Chögyal Namkhai Norbu
Merigar August 13, 2001

Understanding the Characteristics of the Teaching

In general when we are learning Dzogchen teaching, we know that there are three series of Dzogchen teaching. Each of these series is a complete path in itself; in each there is an introduction to what is the base, what is the path, what is the fruit. For that reason there were many practitioners in ancient times who only did the Dzogchen Semde, Longde or Upadesa. However, not only in the three series of Dzogchen but in all the teachings of the Buddha, the aim or final goal is always the same. But even though the final goal is the same, the way of introducing, the way of learning and practising is different. It is very important that people make this distinction. In particular people who are seriously following Dzogchen teaching must understand what the characteristics of the Dzogchen teaching are.

There are many of our practitioners who are still confused. For example, if someone explains about something such as the nature of the mind in the sutra style, they immediately feel that this is Dzogchen. But it is not enough to merely explain what the nature of mind is. In the Dzogchen teaching there is direct introduction. There is no direct introduction in sutra. It doesn't even exist in tantra. This, for example, is the specific path of Dzogchen. Also when we say introduction in Dzogchen it means we can understand what we are being introduced to. That means we are trying to discover our real nature or potentiality. For example some people when they read and learn a little about traditions such as Zen and Dzogchen think that they are both the same because the final goal is the same. But the way of introducing and practising are not the same. Try to read a Zen book and see if there is an explanation of 'lhundrub' or an explanation of the 'primordial state' or 'primordial potentiality'. That is an example which is not so difficult to understand. So you mustn't remain in confusion otherwise even if someone is seriously introducing Dzogchen teaching, it will always seem the same as learning sutra or tantra etc.

Dzogchen: An ancient Teaching

Some people say that all the teachings are the same, just like a piece of chocolate. That is alright if you make no distinction and your mind is open; it's not so bad. But if you don't know the particular kinds of taste that things have and you only think that everything is chocolate, then that is not good. That is an example.

In the same way each of the three series of Dzogchen has its Base, Path and Fruit with specific ways of learning and doing practice. The Dzogchen Semde is considered to be the base and the most important. Most of the books originally taught by Garab Dorje are books on the Semde. Why did Garab Dorje teach this? Because ancient teachers had already taught it. In the Dzogchen teaching we talk about the twelve ancient teachers who lived in different epochs, not all at the same time. Behind me [Rinpoche indicates the panel behind him in the Merigar Gonpa] you can see the figures of all these ancient masters who are the source of the Dzogchen teaching. But even though they taught in ancient times, time is always changing. For example, if we say that there was teaching on the earth five thousand years ago, that is history, it doesn't exist today. Everything changes and disappears. But even if those things have disappeared, the knowledge of Enlightened Beings never disappears. The state of knowledge of Enlightened Beings is beyond time. That is why Garab Dorje repeated all these ancient teachings which are called Dzogchen 'tantras' or Dzogchen 'lung', important original books. We follow these kinds of teachings and for these reasons we consider Dzogchen to be a very ancient teaching. By ancient we don't mean a few years earlier than [the time of] Buddha Shakyamuni as some people believe the pre-Buddhist Bon religion to be. The Bon tradition is not so very ancient.

The Essence of the Teaching

These teachings were repeated by Garab Dorje although they are really ancient [teachings]. Even if we don't have books from that time, the principle is not a book, it is knowledge which has been taught by Enlightened Beings who had that capacity. And this is called Dzogchen teaching, officially known as Ati Yoga. 'Ati' means primordial knowledge; 'Yoga' means understanding. This means the way in which each individual can discover his or her own nature. This is the Dzogchen teaching. So even if Garab Dorje taught and repeated many 'tantra' and 'lung', the essence is simply that.

Moreover many studious pandits such as Manjushrimitra discovered that the essence of the teaching given by Garab Dorje is the essence of the Buddhist teaching. This doesn't mean that Buddha Shakyamuni taught Dzogchen directly. Officially he taught Sutra teachings and through different manifestations gave Tantric teachings, but the essence of all these teachings is the Dzogchen teaching. That is why Dzogchen is considered to be very important not only by us but by Buddhist practitioners in general.

Rules Related to Circumstances

This knowledge is divided into three series: the first is the Semde, the second is the Longde and the third is the Upadesa. Why is the first one the Semde? 'Sem' means mind, through mind one is directly introduced to the nature of mind and has that knowledge. This is the Dzogchen way. 'Sem' in general means mind. If we say 'semnyid' it means the nature of the mind. So when we say 'Semde', 'sem' can mean 'mind' or 'the nature of the mind'.

For example, the method of Dzogchen is not related much to the method of Sutra teaching which is more on the physical level. In the Dzogchen teaching the teacher never tells you how you should be, how you should sit, or dress or what your attitude should be. There is nothing to learn. If you learn about Sutra there are all the rules to follow. So the difference is very clear. Why aren't these things taught in Dzogchen? Because in Dzogchen everything is relative. If you do something good or bad it is always related to you. It is also related to your awareness or your lack of it. So it depends on you, not on some rules. If you want to follow rules, you will never completely succeed.

If, for example, we follow rules like those in the Sutra teaching, most of them are related to the time of the Buddha and reflect the attitude of the Indian people of that time. Some of them may seem negative but can be considered positive in our western society because our beliefs and our point of view are different. For that reason it is not so simple when we talk about what is good and bad. We can call many things 'good' but this may not correspond for other people.

Sakyapandita's Example

There is a very nice example given by Sakyapandita, a Sakyapa master. South of Tibet in east India there was a dense forest where a particular type of bird lived. The young birds loved their mother very dearly and grew day by day alongside her in the nest. When they had grown up and were about to fly away they thought that they should do some very good thing for their mother because she had been so kind to them and gradually started to peck all the feathers off their mother. They weren't doing anything bad, they were simply loving their mother and they had a good intention. They loved her but they pulled off all her feathers. Then when they had finished they flew away leaving the mother to die in the nest because she could no longer fly. So you can see that their intention didn't correspond with the condition of their mother. For this reason, the principle is not rules because rules are always related to circumstances and situations.

You can see, for example, how many nations there are in the world. Each nation has its rules but they are not all the same. Most countries consider what is best for their country and create rules that correspond to this situation. If you bring the laws of China to Italy, of course it won't correspond. Even if you do it the other way round, people won't be happy. This is an example of how there is no external universal rule.

The most important thing is our awareness. We must be aware and then we can coordinate with our circumstances. So then this is the difference between a teaching which is more at the phyisical level and the Dzogchen teaching.

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