~ from Heart of the Great Perfection: Dudjom Lingpa’s Visions of the Great Perfection – Translated by B. Alan Wallace

“MAY THE KĚYAS of pristine awareness of immutable ultimate reality, the sugatagarbha Samantabhadra and his queen, reign victorious in the lotus of my mind! This profound pith instruction on the clear-light Great Perfection, the complete synthesis of the profound Dharma of the Enlightened View Lineage, the Symbolic Lineage, and the Aural Lineage, is an oral transmission, not of a human being but of the self-appearing teacher. Once this ocean of ambrosia had been poured into the fine vase of my mind, I feared that it would be lost, so I sought permission from the vīras and ḍākinīs to put this into writing, as an inheritance to liberate future holders of the lineage.

In my twenty-seventh year, on the evening of the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month of the dog year, all my perceptions dissolved into the realm of the great, originally pure absolute space of phenomena, and I recognized my own ground. After some time there spontaneously arose the following visionary appearance of the teacher and his retinue. On this occasion of the perfect time of originally pure equality, in the perfect place of the realm of the self-appearing, true, great Akaniṣṭha, the perfect teacher, the Buddha of the primordial ground, Samantabhadra, the Lake-Born Vajra, sat upon a jeweled lotus throne supported by eight lions.

To the assembly of the perfect retinue of vīras and ḍākinīs, free of concepts, surrounding the teacher, he taught the perfect Dharma of the unsurpassed resultant yāna — the profound and secret Great Perfection.

At that time, there was gathered in that abode an entire assembly of 84,000 beings, including these bodhisattva mahāsattvas: Vajra of Pristine Awareness, Faculty Displaying All Appearances, Faculty of Afflictive Mentation, Faculty of Mentation, Faculty of Vision, Faculty of Hearing, Faculty of Smell, Faculty of Taste,  Faculty of Touch, and the All-Creating Sovereign.

Phase 1: Taking the Impure Mind as the Path

Then, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Sovereign Faculty Displaying All Appearances rose from his seat and addressed the Bhagavān as follows: “Bhagavān Samantabhadra, King of Immutable Light, please listen and consider my words. In order to completely liberate all of us [constituting] this apparitional display of disciples simultaneously in the great expanse of equality of the absolute space of phenomena, please reveal the resultant, unsurpassed yāna of the Great Perfection.”

The Bhagavān replied, “O you apparitional display of disciples, listen! I do not proclaim this fruitional, unsurpassed yāna of the Great Perfection upwind of anyone other than those individuals with [suitable] karma and good fortune, endowed with the combined qualities of sharp faculties, great wisdom, stable faith, the ability to keep their samayas, great enthusiasm, and courage. Why is this? As a result of not practicing the ultimate and yet abandoning the profound truth of cause and effect, sentient beings will experience the great misery of hell. This is why I do not proclaim it.”

Then, Bodhisattva Sovereign Faculty Displaying All Appearances replied, “O Teacher, Bhagavān, we of this apparitional display do not depart from the nature of nonduality, so please reveal the profound and secret unsurpassed yāna.”

At that time and on that occasion, I heard the following: The Bhagavān of the primordial ground said to the apparitional display of disciples, “O apparitional display of disciples, listen without distraction! Without seeking causes or effects elsewhere, identify the agent who roams within the three realms of saṃsāra, and hold fast to the instructions for liberating this being.”

When he spoke those words, the all-accomplishing Faculty of Mentation replied, “That agent is I. The body and speech that depend on me are mutable.”

The teacher replied, “O Faculty of Mentation, tell me about your form, shape, and color.”

Faculty of Mentation answered, “I am formless emptiness. I definitely transcend shape and color.”

The Bhagavān asked, “O Faculty of Mentation, what is the origin from which you first arose, the location in which you dwell in the interim, and the destination to which you will finally go?”

Faculty of Mentation replied, “I am unarisen emptiness, so there is no origin from which I arose. I am nonlocal emptiness, so there is no place where I am located. I am unestablished emptiness, so there is no destination to which I will go. Everyone assembled here is none other than I, so may the Teacher please reveal the profound instructions for liberating me.”

The Bhagavān replied, “O apparitional display of disciples, listen! Now it is crucial for you to know your own causal characteristics. There are two kinds of paths: Individuals with supreme faculties proceed within themselves by way of direct crossing over, and individuals with middling or inferior faculties proceed gradually, in dependence upon the grounds and paths. To investigate this, first of all merge your mind with empty, external space and remain in meditative equipoise for twenty days. By so doing, individuals of the first type will perceive the originally pure essential nature of the primordial ground with the eye of wisdom, and they will identify this within themselves.

“Individuals of the latter two types will be tormented by confusion and distress, and since their minds do not seem to merge with space, they will pass the time in fabrications and striving, while becoming caught up in many thoughts. Here is the way for them to enter upon the grounds and paths. They should practice by abiding in consciousness and recognizing the movements of thoughts, as follows: Like people watching a show of optical illusions, by meditating diligently with keen enthusiasm, all the subtle and coarse assemblies of thoughts will be calmed in the ocean of the primordial ground, they will abide in a state of unwavering stillness, and there will arise the experience of śamatha. At this time there will arise bliss like the warmth of a fire, luminosity like the breaking of dawn, and non-conceptuality like an ocean unmoved by waves.

“The vivid perception of mindfulness that does not bifurcate stillness and movement in that state is called vipaśyanā.169 When you have identified śamatha as a meditative experience and then naturally sustain it with mindfulness, free of attachment and clinging, the appearances of meditative experiences will naturally vanish, and single-pointed mindfulness will manifest.

“O apparitional display of disciples, listen! At this time, some people experience a soothing sense of bliss. Others experience wind disorders, such that whatever thoughts come to mind arouse an uncomfortable sensation, as if their heart had been pierced, and sporadic illnesses certainly arise. By placing their hopes in gods, fearing demonic influences, experiencing everyone they see and touch as harmful, and so on, various kinds of harsh experiences definitely arise. Some people remain in a state of blank vacuity, while visions of gods, demons, and varieties of extrasensory perceptions arise for others. For some these are true, while for others they are false, so they are not reliable. If you relish such experiences and go out of your way to cultivate them and cling to them, they will act as a great weight holding you down in saṃsāra and plunging you into the mire of the miserable states of existence. So beware of this!

“Recognizing meditative experiences for what they are, remain without hope or fear, and sustain the flow of mindfulness. By doing so, these meditative experiences disappear by themselves, coarse thoughts naturally subside, consciousness rests in a spacious and loose state, and without doing anything to modify all the roving thoughts that arise, your consciousness is sealed. This is called self-liberated mindfulness.

“At this time a strong sense of bliss may arise, and this too can be simply a pitfall. All related illnesses arise from bile, and by recognizing them, they will disperse. If you sustain mindfulness while naturally settling your mind without hopes, fears, craving, or attachment to meditative experiences, these experiences will vanish by themselves. Then, without mindfulness even being aware of itself, as a result of the subtlety of this mode of apprehension, you remain in a wakeful vacuity devoid of roving thoughts, which is the ethically neutral substrate. This is called collapsing into empty mindfulness.

“At this time the mental affliction of delusion arises, and illnesses from phlegm disorders may arise. By recognizing them, too, as meditative experiences and simply letting them be, without reifying them with hopes and fears, these experiences will naturally vanish. A sense of luminosity will manifest in this vacuity, and with the cessation of roving thoughts, activities and speech will become indistinct and muddled. At this time there is a prominent sense of bliss, luminosity, and non-conceptuality, and indeterminate visions of gods and demons may arise. These are expressions of the luminosity of the substrate consciousness, so this is called self-illuminating mindfulness. Both of these [kinds of mindfulness] entail views that propel you to rebirth as a god who lacks discernment, so recognize the importance of not becoming constantly absorbed in them.

“O apparitional display of disciples, listen! These kinds of mindfulness occur when taking the aspects of the mind as the path, but if you get stuck there and regard them as the supreme view and meditation, you will not rise above the states of the three realms of existence. If you get caught up in bliss, this will propel you to rebirth as a god of the desire realm; if you get caught up in luminosity, this will propel you to rebirth as a god of the form realm; and if you get caught up in non-conceptuality, this will propel you to rebirth in the formless realm. All these meditative experiences are not to be blocked, nor are they to be cultivated. They are indispensable, for they arise as portents of the grounds and paths.

“Moreover, upon recognizing various kinds of illnesses and suffering as meditative experiences of those who have entered the grounds and paths, let them be, without reifying them or trying to alter them. As a result they are released right where they are, like mist disappearing into the sky. In general, all the joys and sorrows of the six classes of sentient beings are merely delusive appearances, without a single one being truly existent.”

Phase 2: Revealing Your Own Face as the Sharp Vajra of Vipaśyanā

Then, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Vajra of Pristine Awareness rose from his seat and joined his palms in reverence to the Bhagavān, saying, “Bhagavān, Omnipresent Lord and Immutable Sovereign, please listen and consider my words. Please reveal the profound, authentic path to this apparitional display of disciples.”

He replied, “O Vajra of Pristine Awareness, the ultimate path, called the vajra essence, is unsurpassed. No one will encounter this gateway without having accumulated great merit and the karmic momentum of the power of fine prayers for incalculable eons in the past. This is [rare] like an udumbara blossom. It is the path followed by the buddhas of the past and entered upon by the buddhas of the present, and it is the only profound path that will be followed by the buddhas of the future. I shall explain it well, so listen!

“In this regard, there are two kinds of pristine awareness: the path pristine awareness and pristine awareness that is present in the ground. As for the first, the path pristine awareness, its essential nature is to forge the path. Its essential nature, which is the originally pure expanse of the absolute space of phenomena, free of extremes, is self-illuminated by all-pervasive great wisdom. Such pristine awareness is ineffable.

“In this regard there is the threefold view, meditation, and conduct. What are these three? The view has no viewpoint; the meditation is without any mode of apprehension; and the conduct is without any modification.

“There is also the threefold ground, path, and fruition: the ground is great, primordial freedom; the path is the great letting be; and the fruition is great, natural liberation.

“The spontaneous perfection of the three kāyas is like this: the originally pure essential nature of the dharmakāya; the manifest nature of the spontaneously actualized saṃbhogakāya; and the all-pervasive compassion of the nirmāṇakāya.

“Here the six perfections are simultaneously perfected as follows: nongrasping is generosity, nonconfusion is ethical discipline, nonchanging is patience, nonstriving is enthusiasm, nonmeditation is meditation, and nonerring is wisdom.

“This is the self-emergent buddha. Not straying from this nature is also the real, unsurpassed taking of refuge in the nature of existence. It is also the equal liberation of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, which is the real generation of bodhicitta. It is also taking the dharmakāya Samantabhadra as your guru. It is also unifying the essence of all the jinas of the three times and devoting yourself to this as your personal deity. It is also nondually synthesizing the ḍākinīs of the absolute space of primordial consciousness in the space of Samantabhadrī — which is absolute space itself — and entering her womb. This alone is the practice in which all the buddha families and maṇḍalas are subsumed as one.

“There are two ethically neutral states that are incompatible with such a profound, secret, unsurpassed path as this: one that has always been an ethically neutral state and a second that is transient and luminous. The former, which is like immaterial space, is one in which the radiance and creative expressions [of pristine awareness] are impeded. The latter is one in which luminosity appears in the vacuity, but the radiance and creative expressions [of pristine awareness] are still impeded. By recognizing these two and letting them settle in their own state, they will vanish of their own accord, so do not think about them or apply various remedies to them.

“Pristine awareness is the self-emergent buddha, and by allowing it to settle in its own nature, it will be naturally released. So just let it be, without trying to modify it, apprehend it, analyze it, or intellectually present it in any way. In this regard there are two states: meditative equipoise and post-meditative practice. The former entails three modes of non-modification: motionlessly rest your body without modification like a corpse in a charnel ground, silently rest your voice without speaking, and luminously rest your mind without modification in its own place. It is crucially important to apply yourself to these three points, devoting yourself to practice without faltering throughout the three times. Post-meditative practice entails allowing all your behavior to be unmodified, while moving and resting, without diverging from your natural state.”

Phase 3: Revealing the Ground Dharmakāya

Then Vajra of Pristine Awareness asked, “O Teacher, Bhagavān, what is the cause of wandering among the three realms of saṃsāra? May the Teacher please explain!”

He replied, “O son of the family, the basis of wandering in saṃsāra is the duality of the grasped object and grasping. That which distinguishes saṃsāra from nirvāṇa is solely grasping at the ‘I.’ Such grasping is called grasping at the identity of a person. The basis of designation of the ‘I’ has no root. It is like this: The head and limbs are not the ‘I.’ The minor limbs and joints are not the ‘I.’ The flesh and bones are not the ‘I.’ Blood and lymph are not the ‘I.’ Bone marrow and knuckles are not the ‘I.’ Teeth and nails are not the ‘I.’ The hair on the head and body hair are not the ‘I.’ The ‘I’ does not exist in external objects, nor is it internally present in the mind, nor does the ‘I’ exist in between, in the body. Therefore, familiarize yourself with utterly dissolving the grasping at the identity of a person.

“Grasping at the identities of phenomena emerges from that [grasping at the ‘I’]. There are four approaches to this: (1) seek out the bases of designation of names, (2) destroy grasping at the permanence of things, (3) combat the fault of benefit and harm, and (4) collapse the false cave of hopes and fears.

“(1) By investigating the name of the body alone, understanding of everything else will follow. It is like this: The head is not the body. The arms are not the body. The sides of the body and the back are not the body. The legs and joints are not the body. The flesh, bones, marrow, channels, and tendons are not the body. Likewise, regarding the arms: the fingers are not the arms, nor are the forearms, upper arms, shoulders, flesh, skin, or bones. The so-called legs are not the hips, thighs, calves, or toes. The so-called thighs are not the flesh, bones, marrow, channels, or tendons.

“In the same way, seek out the individual bases of designation of external objects. For instance, a house is not earth or stones, nor is it lumber or walls. In a similar fashion, by carefully examining all bases of designation, each from its own side, they vanish altogether.

“(2) This is how to investigate whether or not everything that appears to be real is truly existent: If something is definitely, truly existent, it must have all the seven indestructible vajra qualities — namely, it must be invulnerable, indestructible, real, incorruptible, stable, totally unobstructable, and invincible. Earth or stone that is established as real can be broken, pulverized, and disintegrated, and then by casting it into the sky, it will disappear without a trace. By examining all phenomena in this way, you will definitely deconstruct them with your mind, and they will vanish into emptiness.

“Consider: Where do all the physical worlds, their sentient inhabitants, and the six kinds of sensory objects that appear like this go at night? Where do all the phenomena of the physical worlds and their sentient inhabitants that appear at night go during the daytime? By examining whether they are both equally true or false, if you conclude that they are not alike, consider the following. O apparitional display of disciples, listen! During the year when you were thirteen, where did you dwell each month, each day, and each moment? What foods did you enjoy? What friends did you accompany? What words did you say? Inspect the reality of the matter. If daytime appearances are truly existent, then when this present body is cast off, where are the parents and the body of the person who goes into the hereafter? From what did they arise? Tell me!”

Bodhisattva Vajra of Pristine Awareness replied, “O Teacher, Bhagavān, all appearances of the daytime, the nighttime, this life, and the hereafter are nothing more than deceptive patterns of pleasant and unpleasant experiences.”

He responded, “Well so it is, son of the family.

“(3) By examining the nature of objects that appear to bring benefit and harm, you combat the fault of clinging to true existence. Consider: Where are all the roots of virtue from the past stored? Where are they located? Whom do they benefit? How do they benefit? By likewise examining how evil, non-virtuous karma inflicts harm, you will mentally deconstruct it so that it vanishes altogether.

“Moreover, where is the source from which all malevolent demons and spirits arise? Where are they located once they have arisen? And where do they finally go? By investigating the way in which they inflict harm, you will see how there is no way that they can cause injury. In the same way, examine the location and fundamental root of the origin, location, and destination of protective gods. If the gods are empty, how can they help you as a real being? If the gods are real, where do they live? If you think they live inside mountains, consider whether they are compressed underground. On the other hand, is the earth a god — or the stones, trees, grass, or mountains? By investigating this, you will truly come to know how all joys and sorrows are nothing more than deceptive patterns of delusive experiences, that the gods do not protect anyone, and that demons and spirits harm no one.

“(4) Here is the way to collapse the false cave of misapprehending saṃsāra and nirvāṇa as being autonomous and then clinging to hopes and fears. When you travel from place to place and encounter a buddhafield and buddhas, where do they exist — in the sky, in the intervening space, on the earth, or underground? In the region of Vaiśālī, if there is a handsome king with a fine complexion, happiness, and a great retinue, he is not better than a mere cakravartin or a god of the desire or form realm. If buddhas have form, they must also have color, and if they have form and color, they must also have conditioned consciousness. If they have conditioned consciousness, they must also experience the six kinds of objects, and if those are present, they must also have the twelve sense bases, which would necessarily imply that they are unenlightened sentient beings. By examining this carefully, you will collapse the false cave of mistaking buddhas as being autonomous.

“Moreover, where is the fearful place and miserable realm of existence called hell — in the sky, in the intervening space, upon the earth, beneath it, or above it? Where is the ground of molten iron with its beings who torment the denizens of hell? Where does the firewood come from? Who are the parents, and what are the causes and conditions of the minions of hell? How is it that the fire does not scorch them while it burns others? As a result of their inflicting such torment of hellish punishment on sentient beings, to what hell do they go? As for the sentient beings who are tortured there, where do their bodies come from?  Who were their parents, and what were their causes and conditions? If sentient beings nowadays die from a mere wound, why don’t the denizens of hell die from being boiled and burned for eons?

“Likewise, if there are truly a vast number of pretas — with heads the size of a clay pot, mouths the size of the eye of a needle, throats the width of a horsehair, bellies the size of a country, and limbs as slender as blades of grass — who are their parents, and what are their causes and conditions? Examine the directions and places where they live. If you likewise carefully investigate all the realms of the six classes of sentient beings, you will come to the definite conclusion that they are mere dreams — your own mind’s delusive appearances, which are not established as truly existent — and you will collapse the false cave of grasping at the autonomous existence of objects.

“By determining the nature of all dualistic appearances, you will come to the definite conclusion that their essential nature is empty and nonobjective — a great openness. Their nonobjective, empty essential nature is the ground. By recognizing the ground, you will know how all of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa is none other than the ground of being.”

Then Bodhisattva Vajra of Pristine Awareness asked, “O Teacher, Bhagavān, how are saṃsāra and nirvāṇa differentiated?”

He replied, “O son of the family, the inner glow of the ground sugatagarbha is made manifest by the deep luminosity of great wisdom, and this is called the buddha that is present in the pure ground.  Once the inner glow of wisdom is obscured by ignorance, that which blends the radiance [of the sugatagarbha] with obscuration and acts as the basis of all appearances, mindsets, joys, and sorrows is called the substrate. With this as the basis, both subtle and coarse reifying, dualistic thoughts construct the three realms of saṃsāra…”

NOTE:  DÜDJOM LINGPA (1835–1904) was one of the foremost tantric masters of his time. His visionary teachings on the Great Perfection (Dzokchen) are the pinnacle of practice in Tibet’s oldest Buddhist school. Heart of the Great Perfection, the first of three volumes devoted to the Dzokchen visions of Düdjom Lingpa, contains four of his classic works explaining the view and practice of this signature style of meditation.