Dzogchen and the Vajrayana
Dzochen is a tradition within the Tibetan Buddhist Nyingma School of thought. It literally means the Great Perfection (Skt. mahāsandhi), a path that leads to direct realisation of awakening. It was said to be brought to Tibet by Padmasambhava in the 8th and 9th centuries CE. It includes three distinct stages: Semde, the Mind Series; Longde, the Space Series and Menngagde, Secret Oral Instructions. This all-embracing view of the mind and consciousness sits in stark contrast to that proposed by the physical sciences.
The Vajrayana, or Thunderbolt Vehicle, originated in India and later spread to Tibet. It is said to date from around the 7th Century BCE. The teachings emphasise the inherent emptiness of all phenomena and see the universe as fluid and without ontological foundation. The Thunderbolt Weapon is made of adamantine; a hard substance that cuts through obscuration. Negative emotions such as desire, hatred, lust and arrogance are not discounted but are used to guide the path:
“Those things by which evil men are bound, others turn into means and gain thereby release from the bonds of existence. By passion the world is bound, by passion too it is released, but by heretical Buddhists this practice of reversals is not known.”
Snellgrove, David. (1987) Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists and their Tibetan Successors. pp 125-126.
Dzogchen - The Great Perfection
In 1862 Tibetan Buddhist Master, Dudjom Lingpa, received a “mind transmission”. It was a startling 400 page text; The Vajra Essence. It detailed the path to awakening in a single lifetime. The text takes us on a Socratic journey through the practice of shamatha, vipashyana, the classic stages of the Vajrayana and finally the two stages of Dzogchen; breaking through the substrate and the direct crossing over (Skt. Togal).
“Thirteen of Dudjom Lingpa’s disciples attained rainbow body, and in his prophecies Dudjom Lingpa was told that a hundred might even attain the great transference rainbow body. As Dudjom Rinpoche wrote, ‘In this precious lineage of ours, this is not just ancient history. For today, just as in the past, there are those who through the paths of trekcho and togal have attained the final realization and have dissolved their gross material bodies into rainbow bodies of rainbow light.’
Sogyal Rinpoche in Introduction to the Heart of the Great Perfection, Part 1, The Vajra Essence. Dudjom Lingpa. Translated by B. Alan Wallace. Wisdom, 2016. P XV11.
Shamatha
Shamatha is a meditative practice through which one might directly access substrate consciousness. In shamatha the ordinary mind, that imputes existence to objects external to itself, disappears. There are no thoughts, emotions or cognition of any kind. Grasping ceases. The mind experiences a brilliance of light and seeks to remain in that state for a long time.
Reflecting upon the nature of mind it’s challenging to determine its essence. Where does it come from and what is its essential nature? Where will it go when it finally departs? In shamatha we discover that it does not really come from anywhere. It has no location within the body. It is without shape, form or colour but has a luminous radiance. In the Dzogchen tradition shamatha is like the “earth treasure” on the path. Stilling the mind is the first crucial step. In it we realise that the mind is a constant flow of awareness and that consciousness has infinite depth. This is direct realisation; something the physical sciences can only approach by inference.
There is a story that Mauro Bergonzi tells in his SAND 2015 video of his time in Bombay, India when he studied under Advaita Vedanta master, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj:
“During the first session Nisagagadatta asked Mauro; ‘do you have any spiritual practice and what do you do?’ To which Mauro replied ‘I practice Vipashanya, some Zen and Dzogchen and when things arise to the mind, I watch them and then let them go. I am the witness.’ And Nisargadatta said ‘and when everything from your practice is let go what remains?’ Mauro responded (he knew the answer to this question from his study) ‘awareness itself remains’. And Nisargadatta said ‘and when even awareness itself is let go what remains?’ Mauro was astounded by this question and replied ‘I don’t know.’ ‘Yes, there is the answer, you don’t know’ and at that moment Nisargadatta looked deeply into Mauro’s eyes and he (Mauro) felt himself pushed back behind awareness into the bottomless pit of unknowing.”
Free Fall into Unknowing - Nonduality with Mauro Bergonzi SAND Italy, 2015.
This is the great challenge of shamatha on the path. To let go and move into the unknown.
vipaśyanã
Shamatha is said to be the basis for vipaśyanã whose practice helps us to understand that all appearances to the mind; pleasure, pain, suffering, emotions and various mental states, have no inherent existence in and of themselves. They are projections of the mind.
At the outset of our vipaśyanã practice the mind is overwhelmed by thoughts, emotions and other mental processes. This emphasises the need to practice shamatha to attain mental stability. Vipaśyanã is a path that leads to the recognition of the nature of mind and its attendant properties of consciousness and awareness.
Suffering and pain, from the vipaśyanã perspective are said to originate with the designation of external phenomena as “mine”. That they pertain to or are owned by oneself. This notion is relative only and based on the false belief (in Tibetan Buddhism) that an “I” actually exists. When we search for this mysterious “I” we cannot find it anywhere. In the Mahayana tradition, that which we think of as “I” is an infinitely divisible aggregate. In Dzogchen, reification of the self as in independent and existent entity is the source of dualism. The “I” and therefore the “Not I”.
Vipaśyanã meditation is a technique for looking directly at our own mind. Looking does not mean analysing. It is direct experience of the phenomenon known as “Mind”.
THE Dharmakaya
The “Dharmakaya” is one of three Buddha bodies (Trikaya). The other two being: Nirmanakaya (Transformation Body) and Sambogakaya (Enjoyment Body). The Dharmakaya, in the Tibetan tradition, is:
“The ultimate nature or essence of the enlightened mind, which is uncreated, free from the limits of conceptual elaboration, empty of inherent existence, naturally radiant, beyond duality and spacious like the sky.”
Padmasambhava. The Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thordol) London, England: Penguin. p.452
Togal means skilful and is the Dzogchen practice that leads to the direct crossing over and realisation of the three kayas, an aspirational state of consciousness. This is enlightenment itself where the mind no longer imputes material existence to the external world. I It is free of cognition and exists in realised primordial consciousness.
Vajrayana – The Thunderbolt Vehicle
“Homage to the manifest face of Samantabadhadra himself,
the Omnipresent Lord, the original primordial ground!
The enlightened awareness lineage of the buddhas is so designated
Because the minds of all the buddhas of the three times are of the
One taste in the absolute space of phenomena…..”
Quoted in Wallace B. Alan. Stilling the Mind: Shamatha Teachings from Dudjom Lingpa’s Vajra Essence. Wisdom 2011 p 1.
Vajrayana, or tantric, Buddhism provides a direct path to awakening in a single lifetime. Many deities are worshiped including Dakinis (such as Green Tara) who embody elevated spiritual practice, and many male protectors and bodhisattvas. In the Vajra Essence Dudjom Lingpa takes us on a Socratic journey when the Bodhisatva, Great Boundless Emptiness, asks questions of the Primordial Buddha, Samantabhadra:
“Oh Bhagavan, if all experiences, whether pleasant or rough, are far from being the path to omniscience and bring no such benefit, why should we practice meditation? Teacher please explain!”
Answer:
“Oh Vajra of Mind, when individuals with coarse, dysfunctional minds agitated by discursive thoughts enter this path, by reducing the power of their compulsive thinking, their minds become increasingly steady, and they achieve unwavering stability. On the other hand, even if people identify conscious awareness but do not continue practicing, they will succumb to the faults of spiritual sloth and distraction. Then, even if they do practice, due to absent-mindedness they will become lost in endless delusion.”
Wallace B. Alan. Stilling the Mind: Shamatha Teachings from Dudjom Lingpa’s Vajra Essence. Wisdom 2011 p 166.
The practice of Vajrayana leads to the realisation that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence. They arise in the mind as a flow of thoughts, emotions and appearances. Once they are released only consciousness itself remains. And when that too is let go we fall into the realm of the unknown.
Rainbow Body
When I first came across the concept of rainbow body, I was somewhat incredulous. It occurred as I was watching a B. Alan Wallace video: An Introduction to Dudjom Lingpa’s Vajra Essence. In this video Alan describes the claim that thirteen of Lingpa’s disciples achieved rainbow body. This phenomenon is a process where the physical body shrinks upon death and then dissolves into rainbow light. Only the nails and hair remain, the impurities of the body. It is said to occur when the practitioner has achieved a high level of spiritual development and concern for the wellbeing of all sentient beings (bodhicitta), that is, the culmination of the path of Dzogchen or similar practice.
Such a phenomenon would seem to defy the laws of physics. It calls into question the structure of the physical universe. The perceived physical world is a construct and can be altered though the application of refined consciousness. In the case of rainbow body, the physical body dissolves back into the light from which it was created.
In pursuing the subject, I was even more astounded to find that there was a more advanced stage of rainbow body, great transference rainbow body (powa or phowa). This I came to understand as a transcendence of physical form whilst still living. So, let’s have a look at these incredible phenomena and see what we can make of them.
Small Rainbow Body
Some of the literature on rainbow body discusses the idea that it is the same phenomenon as “Ascension”, as in the case of Jesus Christ, manifested differently. Others assert that the tradition began with the lake born vajra, Padmasambhava, as manifestation of the primordial buddha, Samantabhadra. However, it would seem to be a universal phenomenon. Not one limited by religion, philosophy, or any other delineation. The attainment of higher realisation is the overriding criteria. I am going to reproduce, in full, a story told by Sogyal Rinpoche in his classic text, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, because it illustrates the phenomenon so clearly:
“In 1952 there was a famous instance of the rainbow body in the east of Tibet, witnessed by many people. The man who attained it, Sönam Namgyal, was the father of my tutor and the brother of Lama Tseten, whose death I described at the beginning of this book. He was a very simple, humble person who made his way as an itinerant stone carver, carving mantras and sacred texts. Some say he had been a hunter in his youth and had received teaching from a great master. No one really knew he was a practitioner; he was truly what is called ‘a hidden yogin’. Sometime before his death, he would be seen going up into the mountains and just sit, silhouetted against the skyline, gazing up into space. He composed his own songs and chants and sang them instead of the traditional ones. No one had any idea what he was doing. He then fell ill, or seemed to, but he became, strangely, increasingly happy. When the illness got worse, his family called in masters and doctors. His son told him he should remember all the teachings he had heard, and he smiled and said, "I've forgotten them all and anyway, there's nothing to remember. Everything is illusion, but I am confident that all is well.
Just before his death at seventy-nine, he said: "All I ask is that when I die, don't move my body for a week." When he died his family wrapped his body and invited lamas and monks to come and practice for him. They placed the body in a small room in the house, and they could not help noticing that although he had been a tall person, they had no trouble getting it in, as if he were becoming smaller. At the same time, an extraordinary display of rainbow-colored light was seen all around the house. When they looked into the room on the sixth day, they saw that the body was getting smaller and smaller. On the eighth day after his death, the morning for which the funeral had been arranged, the undertakers arrived to collect his body. When they undid its coverings, they found nothing inside but his nails and hair. My master Jamyang Khyentse asked for these to be brought to him and verified that this was a case of the rainbow body.”
Sogyal Rinpoche. The Tibetan Book of Living & Dying. Harper Collins 1992. P 172-173.
Great Transference Rainbow Body (Phowa)
By following the path of Dzochen; shamatha, vipaśyanã and breaking through substrate consciousness (Skt. alaya) and proceeding to the direct crossing over (Skt. tögal) the aspirant will have achieved realisation of the dharmakaya. All aspects of the self; mind, body return to the primordial ground. Some highly advanced individuals may dissolve into rainbow light and manifest at will in whatever form they choose. This advanced stage of Great Transference Rainbow Body (Tib. jalu powa chemo) allows masters to exist almost beyond space and time with the capacity to dematerialise at will and re-appear at another time and place and potentially in another form, as with Padmasambhava and his eight different emanations. In another form the master might appear as radiant light while still alive and at another time appear to be semi-transparent:
“When this state deepens the senses can perceive all without being limited by any barrier or obstacle; the eyes can have a view of whole Universe, by that reason they aren't interested in observing the things of the world; they are able to see the content of all the worlds and beings (as much external as internally), without this vision may be hindered by dense barriers like walls or high like mountains; their tongue taste all the flavours, their skin experiences all tactile sensations, their nose sniffs all the smells, their ears are filled of melodies being able to listen any sound produced in any place. With their arms and hands they can take one thing independently of the distance, or give it to other there where he may be; they can reach any destiny without need that their legs do some physical movement, moving without step the ground; with their voice can communicate with anybody in any place of the universe and still beyond. They will be free from the need to consume food, from satisfy the sexual impulse and from feel fear; the body exempt from defects and impurities is refreshed, does not excrete, does not perspire and does not project shadow on the ground; their external appearance corresponds approximately to twelve years old; their hair doesn't become grey, their skin doesn't become wrinkle, they do not age and do not be under the control of death.”
https://soonyata.home.xs4all.nl/sorubasamadhi.htm
Comments on Dzogchen and the Vajrayana
These two related schools of Tibetan thought and practice offer us an extraordinary perspective on the nature of consciousness. Followed rigorously they will take us from the position of approaching the substrate to the direct crossing over. This is primordial consciousness itself. Stepping back such that all appearances to the mind have a dream like quality and we know that our consciousness is part of something much larger.
