Call to presence.

What is reminds you to be open, available and receptive?

When you get caught up in thoughts, emotions and busyness, how do you break free from the cycle of reactivity?

Try an experiment with me.

Any time you see a red dot, recognize it as a call to presence. In Tibetan you might call this a red thigle, but for our purposes any old red spherical object will do.

🔴

Whenever you see a red dot, take a moment to see it suspended within the expanse of your awareness. Like a red orb suspended in space, ornamenting your awareness. Rest in that open, expansive presence free of elaboration. Rest a moment and carry that openness with you as you go about your day.

You will get caught up in mind again. Don't worry. More red dots await you. Maybe buy some small red stickers and put them in places that you frequent. It will be like planting seeds of awareness in a battlefield of confusion. 

Waking up can be fun, an infinite game in which everyone wins. Go adorn your world with authentic presence.  

100 day ngondro practice intensive.

I'll be leading a 100 day practice intensive for the YDL Sangha starting January 1st. YDL offers numerous Sangha led courses each year and every January we practice ngondro together.

This year we are going to be practicing a new ngondro text that Younge Khachab Rinpoche wrote recently and taught at the last summer Dzogchen retreat, titled “The Secret Path of Supreme Accomplishment: Instructions on the Foundations of Meditation”. Rinpoche strongly encourages all of his students to participate in this practice as it forms the foundation for Mahamudra and Dzogchen.

This practice intensive is a group of practitioners who are committed to practicing the path as it has been presented by Khachab Rinpoche. We will have weekly readings, group discussions and senior student led Dharma talks. We welcome new students who are looking to start practicing a genuine path, and experienced students who are committed to their practice and have insight to share.

Practice daily at home and at your own pace. There are weekly group video discussions on Sundays at 6pm CST via Zoom. This will be a practice focused course, with ample opportunity for questions and discussion about the practice.

If you're interested in deepening your practice in an authentic practice lineage, here is a great opportunity to get started.

100 Day Practice Intensive Registration

Understanding what is beyond expression.

The true nature of reality is beyond expression. Our own nature, the nature of our mind, can be directly encountered, but it is itself inexpressible.

Our minds really struggle with this. Concepts, words and ideas are the currency of our ordinary mind.

There are two terms that are used to approach the understanding of ultimate reality: dharmakaya and dharmadhatu.

Dharmakaya refers to the originally pure, empty nature of our own awareness. It is uncaused, unstained, free from reference points and the extremes of 'it is' or 'it is not'. The metaphor for understanding the dharmakaya is that it is like space. Pure presence is experienced as open, spacious and transparent, with nothing to hold onto.

The dharmadhatu refers to the true nature of reality that is free from the extremes of 'it is' or 'it is not'. The dharmadhatu is the union of the two truths, relative and ultimate, that is itself the infinite play of dependent origination in which no thing is ever truly born. All phenomena being dependently originated, they are empty in nature. Unborn and unceasing, the illusory play of reality unfolds continuously and yet nothing ever comes into being. (If you don't understand this, please ask questions!)

When pure, open awareness of the interconnected universe is made fully evident, one experiences the dharmakaya blending with the dharmadhatu. This is the single sphere of awareness, the non-dual experiential reality of awakened mind. Abiding in the primordial state of the single sphere of awareness, all that appears and exists is but the infinite play of dependent origination as the dynamic energy of awareness.

As soon as concepts, reification or fixation on what is 'real' or 'me' or 'mine', you experience the split into subject and object duality. The result is diminished presence and getting caught up in the wheel of cyclic existence.

You can't think your way to a non-dual experience of reality.

Gradual change for sudden transformation.

The navy seals have an intriguing combat motto:

Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. 

A methodical, deliberate practice seems too slow, that the results you are looking for aren't going to show up. Actually, most often a deliberate and methodical approach produces faster results. How do we best move from one state to another?

An integral part of studying thermodynamics and physical chemistry is understanding phase transitions. A phase transition is a transformation of a system from one state into another. A solid into a liquid, a liquid into a gas. Understanding phase transitions allows us to understand how gradual change leads to sudden transformation.

What is interesting about phase transitions is that systems often appear stable and resistant to change, and all of a sudden the system shifts. Water can absorb a lot of heat and only boils at 212 degrees to become a gas. Water freezes at 32 degrees to become ice, at 33 degrees it is bloody cold water. These systems can be influenced by changing some variables, such as adding salt to water to increase the temperature needed to boil the water, but even with those variables the phase transition itself happens quickly.

There are those who practice Mahamudra and Dzogchen that insist that it is a sudden path and that no work or effort is needed. You are simply introduced directly to the nature of your own mind and then you proceed to gain certainty about that unique state. No preparation needed, no foundation of experience necesssary. To prepare or to engage in practice is to delude yourself into the confused ways of the gradual approach!

There is only one significant problem with this approach: we must start where we are. Our ordinary untrained mind is conditioned by concepts and fixation. We constantly label phenomena and tell stories about our experience. Our minds are easily hooked by pleasant and exciting possibilities. That untrained mind may be introduced to the nature of mind, and its initial reaction will be, "This is it! I have it."And then we go on telling ourselves the story of our enlightenment with all of the right logic and reasoning (concepts) to back it up.

It's inevitable. Fast gets you nowhere.

Compare that with the methodical deliberate practice of gaining familiarity with your mind and encountering the various aspects of the nature of mind directly. You can encounter and recognize the abiding aspects of awareness in your meditation. You can learn to work with movement and clarity in your meditation so that you are no longer hooked by whatever is coming up in your experience. You can learn to bring awareness into various mental states and to discover how they are free in their own place. You can become accustomed to not labeling your experience, not engaging the story, seeing through the thought.

Having this type of experience makes you a receptive vessel for actually recognizing the nature of mind. You're already practically there even though everything seems to be much the same as it was before, because you're hanging on the edge of a phase transition.

Gradual change leads to sudden transformation. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

Embarking on the path of meditation.

In the Buddha's first sermon, the Buddha stated the following:

Fully understand dukkha.

Let go of arising.

Actualize cessation.

Cultivate the path. 

What gives rise to dukkha is the three poisons of ignorance, craving and aversion, that is the truth of the origin. Craving and aversion reinforce a cycle of reactivity. Ignorance creates an underlying confusion about who we are, the nature of the world around us and our place in it. In meditation, we can train our mind to let go of craving, aversion and ignorance. The result is the actualization of the state of cessation, the third noble truth. 

Actualizing cessation can be interpreted according to different practice traditions. The common Buddhist tradition used the metaphor of a doctor to understand the relationship between the four noble truths and how we actualize cessation. 

The doctor metaphor goes like this: you are sick, I know why you are sick and I know what is best for you. Listen to what I say and follow my advice, and you will get better. 

That might work in many cases. A lot of times we know that we are not happy, that we have a deep dissatisfaction with our life and we simply don't know the way out. We don't know how to get better. We look for a good doctor, and faithfully follow his advice by practicing his prescription. And we get better.

The common tradition approaches the four noble truths like this: 1) truth of dukkha (you're sick), 2) truth of origin (I know the cause), 4) truth of path (I know how to make you better), 3) truth of cessation (you are better). One, two, four, three. 

 

The uncommon traditions of Mahamudra and Dzogchen approach the four noble truths differently. From the very beginning, we recognize your innate buddha nature, your innate potential and disposition for flourishing. These practice traditions recognize that you have something to contribute and they recognize your own innate wisdom, which is the wisdom of your own dukkha and life (the truth of dukkha). With this opportunity available to you comes tremendous responsibility, but we need to learn how to get out of our own way. We are the storm, the shit show is our own thoughts, feelings and actions. We need to learn to relax and self-regulate (let go of arising), in order to actualize our nature, which is the state of cessation. Then we are able to continue to walk and practice the path. 

 

The uncommon tradition starts by empowering you and approaches the four noble truths accordingly: 1) truth of dukkha (your innate wisdom of situation and life), 2) truth of origin (you learn to let go of arising craving, aversion and ignorance), 3) truth of cessation (you recognize and actualize the resultant state), 4) truth of path (you continue to practice the path).  One, two, three, four. 

You don't need to practice the path in order to attain some said result. The result is the path, each and every step. Actualizing the state of cessation doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It doesn't mean your a Buddha and that you never fall back into worldly existence. Not at all! Don't confuse yourself!

Actualizing cessation means that we recognize and abide in our true nature, or buddha heart. We are introduced to our nature through the teachings of the resultant vehicles and the grace of our teacher. When we recognize that nature, we embark on the long journey of the path of meditation. We carry that recognition into all of our activities, learning how to carry it in the form of the six perfections for the benefit of others. The practice of the path reveals the middle way between indulgence and beating ourselves up. We can enjoy life, and our practice makes everything workable. 

The uncommon traditions of Mahamudra and Dzogchen only bring final attainment if you live a life dedicated to practice. If you practice for a little while, have some kind of experience, then set the teachings aside and go about your normal existence then it will be no different than drinking a fine wine or going on some grand trip. Sure, you'll have some kind of memory of that experience, something you can hold onto and tell your friends about, but you won't be changed. 

A life of practice is a life of doing. To be, you have to do. You have to keep doing the inner work of being. Practicing the path in this way will give your life meaning and purpose. Your practice will present you with the opportunity to do art, to make a difference in others lives, to make an impact. You will always have the opportunity to be present, understanding and kind. 

The Toolbox.

Meditation is a tool, and as a tool there are many different forms that it takes. Some types of meditation are better at calming the mind, others for inducing clarity or insight. Some give rise to bliss, others to peace and equanimity.

In our practice of shamatha, we have several different types of meditation that we should keep in our toolbox and gain familiarity with.

Meditation with an Object

The Breath. The breath is probably the most common meditation technique. The mind and breath are intimately linked, so as we work with the breath we work on the mind. The technique is simple, simply observe the inhale and exhale of the breath. Some people focus on the feeling of the breath passing by the nostrils, others prefer to focus on the gentle rise and fall of the upper stomach as you inhale and exhale. Whatever method you prefer, simply connect with the inhale and exhale of the breath. It isn't necessary to count, just breathe naturally.


A thigle of light. A common technique within the Tibetan tradition is to focus on an internal drop or thigle of light. This thigle is often focused on within the heart chakra or some other chakra, and serves as a visualized support for your practice. Focus on a brilliant white drop of light in the center of your heart, then connect with the inhale and exhale of the breath. As you inhale, imagine that light becoming more brilliant, as you exhale imagine it becoming more stable. There are many alternative methods for working with thigles in meditation.

Vajra breathing. Similar to focusing on the breath, you can visualize yourself in the form of your yidam or as a clear body of light. As you inhale, recognize the resonance of the breath as OM. As the breath abides, recognize it as AH. As you exhale, recognize the resonance of the breath as HUNG. In this way we connect the breath with mantra. Initially this practice can be rather conceptual and you may find yourself reciting OM, AH, HUNG. As you gain more familiarity with the practice and the sound of mantra the words will fall away and you can simply observe the breath as inseparable from mantra.

Enhancement techniques. When you are drowsy or your meditation is dull, you can focus on a white thigle of light at your third eye. Alternatively, you can imagine the white thigle at your heart shooting up through your crown and extending further and further into the sky, almost like traveling up an elevator. When you are experiencing distraction or agitation, you can visualize a black heavy thigle in your navel, pulling you down into the ground like a heavy weight. Alternatively, you can imagine it shooting down into the ground, anchoring and grounding you. These enhancement techniques can be used initially to cultivate a calm, clear mind, or they can be used as remedial techniques to work with distraction and dullness during meditation.

There are many other forms of object based meditation, including practices like Guru Yoga, mantra meditation and other tantric practices. If you have instruction in those meditation techniques feel free to use them as you have been taught. 

Meditation without an Object

Resting in the natural state. This type of meditation is unique to Mahamudra and Dzogchen. Simply relax the body, breath and mind. Don't worry about the past. Don't speculate about the future. Simply rest, without judging the present or cultivating expectations. Relax into the uncontrived natural state. In this meditation we want to recognize and rest in the nature of the mind, which is unceasing luminous emptiness. That can be difficult at first, as we learn to work with mind and its appearances. Any attempt to manipulate, correct, adjust or fix is mistaken. Simply relax in open presence.


Sitting in a comfortable meditative posture,
Our body is left open, relaxed.
The shoulders, neck and face are relaxed,
The eyes are left open, gently gazing into the space before oneself.
The breath is natural- gentle and uncontrived.
The senses are open, free from fixation,
Let whatever appears be as it is.
Don’t fixate- on feelings, thoughts, sights or sounds.
Just relax and settle, like waves on water.
Slowly, like mud settling out,
The mind will become calm and clear.
Rest in the natural state.

Any of these techniques can be used in our meditation. Become familiar with each of them. Develop your toolbox. Some you will naturally gravitate towards, others may be useful in certain situations. 

Practice of the path.

First, we are introduced to the nature of mind, our intrinsic buddhanature, which is unceasing luminous emptiness. 

Because we have not recognized its empty nature, we conceive of a self. 
Not recognizing the luminous clarity aspect, we reify appearances. 
Not recognizing the unceasing quality of the nature of mind, we get caught up in all that appears and exists. 

All of these obscurations- thoughts, emotions, karma, habitual tendencies- are merely adventitious stains without any inherent existence. Knowing these to be adventitious and impermanent without an underlying basis, we can confidently engage in the path to eliminate and purify them. With confidence in the ground continuum, we can engage in the path.

Understanding the abiding nature of the mind, our practice gives us something to work with in order to attain the result. 

An assignment: Emanations.

How many roles do you play in your life?

Father, mother, sister, brother, spouse.
Student, teacher, mentor, apprentice.
Leader, counselor, manager, employee.
Friend, enemy, stranger.
You in an empty house, you in a room of strangers, you at a party with friends.

Which one is you?

Could you be each aspect of you with generosity, love and kindness?
Could each aspect of you be patient, insightful and understanding?
Which aspect of you cannot be helpful?
Which aspect of you can allow forgiveness?
Which aspect of you gives rise to anger and jealousy?

Now the real question:
Can each aspect of you act for the benefit of others?
Could each emanation fulfill your own aims and the aims of others?

Songs of the Mahasiddhas

 Join the Venerable Younge Khachab Rinpoche as he returns to Seattle with teachings on the Songs of the Mahasiddhas. The Mahasiddhas were a diverse group of practitioners who were practical, committed, creative and engaged with their world. They shared their awakening through songs of realization and instruction. Khachab Rinpoche will give an explanation of these instructions so that we can follow  the footsteps of these great practitioners.

Register online at:

YoungeDrodulLing.org/Event_Seattle.shtml

 August 2 & 3, 2014

10-12pm and 2-5pm

515 N 64th St
Seattle, WA

(near Greenlake)

$150 pre-registration

If you wish to attend, but cannot afford the full amount, please contact us in advance to discuss work study options 

and what amount you can afford to pay. A limited number of these partial scholarships will be awarded based on need.

Younge KhachabRinpoche VII is the Younge family lineage holder and a true nonsectarian scholar and Dzogchen yogi. He is known for his accessibility, youthful humor and brilliant discourse.

For additional information or questions, please email siddhearta@gmail.com.

Dharma Project

I am happy to announce a new project that my friends Karen Johnstone, An Ri and myself have started.  

timelessfootsteps.org

Our goal is to start a tradition of study and practice.  More specifically, to:

To spark, stir, excite, and invite those who are interested in Dharma.
To encourage, empower, and inspire those on the path.
To clarify what it means to be on the path, what it means to be a practitioner.
To facilitate insight, clarity, illumination, stability, devotion, patience, diligence and wisdom.

Sign up to receive updates by email, join us on Facebook or Twitter, or pass it along to friends who might be interested.

Siddhearta.

Go.

Be Kind.

Be Loving.

Be Generous.

Siddhearta.

Photo courtesy Himalayan Art.

Dzogchen Summer Retreat

Join The Venerable Younge Khachab Rinpoche and the YDL sangha in their annual Dzogchen retreat. This year Rinpoche will be transmitting the Dzogchen Longde (“Space Division”) cycle of teachings, the second of the three Dzogchen cycles. The Longde teachings emphasize emptiness, and in particular, the view that primordial awareness as well as all the phenomena that arise within that awareness are naturally free and pure. This enables the practitioner to gain certainty in their true nature by removing all doubts that this wisdom inherently exists. This is a rare and unique opportunity as the majority of Dzogchen teachings currently taught are on the first (Semde) and third (Menagde) cycles. Rinpoche, in his inimitably skillful style, will be distilling the essence of the Longde teachings in a direct and practical way throughout the retreat.

The retreat will be practice intensive, with meditation, Dzogchen teachings and guided instruction sessions throughout each day. Anyone is welcome to attend with a sincere interest in Buddhism and the Dzoghen teachings. As there will be many hours of meditation practice each day, prior experience with meditation and retreat is helpful, but not required. As Rinpoche will will not be giving this transmission again in the future, it is especially important for his long time students to attend. 

Date:

Friday, 31 May - Friday, 9 June

Registration begins 1pm on the 31th and program starts at 7pm; program ends 1pm on the 9th.

Required Participation:

Rinpoche would like to add depth to the Summer Retreat by having the participants live together and interact together for the retreat, allowing Rinpoche to teach higher and more in depth. Rinpoche has requested that the students attend the full retreat. No one will be allowed to come and go for the retreat.

Location:
Providence Zen Center
99 Pound Road
Cumberland, RI 02864

Accommodations:
Each person is guaranteed a bed. The first 10 people to register and complete payment in full will get first choice on single rooms. All others will share a double room.

Three vegetarian meals a day are included in the fee for the retreat. Meals will be provided by the Providence Zen Center staff. We will eat together as a group in the dining hall.

Please notify us if you have any health conditions, food allergies or food restrictions. The kitchen will try and accommodate these but please only mention true dietary needs since the kitchen needs to keep meals as simple as possible in order to accommodate such a large crowd.

Center will provide all cushions for practicing.
Not permitted on the grounds: meat, including fish and poultry; alcoholic beverages and illegal drugs; firearms. Pets are not allowed.

For more information visit http://www.youngedrodulling.org/2013retreat.shtml

 

The Mahasiddhas

Throughout Buddhist history people have revered the Buddha and the community of monks and nuns who uphold his teachings.  The Buddhist sangha has served as a living lineage, preserving the teachings of the Buddha in both scriptural transmission and realization.  A lesser known but equally important role in the transmission and realization of the Buddha's teachings fell on the mahasiddhas.  

A mahasiddha is a tantric practitioner who embodies the state of perfection. Mahasiddha means 'great accomplishment', a yogin who has brought his sadhana or practice to its completion and achieved realization. The mahasiddhas played a key role in the preservation and development of the Buddha's teachings in India and Tibet, as displayed in the songs of realization of the Lives of the 84 Mahasiddhas. 

Adapted from Dowman and wikipedia:

The mahasiddhas represent remarkable diversity in their family backgrounds and social roles.  Indeed they could be found in every social setting: kings and priests, poets and musicians, craftsman and farmers, housewives and whores.  They were artists and businessman, respected doctors and neglected beggars, politicians and hermits. 

The Mahasiddhas were a diverse group of practitioners who were practical, committed, creative and engaged with their world. As a collective, their spirituality may be viewed as key and essential to their lives- simple, in concert and accord with all aspects of their lived experience. The basic elements of the lives of the Mahasiddas included their diet, physical posture, career, relationships; indeed "ordinary" life and lived experience were held as the principal foundation and fodder for realization. As siddhas, their main emphasis in spirituality and spiritual discipline was a direct experience of the sacred and spiritual pragmatism.

The mahasiddha tradition may be conceived and considered as a cohesive body due to their spiritual style, sahaja or naturally born- which was distinctively non-sectarian, non-elitist, non-dual, non-elaborate, non-sexist, non-institutional, unconventional, unorthodox and non-renunciate. The mahasiddha tradition arose in dialogue with the dominant religious practices and institutions of the time which often foregrounded practices and disciplines that were over-ritualized, politicized, exoticized, excluded women and whose lived meaning and application were largely inaccessible and opaque to non-monastic peoples.

The practice of the mahasiddha was often depicted as taking place in a charnel ground.  This charnel ground is not merely the physical cremation ground; it can also be discovered or revealed in completely terrifying mundane environments where practitioners find themselves desperate and depressed, where conventional worldly aspirations have become devastated by grim reality. This is demonstrated in the sacred biographies of the great siddhas of the Vajrayāna tradition. Tilopa attained realization as a grinder of sesame seeds and a procurer for a prominent prostitute. Sarvabhakṣa was an extremely obese glutton, Gorakṣa was a cowherd in remote climes, Taṅtepa was addicted to gambling, and Kumbharipa was a destitute potter. These circumstances were charnel grounds because they were despised in Indian society and the siddhas were viewed as failures, marginal and defiled.

* * * * * * * * *

We can find a lot of inspiration and blessings in the lives of these mahasiddhas.  They rejected the notion that liberation was only for a chosen few, that your circumstances restricted your practice.  They lived just the opposite, your life was your practice.  The entirety of your lived experience was the basis for your realization.

But mostly they showed that it was possible.  Whatever your situation, lifestyle or profession; liberation was in the palm of your hand.  

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The Dakini

 

The world of appearance and possibility is the dakini.
Try to control her and she will torment you,
O the scorn she will bring to your heart.
The wise let her fly unhindered through the expanse of space.
So be wise, O child,
And she will bring you endless great bliss.

Discovering Your Fundamental Ground

Do not prolong the past.
Do not beckon the future.
Rest in cognitive lucidity free from concepts.

The first step to the practice of calm abiding, or shamatha, is to tame or pacify the mind.

In our current state we have this mind that never sits still.  We are constantly replaying past events and interactions, needlessly caught up in future plans and speculation.  Whenever we do find a moment of freedom in our busy and stressful life, usually the first thing we do is turn on the TV or hop on the internet and mindlessly get caught up in a moments entertainment.  

It is a strange thing, but we are often so caught up in action and doing, that when we choose to rest or meditate we find a lot of anxiousness.  We spend so much of our time caught up in our heads that when we sit down to meditate we have a steady stream of thoughts and plans pulling us off into some far off dreamscape.  

When we sit in meditation we need to drop the baggage and armor that we have been carrying through the day.  We need to embrace an open presence that doesn't turn away from the rawness of the present moment.  

So the first step is to calm this monkey mind, this mind that is compelled to jump from one object to the next in its unceasing restlessness.  In this regard it is important to understand how the mind works.  The Buddha's teachings break down the mind, or what we normally consider mind, into eight different aspects.

Five sense consciousnesses- eye, ear, nose, mouth and touch
Conceptual consciousness- responsible for the infinite variety of thoughts, opinions and value judgements
Afflicted consciousness- our habitual tendencies, neuroses, predominant mental states like anger, jealousy and lust
Basis-of-all consciousness- the foundational stream consciousness, the subtle consciousness that carries through our whole life, and connects life to life.

The five sense consciousnesses simply experience their subject matter, they do not interpret, judge, express delight or contempt for whatever is appearing.  That is what the sixth, conceptual consciousness excels in.  It is this consciousness, this reactionary and fixated aspect of our minds that we are trying to calm and pacify.  

We have several methods that we can use to accomplish this task of calming the mind.  The two that we taught in the meditation class were:

1) Resting with a conceptual focus (the white thigle in the palm of the hands)
2) Resting in the natural state without a conceptual focus

The purpose of both techniques is to develop a state of natural rest.  This is not a state that is a lifeless and dull nothingness.  Rather it is an open, calm lucidity like that of a perfectly pristine ocean during the daytime.  To rest in that state of cognitive lucidity free from concepts, that is how we approach the practice of meditation and calm abiding.  

That is how we grasp the mind that previously has not been grasped.  That is the start of the journey, and the destination has never been too far away.  

Weekly challenge:  Start meditating, today.  Set aside five minutes of your day to establishing your ground.  Simply rest in the present moment for a few minutes each day, and you will find that the practice naturally develops on its own.  You will find that in the wake of your previous thoughts and emotions, there is an open clarity that is beyond description.  

 

Ocean of Definitive Meaning

In preparation for the upcoming Stages of Meditation course, I would like to introduce the text that we will be using as a basis for study and contemplation.  While the weekly meditation sessions will focus on practical experience and techniques of meditation, each week there will be blog posts that further clarify the meditation sessions and serve as a platform for discussion and inquiry. 

The text we will be using is the Ocean of Definitive Meaning, written by the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje in the late 1500's. This text is one of the most detailed and direct instruction manuals within the Mahamudra tradition. 

We can broadly distinguish the Mahamudra tradition into two categories: the path of liberation and the path of method.  The path of method is characterized by the practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa.  The path of liberation is exemplified in this present text by the Ninth Karmapa.  The true nature of the path is to tame this mind of ours, whether it be according to the Mahayana Sutra, Mahamudra or Dzogchen vehicles.  This present text serves as a step-by-step guide by which we can accomplish this primary aim- to gain our own experience and to realize the ultimate meaning, our own self-arising primordial wisdom. 

The text is divided into three main sections- the preliminaries, shamatha or calm abiding, and vipassana or insight.  Each week we will address the main topics in a rather brief way, though it will provide a firm support for your own study and investigation. 

I am really looking forward to this upcoming class, as always feel free to ask questions and look forward to starting class soon!