What does “recognition” of the enlightened mind in Dzogchen mean?
Of course in the process of one just getting "familiar" with Dzogchen teachings, the mind is engaged in looking for and "recognizing" what this "changeless, pure presence as rigpa" is. This isn't an intellectual pursuit, nor a gradual process of refinement through working through the levels of shamata and an d vispasana. That is the gradual path of Mahamudra. n Dzogchen !ara Dorje taught one egins # ecoming directl# oriented to this "rigpa" aware presence immediatel# immediatel# without an# supports of an# kind. This "orientation" is actuall# a "familiarization" with what is alread# full# present in one's cognitive awareness or consciousness. One could call it a "recognition", ut it is more like recognizing #our face in a mirror amongst man# other reflections, rather than receiving some "knowledge". $o lets see how e%actl# this "recognizing" is rought aout. &nd at the "recognizing", "recognizing", nothing new has een added to one's condition nor has an#thing een removed, just a refocusing of attention from eing focused on "mental constructions" as thoughts, feelings and perceptions to the highlighting of one's current naked and pure state of changeless aware (nowingness as "immediate and intrinsic presence". )ere elow is how *recognition+ is accomplished as descried # the Dzogchen masters, and if #ou save and contemplate these uotes elow, n m# opinion, #ou will never find a more complete, more powerful Dzogchen "Direct ntroduction" to our primordial state of utter perfection and pure aware (nowingness, the heart essence of the -uddha's nlightenment/ Ming#ur 0inpoche/ "t is eas# to recognize it. 1ou 1ou just have to drop thinking and it is right there. There is not a lot to e done. don e. 1ou 1ou do not have to do this and that and the other. t is like the e%ample of tr#ing to touch space with #our finger. To touch touch space, #ou do not have to move #our finger at all, do #ou2it is al read# touching space, isn3t it4" There is an oral instruction aout the wa# to look. t is said, *t is as though #our e#es were looking through the ack of #our head instead of looking forwards.+ "t is as though #our e#es are looking ackwards instead of forwards as the# usuall# do. 1ou 1ou are looking out with #our e#es ut are looking ack at the same time. Do not tr# too hard with this though, otherwise #ou will reall# make a ig mistake. 1ou 1ou just sort of look ack at #our mind and sa#, *5ho am 4 5here 5here am 45hat is this4 " 5hen #ou do that, do #ou see the thing that is thinking4 That is enough6" Tsokn#i Tsokn#i 0inpoche wrote regarding Dzogchen recognition of 0igpa/ "5ithout an# in or an# out utter openness. op enness. )ow is it that 7openness34 t3s empt#, empt#, awake, luminous and simple..."
"The wa# to do this is just to turn #our attention slightl# inward, not to look deepl# inside, just to turn #our focus from outward to inward in a ver# light wa#. The moment of recognizing this state is the lessings of the lineage." &gain from Tsokn#i 0inpoche/ "The st#le of meditation in Mahamudra and Dzogchen is meditation which is nonmeditation. 5hat is this nonmeditation4 )ow do we meditate without meditating4 5hatever situation mind is in, whether there are discursive thoughts o f good, ad, clean, unclean, and so on, if #ou drop all of these so that #ou are without even a whisker of the conceptual activit# of mind, the nature of mind will shine forth as nonstopped clarit# and that is called selfarising rigpa. This does not need to e created or produced or purchased8 when #ou let mind itself, just as it is, shine forth and sta# in that, that is called selfarising rigpa. $omeone who meditates using logical processes could never meditate on this, could never realize it. To do this, #ou need to reverse #our outwardl#directed attention inward and look hither towards the mind. This wa# of looking hither towards the mind means to rest selfsettled in unhindered clarit#. )aving released all the indings of passion, aggression, pride, and so on, aide in the state of this selfarising rigpa of nonstopped clarit#, cr#stal clarit#, like the sun shining in the sk#. 9ot eing caught # this and that ut resting in the nonstopped clarit# of whatever there is occurring in mind is called selfarising rigpa.+ To uote 9oru 0inpoche/ "$elflieration means #ou find #ourself right in that pure 'noticing', that pure presence of 0igpa."
:;th centur# Dzogchen Master, $hak#a $hri
Dzogchen master, >hok#i 9#ima sa#s in his ook/ ?resent @resh 5akefulness/ "-asicall# and fundamentall#, our mind is utterl# empt#, sheer liss, totall# naked. 5e do not need to make it like this8 we do not need to cultivate it # meditating, to create this state # meditating."
"!ive up thinking of an#thing at all, aout the past, the future or the present. 0emain thoughtfree, like an infant." "nnate suchness is unoscured the moment #ou are not caught up in present thinking." "This is not some state that is far awa# from us/ thoug htfree wakefulness actuall# e%ists together with ever# thought, inseparale from it... ut the thinking oscures or hides this innate actualit#. Thought free wakefulness Athe natural stateB is immediatel# present the ver# moment the thinking dissolves, the moment it vanishes, fades awa#, falls apart."
)ere are some "pointers" from two accomplished masters, Thrangu 0inpoche and (henpo !angshar/ "-ut #ou will see the mindessence and it will e clear and e%pansive, vivid and naked. 5hen we sa# *clear,+ this is like the clear aspect of the mind. 5hen we talk aout it eing clear or luminous, sometimes we understand that as meaning some sort of a light2 a lazingl# right light. -ut that is not what this means. t means that it can know and understand. t does not stop. 5e do not turn into some sort of rock. That is not what happens/ there is the clear, knowing aspect of the mind. t is also e%pansive, which means here that the clarit# is vast/ we can see and know man# things. Then the te%t sa#s *vivid and naked.+ *=ivid+ means that it is as if we are actuall# seeing2it is right there and we are reall# seeing it. There is no dout whether or not this is it2it is just right there. t is naked/ we are not thinking aout it with logic or seeing it from far awa #8 it is right here. There is no veil or an#thing covering it at all. This is what we rest in8 this is the nature of the mind." "5e do not tr# to change an#thing8 we rest directl# in euipoise2... in an unco mplicated wa#. The reason for resting loosel# like this is that our meditation is not something that is mentall# constructed and newl# made. nstead, it is just the wa# the mind is, unaltered. 9ormall# we are deluded # man# confused appearances, ut the meditation should e understood as knowing the nature of the mind as it is, clearl# and without mistake." "This is not just something that onl# (henpo !angshar sa#s. t is also said in The $upreme >ontinuum and The Ornament of >lear 0ealization # Maitre#a, as well as in The Two -ooks, the tantra of the glorious )evajra. These works all sa#/ n this there3s nothing to remove 9or an#thing at all to add. -# viewing rightness rightl# and -# seeing rightl#2lieration6" "There is nothing to remove. 5e do not need to stop or get rid of an#thing, thinking, *This is emptiness. This cannot e estalished as a thing.+ The n ature of the mind is fine just as it is. 9or is there an#thing to add to the mindessence, thinking, *That is missing.
This is clarit#. This is something need to gain.+ f we just look at the mindessence rightl# and rest in euipoise within this nature of the mind just as it is, not following our thoughts, we will see that it is rightness. 5e do not need to think, *t is emptiness+2its essence is naturall# empt#. 5e do not need to think, *t is clear+2its essence is naturall# clear. 0esting with this mind, as it is, is *viewing rightness rightl#.+ 5hen we see that essence as it is, at that moment we will e lierated from our faults and from samsara." "This is wh# we just rest right in the nature of mind as it is. The dharma nature is unchanging. 5hen the great meditators of the past meditated on it, the# saw that we do not need to alter it in an# wa#. 5e just need to come to thoroughl# know the dharma nature as it is. 5hen we see that, this is the mind that we call clear and e%pansive, vivid and awake."
*n fact, rigpa is coming all the time. t is alwa#s there so there is nothing to do. There is no meditation to do ecause it is there all the time. There is no need of mantra, no need to do an#thing in particular, no need to visualize something8 it is just there.+ Tsokn#i 0inpoche
@rom the 1eshe Cama # honam and $ang#e (handro $now Cion ?ulications This is an actual secret Dzogchen Direct ntroduction to 0igpa/ "(#e6 Do not contrive or elaorate the awareness of this ver# moment. &llow it to e just as it is. This is not estalished as e%isting, not e%isting, or having a direction. t does not discern etween emptiness and appearances and does not have the characteristics of nihilism and eternalism. 5ithin this state where nothing e%ists, it is unnecessar# to e%ert effort through view or mediation. The great primordial lieration is not like eing released from ondage. t is natural radiance uncontrived # the intellect, wisdom unsullied # concepts. The nature of phenomena, not tainted # the view and meditation, is evenness without placement ...without premeditation. t is clarit# without characteristics and vastness not lost to uniformit#. <hough all sentient eings have never een separate from their own indwelling wisdom even for an instant, # failing to recognize this, it ecomes like a natural flow of water solidif#ing into ice. 5ith the inner grasping mind as the root cause and outer ojective clinging as the contriuting circumstance, eings wander in samsara indefinitel#. 9ow,
with the guru's oral instructions, at the moment of encoun tering awarenesswithout an# mental constructions rest in the wa# things trul# are, without wavering from or meditiationg on an #thing. This full# reveals the core wisdom intent of the primordial -uddha (untuzangpo." >hapter / T) =5 O@ DEO!>)9 Taught # Copon Tenzin 9amdak, Devon and &msterdam, $pring :;;:/ "f we depend on intellectual speculation alone, however, we shall e ver# far awa# from the Dzogchen view. t is not a matter of thinking "Ma#e Dzogchen is like this or like that." That is something artificial8 it is not direct e%perience. 5hat is reuired at first is a direct introduction to the 9atural $tate Arigpa ngosprodB. This 9atural $tate is the view of Thegchod. The introduction is ver# simple/ we just look ack at ourselves."
The Jeweled Lamp Tantra states: “From
the nature of the three forms of freely resting The ery nature of original purity will !e actualized" To rest freely li#e a mountain$ let your !ody remain motionless in the seen%point posture of &airocana" 'normal meditation posture( To rest freely li#e the ocean$ #eep your eyes still) loo# straight ahead a!out one arrow%length into space with a sense of iid presence" To let your awareness rest freely$ remain untainted !y thoughts of the past$ present$ and future" This present moment of consciousness manifests$ yet is unidentifia!le" Without trying to add or remoe anything$ *ust let !e in the state of reality itself" +s the student rests in this manner$ say the following: ,-ow
listen$ fortunate one" Loo# without distraction at the na#ed self%clarity of this present moment of awareness" Do not indulge your thoughts or try to rein them in" +wareness cannot !e spoiled !y moral *udgments or tainted !y hope and fear" .t is clear$ yet ungraspa!le) lucid$ yet without inside or out) wide open$ !ut without slipping into a state of diffusion" .t is inherently radiant$ yet cannot !e identified" .t is transparent$ e/pansie$ and een" This na#ed state$ *ust as it is$ is the Dharma#aya
itself%naturally luminous and unchanging" 0imply maintain recognition of this ungraspa!le self%radiance" This is 1uddhahood$ pure and pristine$ The Dharma#aya of unchanging self%awareness" &iid$ i!rant$ and clear$ li#e a cloudless autumn s#y" 2est li#e a mountain$ steady and immuta!le" 2est li#e the ocean$ still and clear" 2est li#e space$ infinite in !readth" 3oweer still your mind may !e$ 2est in that as the state of awareness" 3oweer your mind may manifest$ 2est in that as the radiance of awareness" 4otion and stillness are self%awareness$ .solate their pure lucidity and rest" 2est in the self%clarity of phenomena$ Which neer waer from the state of awareness$ Just as !irds can neer escape space$ whereer they may fly"5 The Third Dzogchen 2inpoche
Dzogchen master$4ingyur 2inpoche wrote: 5.n the practice of “The three6a!iding$ moing$ and #nowing5 $ if you do the practice as descri!ed and loo# again and again at the mind to see if it is a!iding 'calm or still(or if it is moing$ then it is possi!le that the 5#nower5$ which in this case is a coarse$ separate o!serer$ might dissole and the 5#nower5 which is innate to the essence of mind might come forth" .f that happens$ the essence of whateer a!iding happens is the 5#nower5 and the essence of whateer moing happens is the #nower" Thus$ the a!iding and the moement come to hae the same essence$ which is mind7s innate #nower 'rigpa(" The a!iding and moement are said to !e not different at that point in the sense that they are !oth manifestations of the innate #nower of mind"5 From Lama Tony Duff8s !oo#: + 9omplete 0ession of 4editation
Cama $hakar/ "Despite the innumerale names that are tagged onto it, (now that the real meaning is as follows/
Cet #our mind spontaneousl# rela% and rest. 5hen left to itself, ordinar# mind is fresh and naked. f oserved, it is a vivid clarit# without an#thing to see, & direct awareness, sharp and awake. ?ossessing no e%istence, it is empt# and pure, & clear openness of nondual luminosit# and emptiness. t is not permanent, since it does not e%ist at all. t is not nothingness, since it is vividl# clear and awake. t is not oneness, since man# things are cognized and known. t is not pluralit#, since the man# things known are inseparale in one taste. t is not somewhere else8 it is #our own awareness itself. The face of this ?rimordial ?rotector, dwelling in #our heart, >an e directl# perceived in this ver# instant. 9ever e separated from it, children of m# heart6 f #ou want to find something greater than this in another place, t3s like going off searching for footprints although the elephant is right there. 1ou ma# scan the entire threethousandfold universe, -ut it is impossile that #ou will find more than the mere name of -uddha. This is the song which indicates the natural state of the main practice." Cama $hakar
@rom Tsokn#i 0inpoche/ "The st#le of meditation in Mahamudra and Dzogchen is meditation which is nonmeditation. 5hat is this nonmeditation4 )ow do we meditate without meditating4 5hatever situation mind is in, whether there are discursive thoughts o f good, ad, clean, unclean, and so on, if #ou drop all of these so that #ou are without even a whisker of the conceptual activit# of mind, the nature of mind will shine forth as nonstopped clarit# and that is called selfarising rigpa. This does not need to e created or produced or purchased8 when #ou let mind itself, just as it is, shine forth and sta# in that, that is called selfarising rigpa. $omeone who meditates using logical processes could never meditate on this, could never realize it. To do this, #ou need to reverse #our outwardl#directed attention inward and look hither towards the mind. This wa# of looking hither towards the mind means to rest selfsettled in unhindered clarit#. )aving released all the indings of passion, aggression, pride, and so on, aide in the state of this selfarising
rigpa of nonstopped clarit#, cr#stal clarit#, like the sun shining in the sk#. 9ot eing caught # this and that ut resting in the nonstopped clarit# of whatever there is occurring in mind is called selfarising rigpa. 0egarding this,
Tenzin Wangyal:
*n the Dzogchen view, the goal is alread# present. 9othing has to e developed, onl# recognized. The fundamental practices of Dzogchen are not aimed at developing an#thing, not even positive ualities. The practice is simpl# aiding in the nature of mind in which all ualities are alread# present and can spontaneousl# arise. ven the methods and supportive practices are not essential. Methods can ecome an ostacle to aiding in nondual awareness if the practitioner elieves that on e must use the practice to renounce something or transform something. ?ractices are onl# used to c onnect to the natural state
and stailize in it.+
$og#al 0inpoche/ "The essence of meditation practice in Dzogchen is encapsulated # these four points/ :. 5hen one past thought has ceased and a future thought has not #et arises, in that gap, in etween, isn3t there a consciousness of the present moment, fresh, virgin, unaltered # even a hair3s readth of concept, a luminous, naked awareness4 5ell, that is what 0igpa is6 F. 1et it doesn3t sta# in that state forever, ecause another thought suddenl# arises, doesn3t it4 This is the selfradiance of that rigpa. G. )owever, if #ou do not recognize this thought for what it reall# is, the ver# instant it arises, then it will turn into just another ordinar# thought, as efore. This is called the chain of delusion and is the root of samsara. H. f #ou are ale to recognize the true nature of the thought as soon as it arises, and leave it alone without an# follow up, then whatever thoughts arise all automaticall# dissolve ack into the vast e%panse of 0igpa and are lierated.+ $og#al 0inpoche
5When we understand that #ey point$ then our perspectie changes$ and we realize that our ordinary perceptions$ which are !ased upon our present state of confusion$ do not truly e/ist as they seem" They are purely adentitious and superficial$ and the fundamental innate mind of clear light$ the nature of mind$ is completely unaffected and unsullied !y these adentitious factors" They hae nothing to do with the actual nature of our mind as it is$ !ecause that nature is not sullied !y such superficial manifestations" .t is with the confidence that comes with such a iew that we can arouse a state of perception that is not ordinary$ !ut diine$ and which pertains to the deity rather than to ordinary ways of seeing things" .n a way$ it is uite automatic" ;nce we understand things from the point of iew of the nature of mind$ then the confidence that gies us means that our ordinary way of perceiing things simply ceases$ as a matter of course" +nd in its stead there arises this diine state of perception$ this way of seeing things from the point of iew of their innate purity"5 5There are many ways to interpret this term primordial wisdom"
samsara$ this ground$ our fundamental nature$ is neer tainted !y the transient stains of discursie thought" -either the phenomena of samsara nor their causes$ the #armic winds and ordinary thought patterns$ hae eer stained or defiled the purity of rigpa"5 The Dalai Lama '>@>%A%>BTC:::(" 4ind in 9omfort and =ase: The &ision of =nlightenment in the Ereat erfection
From @Gth century Dzogchen 4aster$ 0ha#ya 0hri Jnana8s The &ital =ssence 5.n eery instance there is an aware uality that is !oth empty and cognizant and neither altered nor corrupted !y any thoughts" 0imply #eep this natural state and remain without straying from it"5 5The Ereat erfection does not reuire analysis nor cultiation" 2ather$ it is merely a matter of recognizing$ as your own nature$ this ery wa#efulness of natural #nowing that is self%e/isting and spontaneously present throughout samsara and nirana"5 5+ccording to this #ing of iews$ our Dzogchen tradition$ whether e/pressions of thought moement occur$ remain$ or dissole$ the essence does not change !ut remains a fresh$ !asic state of naturalness" -o matter the ariety samsaric or niranic displays that may arise$ there is nothing else to !e attained apart from or superior to this unchanging essence suffused with awareness$ which transcends !eing li!erated$ een though the la!els 51uddha5 or 5fruition5 may !e gien to it" 0ince this essence has neer !een tainted !y confusion$ it is free from the seeds for ta#ing re!irth""" rimordial purity '#adag( means that the !asic nature of awareness !elongs to neither samsara nor nirana$ and therefore its identity is primordially pure" -o type of irtuous #armic cause and effect improes this primordial purity$ nor does any type of unirtuous #armic cause and effect worsen it" This primordially pure identity of awareness can !e neither improed nor harmed !y anything whatsoeer" .t is an unchanging openness of awareness that continues throughout the day and night"5
Tsokn#i 0inpoche uotes from/ http/IIwww.pktc.orgIpktcItsokn#iooks.htmJ!round?ath@ruition ?(T> Tsokn#i -ooks www.pktc.org ?adma (arpo Translation >ommittee's ooks of Tsokn#i 0inpoche's teaching