what it is; perhaps they will think it is a piece of artwork. You, however, will know its precise function.

It is also very important to remember the practice of the white when you awaken in the morning. If possible, you may sound ahh immediately. If you cannot sound loudly because there is someone else sleeping, it is enough that you exhale with ahh. As long as you can hear yourself and feel the presence of that white this is a method of Gurayoga, It is not necessary to say many words or prayers; simply having the presence of the white ifcj and recognizing that the is the unification of the mind of all your gurus is sufficient. Then you integrate this into a state of contemplation, or rigpa.

Starting your morning yoga in this way is wonderful and will help you very much with all your practices and particularly your practice of the night. There is a kind of a connection that you make by remembering the white US when you are going to sleep and, then again, in the morning.

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Self-Liberation Through Seeing With Naked Awareneness

The following article is from the Autumn, 2000 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.

trans. & comm.

by John Myrdhin Reynolds

fore, by Namkhai Norbii

171 pp., 4 line drawings, glossary,

biblio., index. #SELI $14.95

A text belonging to the same cycle as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, this instruction on the method of self-liberation presents the essence of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, regarded in Tibet as the highest and most esoteric teaching of the Buddha

Teaching the attainment of Buddhahood in a single lifetime, this text was written and concealed by Guru Padmasambhava in the eighth century and rediscovered six centuries later by Karma Lingpa. The commentary by the translator is based on the oral teachings of Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche and Lama Tharchin Rinpoche.

If you understand intrinsic awareness, all of your merits and sins will be liberated into their own condition.... If he practices, then even a cowherd can realize liberation.

JOHN MYRDHIN REYNOLDS (Vajra- natha) is a writer, teacher, translator, and scholar/practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism. He was trained and ordained as a Tantric Yogin, or Ngagpa, in the Nyingmapa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He has taught widely in the United States and Europe. He is also the author of The Golden Letters.

Foreword

by Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche

In the eighth century of our era, the master from the country of Uddi- yana, Guru Padmasambhava, who was the individual principally responsible for establishing the teachings of the Buddhist Tantras in Tibet, gave to his group of disciples there many vast and profound teachings related to both Tantra and Dzogchen. But since the Tibetan people were not ready for all of these teachings, many of which were more directly suited to future generations, he had his consort, the Tibetan princess Yeshe

Tsogyal, write them down and hide them in various places throughout the country. Such deliberately concealed texts are known as Termas or hidden treasures. Those among his original group of disciples who were reborn in later generations in order to rediscover these texts are known as Tertons, those who reveal hidden treasures. The appearance of Termas and Tertons during the following centuries, including the present one, has been a source of unending benefit and blessing for the Tibetan people and represents the continuing revelation of the highest teachings of the Tantras and Dzogchen.

In the fourteenth century of our era, there appeared a great Terton by the name of Nyida Sangye. His eldest son in turn became a great Terton by the name of Karma Lingpa. When he was fifteen years old, from a location on the mountain of Gam-po-dar, which looks like a dancing attendant deity, in eastern Dwagpo, he discovered many profound teachings, principally the Zob-chos zhi-khro dgongs pa rang-grol, otherwise known as the Kar-gling zhi-khro.

This cycle of texts of the Kar-gling zhi-khro represents an introduction to the state of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. Dzogchen is not the name of a religion, philosophy, school, or sect but the Primordial State of the individual. The essence of the teachings of all the Buddhas is the understanding of this state, which is the nature of one's own mind. Among different schools this Primordial State has many different name Prajnaparimita, Tathagatagarbha, Bodhichitta, or Mahamudra. Among Tibetan Buddhists of the old school, the Nyingmapas, and also among the Bonpos, it is generally known as Dzogchen, which means the Great

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...we first need transmission from a realized master in the form of an introduction (ngo-sprod) to the state of presence and awareness (rigpa), which is the capacity of the nature of mind. This introduction, a meeting face-to-face, is precisely the function of the present text, which reports the very words of Guru Padmasambhava.

Perfection. It is also called tha-mal gyi shes-pa, which means ordinary awareness; but this is not our ordinary mind incessantly thinking of this or that throughout the day. In Dzogchen we make a radical and fundamental distinction between mind (sems) and the nature of mind (sems nyid); and here ordinary awareness refers to the latter. The nature of the mind is like a mirror which has the natural and inherent capacity to reflect whatever is set before it, whether beautiful or ugly; but these reflections in no way affect or modify the nature of the mirror. It is the same with the state of contemplation: There is nothing to correct or alter or modify (ma bcos-pa). What the practitioner does when entering into contemplation is simply to discover himself in the condition of the mirror. This is our Primordial State. But in order to recognize it, we first need transmission from a realized master in the form of an introduction (ngo-sprod) to the state of presence and awareness (rigpa), which is the capacity of the nature of mind. This introduction, a meeting face-to-face, is precisely the function of the present text, which reports the very words of Guru Padmasambhava introducing his disciples to such presence or awareness. Hence this text, which is the root text of the Kar-gling zhi-khro cycle, is called Rig-pa ngo sprod. By means of Rigpa we come to see everything with a direct immediate presence, denuded of the judgments and conceptual constructions that usually obscure our vision and obstruct our understanding. And in this way, we come to realize self-liberation (rang grot). In the state of contemplation, when a thought arises, it is allowed to self-liberate into its own condition, without any effort or attempt at modification. Whereas the method of the Sutras is the path of renunciation and the method of the Tantras is the path of transformation, the method proper to Dzogchen is the path of selfliberation, as is made clear in the teaching of Padmasambhava that we have here. This text, the Rig-pa ngo-sprod gcer-mthong rang-grol, which is part of the cycle of the Zab-chos zhi-kbro dgongs-pa rang- grol, provides the essential view for this entire cycle of teachings relating to the six Bardos or intermediate states of existence. The Kar-gling zhi-khro is the most complete of all Zhi-khro (or Bardo) teachings and is widely known and used, especially among the Nyingmapa and the Kagyudpa schools. These teachings continue to generate activities for the benefit of beings, and in no way have they been exhausted.

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