Les Trois Abîmes de la Grande Perfection

Les Trois Abîmes de la Grande Perfection, Chöying no. 2, par Jean-Luc Achard, Khyung-mkhar, éd. PDF, Juillet 2012, 11 pages.

4e de couverture :

" En tant qu'expression véritable de l'état naturel de l'individu, le Dzogchen est défini dans ses textes comme un Abîme (klong) incommensurable s'élevant, selon Longchenpa, en fonction d'un mode que l'on désigne comme celui des trois Abîmes (klong gsum), à savoir: 

1. l'Abîme de la Quintessence Adamantine (rdo rje snying po'i klong),

2. l'Abîme du Flot Naturel (rang bzhin babs kyi klong), et 

3. l'Abîme extraordinaire de l'immensité primordiale (ye 'byams rmad du byung ba'i klong)."

Ces trois Abîmes sont décrits et expliqués en détail dans le présent opuscule, d'après les enseignements transmis par Gyelwa Longchenpa (1308-1364). La compréhension de cette représentation particulière au système de la Grande Perfection permet d'approfondir la connaissance authentique des principes de l'état naturel.

Publication hors-commerce, à commander en écrivant par courrier électronique à l'auteur. Ou bien rendez-vous sur le forum de l'Association Khyung-mkhar à l'adresse suivante:

http://forumdzogchen.forumactif.com/t383-les-trois-abimes-de-la-grande-perfection#1368

The Practice of Guru-Yoga according to the Zhangzhung Nyengyü

The Practice of Guru-Yoga according to the Zhangzhung Nyengyü, by Jean-Luc Achard, Khyung-mkhar, July 2012. Pdf edition. 10 pages.

4e de couverture :

The practice of Guru-Yoga is one of the essential meditations performed on the spiritual Path of Bön, indifferently in Sūtras, Tantras and in Dzogchen teachings. In the context of the practice of the Zhangzhung Nyengyü, Guru-Yoga is performed with the central figure known as Shenlha Ökar (Shen-God White Light), the root of all Yidams and Lord of Compassion. Through the connection to his Body, Speech and Mind, blessings are bestowed to the practitionner who can connect to the entire lineage of masters and progress along the Path.

Contents :

1. Verses to recite

2. The literal meaning of the verses

3. Basic explanation of the practice

4. Detailed explanation of the practice according to Yongdzin Rinpoche's oral teachings

5. The Dedication Prayer

To order, write directly to the author or connect to the Dzogchen Forum here:
http://forumdzogchen.forumactif.com/t380-the-practice-of-guru-yoga#1338

Les Classifications du Discernement — les cinq sortes de Rigpa

Les Classifications du Discernement — les cinq sortes de Rigpa, par Jean-Luc Achard, Khyung-mkhar, 2012. Editions pdf. 11 pages.

4e de couverture :

"— Le Discernement (rig pa) est la connaissance directe et non-discursive de l'état naturel de l'individu. C'est en vertu de ce Discernement que l'adepte discerne (rig) avec clarté ce qu'est cet état et qu'il est capable de le distinguer des autres états de conscience (considérés comme conditionnés). Selon les textes, il existe jusqu'à quinze formes de Discernement, mais nous allons voir ici la présentation en cinq modalités."

Publication hors-commerce, à commander en écrivant par courrier électronique à l'auteur. Ou bien rendez-vous sur le forum de l'Association Khyung-mkhar à l'adresse suivante:
http://forumdzogchen.forumactif.com/t379-les-classifications-du-discernement

Khyab rig, the final word from Drenpa Namkha

As we have seen previously, Shardza Rinpoche and Yongdzin Rinpoche’s definition of Pervading Awareness (khyab rig) concur with one another. The works in which they refer to khyab rig are :

— the Treasury of Space and Awareness (dByings rig mdzod) and the Heart Drops of Kuntuzangpo (Kun bzang snying thig) for Shardza Rinpoche,

— the Commentary and Notes on the Magyü Thigle (Ma rgyud thig le mtshan ‘grel) for Yongdzin Rinpoche.

All three sources have canonical status and in all three cases, they state that khyab-rig is the Sugatagarbha (bde gshegs snying po) which embraces beings (‘gro ba, i.e. transmigrating beings).

Now some people pretend that the source of Khyab rig definitions appears in the works on Dzogchen logic but I haven’t been able to locate any reference to it so far in the concerned texts themselves. However, I have located the actual source to which both Shardza Rinpoche and Yongdzin Rinpoche have drawn in order to provide their definition. This source is none other than the famed Commentary on the Treasury of the Sky (Nam mkha’ ‘phrul mdzod kyi ‘grel pa) whose authorship is attributed to Bla-chen Dran-pa nam-mkha’ (8th c.). Vairocana, his disciple, was the first recipient of the transmission and hid the text which is said to have been recovered by Lung-bon lha-gnyan, sometime in the late 11th century.

Now the most careful edition of this Commentary, published by the Gangs ti-se bon-gzhung rig-mdzod very recently and available for free on the internet, has been included in a volume entitled rDzogs-chen tshad-ma (The Logic of the Great Perfection, meaning the Dzogchen texts dealing with logic). The file being searchable, it is pretty easy to locate any compound or individual syllable, even letters. If one launches a research for khyab rig, one will find only one reference to it in the entire corpus. As we have mentioned, this occurrence appears in the Commentary of the Namkha Trüldzö, not in the other works on Dzogchen logic.

There, in the Commentary, p. 485, we find the following line :

=0-:m#-0+{-0:-#<{#=-.8m-$m$-.}=-8E}-;-=0-.-21-`o-8+}+-.-+$-k

khyab rig bde bar gshegs pa’i snying pos ‘gro la khyab pa tsam du ‘dod pa dang/

I won't repeat the word by word which can be found in a previous message here, but the meaning is : « — Pervading Awareness is defined as being simply the Sugatagarbha which embraces beings. »

Here, no need to discuss about adding anything between brackets, the reference to "beings" ('gro ba) is totally explicit, which demonstrates that this addition in Yongdzin Rinpoche's definition is confirmed (it actually did not need any external confirmation because it was explicitly enunciated with a reference to "beings" by Yongdzin in his own explanation). This demonstrates that the intent of those questioning my addition of "beings" between brackets in an earlier post was simply motivated by a dramatically bad motivation. Ill-intentions combined to an ignorance based on defective secondary sources result simply in deeper delusion.

There is also no necessity of metre or anything demanded by metrics in Dran pa nam mkha's line, therefore if objects were to be embraced by this pervading awareness, they would obviously have been included here. Those who refuse to understand the evidence are most apparently not capable of understanding the Universal Base either. They equate this Pervading Awareness and the Universal Base. This is a very deluded perspective. It also entails not understanding that even though the natural state embraces everything (Samsara-Nirvana, etc.), only beings who have an awareness can reflect the knowledge of the natural state. This is in direct line with the statement in the Zhangzhung Nyengyü saying that, just like the moon shines over rocks and pounds, only pounds can reflect the moon, similarly, even though the natural state embraces everything, objects don’t have an awareness and therefore cannot manifest the knowledge of that state.

We therefore have on one side Tapihritsa, Drenpa Namkha, Shardza Rinpoche and Yongdzin Rinpoche who all share the very same idea (and for a the last three of them the very same wording in their definition of khyab-rig), denying the fact that objects have an awareness, and on the other side a few individuals who lack clear understanding of the meaning of the texts and bring within the corpus of Dzogchen teachings conceptions which are basically dependent on ignorance.

Deviating from the Dzogchen View

" — If you think that the natural state is one, without individual partitions, that this 'one' pervades everything, then that is breaking your Dzogchen Damtsig and it goes against the Dzogchen View. "

Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche

The meaning of this statement is quite explicit : the natural state is individual, which means that each individual has his or her own natural state. There is not a “one consciousness” or “single ocen-like consciousness” to which the minds of all beings would be connected and reunited to upon death.

Khyab rig (continued)

Luca Violoni, still at his manipulating sources, says regarding the fact that "beings" is in between square brackets in the translation of the previous post :

"Nelle parentesi quadre c'è la sua aggiunta che non compare nel testo originario di Lopon e lui spiega che gli esseri è chiaramente implicato nel testo di Lopon." (more or less : "In the square brackets is his own addition which does not appear in the original (text) of Lopon et he explains that beings are clarly implied in the text by Lopon".)

Well, this remark is obvious from someone who does not read tibetan and is consequently totally unfamiliar with classical grammar, etc. If there are tibetologists reading this post, I invite them to use the "commentaire" field below to challenge or confirm my interpretation.

But the problem does not actually depends upon the translation, it is entirely linked to the fact that Violoni thinks objects have a natural state and therefore a Rigpa. Even the quote (given in the first khyab rig post here:http://khyungmkhar.blogspot.fr/2012/06/khyab-rig-pervading-knowledge-and-its.html) from the Zhangzhung Nyengyü did not convince him. It is probably the most stupid idea someone would have, right ? But where does it come from ? Ignorance of course, but also a tendency to blindly accept whatever he reads in a book, in particular when the book itself has deficiencies in terms of understanding clearly the philosophy of Dzogchen, and Rigpa in particular.

But to come back to Violoni's remark, I would answer : Not only is the reference to beings clearly implied by the text, but it is also clearly explained by Lopon in his own oral commentary on his own text. There is not a single inch of doubt about this. But you'll note that the despising tone of Violoni has disappeared... Again I invite anyone to go and ask Yongdzin if objects have a Rigpa as Violoni thinks because of his wrong understanding of khyab-rig.

And why would the reference to beings be clearly implied by Yongdzin Rinpoche and explicitely referred to by himself in his own commentary ? Well simply because the natural state demands a Rigpa and to have a Rigpa you need a mind. Violoni : Objects don't have a mind....

PS — You may also note that Violoni avoids mentioning my reference to Yongdzin Rinpoche's own oral commentary on his definition of khyab-rig as embracing only beings. If this is not intentional manipulation of the sources and his readers, then what is it ?

Khyab rig revisited

It is clear that some individuals refuse to see the truth when it's explained to them, especially when they try to manipulate sources or ridiculize others. Obviously they have agendas which are pathetically ego-centered...

Regarding Khyab rig, I will refer here to the famed Notes and Commentary on the Mother Tantras Thigles (Ma rgyud thig le' mtshan 'grel) by Yongdzin Rinpoche. 

Since people manipulate his teachings and distort the view he advocates on  this subject, I hope that this will clarify the issue once and for all.

There, in the Notes and Commentary on the Mother Tantras (p. 8 of vol. 11 of his Collected Works), Rinpoche says (I just stick to the Khyab rig definition) : 

=0-:m#-#6m-#=;-%}$-7v$-8'v#-\o,-;-=0-%{=-.8m-#,=-;v#=-+{-;-8'}#-.-+$-k

For those who don't have the Tibetan Machine Web fonts, here is the transliteration :

khyab rig gzhi gsal stong zung 'jug kun la khyab ces pa'i gnas lugs de la 'jog pa dang/

So the translation is :

"— Khyab-rig (Pervading Awareness) is the Base, the union of Clarity and Emptiness (and) is defined as that natural state which is said to embrace all [beings]."

For those who doubt my translation, don't hesitate to use the "commentaire" field below. But all in all the basic vocabulary of this line can be rendered as follows :

Khyab-rig = pervading awareness

gzhi = Base

gsal-stong= clarity and emptiness

zung 'jug = union

kun la khyab = to embrace all

ces pa'i = which is said

gnas lugs = natural state

de la = that (+ gram. case)

'jog pa = to define

dang = and (not translated here since it goes with the next lines dealing with the 2 other forms of Rigpa).

So why is "beings” put in between square brackets in my translation? Well, it's because it is clearly implied. But it is not only clearly implied, it is also explicitely confirmed by the oral teachings of Yongdzin Rinpoche on his own text, an oral teaching that appears in a transcript (and probably soon in book form) entitled Primordial Wisdom in the Continuity of the Mother, Clarification upon the Path of Liberation. Annotation and Commentary on the Essential Points of Primordial Wisdom in the Mother Tantra — Oral commentary by Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, compiled and edited by Gerd Manusch, Naldjor 2003 (61 pages in the A4 edition at my disposal). There, in his own commentary, Yongdzin Rinpoche states EXPLICITELY (p. 14) :

"In general in the Magyü there are three different forms of Awareness or Rigpa (rig pa) :

1. Chyab rig (khyab rig) pervading awareness, which pervades all sentient beings' natural state."

The two other forms of Rigpa which do not raise problem are bsam-rig and ye-rig.

Therefore, contrary to what Luca Violoni wants everyone to believe (and most obviously because his sources (Klein and Wangyel) are flawed), Yongdzin RInpoche's interpretation of khyab-rig is in perfect harmony with the interpretation given by Shardza Rinpoche about Khyab-rig being the Sugatagarbha embracing all beings. This interpretation is the only one valid.

Consequently, the interpretation given in Wonders of the Natural Mind, clearly advocating the fact that khyab-rig embraces material objects, is in all respect wrong and leads to wrong views. I invite everybody to go with the text and check with Lopon for themselves.

What appears as sick and rather disturbing is the deliberate intent from one deluded individual to systematically mislead people. But his "misunderstanding" is made on purpose: it is based on the hinduist view held by this individual regarding an ocean-like consciousness which would embrace all minds and objects within a single cosmic consciousness. This is heresy in terms of Dzogchen perspective. According to the 31 samayas of Dzogchen, wrong views disqualify improper vessels from receiving teachings. Not to mention for transmitting them...

Le Déploiement des Parures de l'Espace

Le Déploiement des Parures de l'Espace, Chöying 4, par Jean-Luc Achard. Khyung-mkhar, 2012. Edition pdf. 11 pages.

4e de couverture :

Après avoir abordé la notion d’Espace (dbyings) dans le précédent numéro, on présente ici les Parures (rgyan) de la Réalité qui forment l’un des sujets phares de la littérature Dzogchen. Ces Parures sont explicitement associées aux notions de dynamisme (rtsal) et de déploiement (rol pa), mais la représentation qu’elles illustrent est également un thème central des textes, permettant de comprendre la nature des apparences conditionnées et celle des prodiges nirvāṇisés de l’état naturel.

Publication hors-commerce, à commander en écrivant par courrier électronique à l'auteur. Ou bien rendez-vous sur le forum de l'Association Khyung-mkhar à l'adresse suivante :

http://forumdzogchen.forumactif.com/t375-le-deploiement-des-parures-de-l-espace