Treasury of Ati

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11th July 2015

Dharmatā is adorned with vidyā, vidyā is adorned with pristineconsciousness [ye shes ], pristine consciousness is adorned withcompassion,* also compassion is unceasing.

— Garab Dorje fromIlluminating the Meaning of the Mañjuśrī Nāmasaṃgīti

* The second two clauses are also found in the Vima Nyinthig.Posted 11th July 2015 by Malcolm Smith

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7th July 2015

The life of an embodied personis impermanent, like a dream;nothing is accomplished by a dream.This life is impermanent like a strong river.Falling water does not stay in one place.This life cannot be held, like the wind.

A person cannot hold the the wind.This life is short like an apparition.

An apparition never stays forever.

This life is false like an illusion.The state of truth cannot be held by an illusion.This life is like a guest who does not stay.

A guest never stays.This life is uncertain like a rain cloud,one can never time a cloud. [27/a]

As such, the lifespan of a personis not fixed in one way like this.The time [of death] is sudden and surprising,it cannot be anticipated.

— The Union of the Sun and Moon Tantra

Lifespans

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Posted 7th July 2015 by Malcolm Smith

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11th December 2013The Song of the Beneficial Qualities of Bodhicitta Illustrated with Six Similes

Bodhicitta is precious;like the sun and moon, giving clear illumination.Bodhicitta is precious;like space, having never existed.Bodhicitta is precious;like Sumeru, never changing place.

Bodhicitta is precious;like a river, always flowing.Bodhicitta is precious;like a rainbow, it cannot be held.Bodhicitta is precious;like a gem, the source of needs and wants.

Posted 11th December 2013 by Malcolm Smith

Vairocana's Song of Bodhicitta

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21st November 2013

We all have moments of perfect knowledge, they happen all thetime. We need only to recognize them.

Posted 21st November 2013 by Malcolm Smith

Perfect Knowledge...

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7th November 2013

Śariputra, that which is absence of change and the absence of concepts in all phenomena is called "the mind essence of the mind".

— Ārya-daśasāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtraPosted 7th November 2013 by Malcolm Smith

Mind Essence

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3rd November 2013Vairocana said:

According to grades of capacity, there are individual gatewaysinto the innermost view of ultimate dharmatā;One will obtain or realize the result by realizing anydoctrine in the vehicle of the sublime Dharma.

Posted 3rd November 2013 by Malcolm Smith

It's all good

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26th October 2013Vairocana said:

At the time of vidyā, wisdom arises as the dhātu;at the time of avidyā, wisdom appears as samsara;though there is a great difference between vidyā and avidyā,all the buddhas of the three timesnever move from the great dhātu itself.

At the time of avidyā, it is the all basis,that never moves from the dharmatādhātu;at the time of vidyā, it is the great blissful dharmakāya.

Posted 26th October 2013 by Malcolm Smith

Vidyā and avidyā

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4th September 2013

...though samsara and nirvana appear separately, vidyā and avidyāare both in one’s mind.

-- The Wheel That Ascertains the View of the Cuckoo

Avidyā and Vidyā

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Posted 4th September 2013 by Malcolm Smith

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12th June 2013

It is not possible for deluded thoughts to arisein the one who differentiates samsara and nirvana.

— Tantra of the Blazing LampPosted 12th June 2013 by Malcolm Smith

Impossibilities II

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4th January 2013

Perfect dharmatā is nonarising,alternately, self-liberated without grasping.

Why? The cause of self-liberationis unceasing nonattachment.It is free from a mind of grasping attachment.Recognize this again and again.If one familiarizes oneself repeatedly,one is person who has seen the truth.

— The Tantra of Self-Arisen Vidyā Posted 4th January 2013 by Malcolm Smith

Self-liberation

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23rd October 2012

"It is not possible for samsara to come from vidyā."

-- Vimalamitra's Aural LineagePosted 23rd October 2012 by Malcolm Smith

Impossiblities

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19th October 2012I have often mentioned why, in my opinion, it is incorrect to translaterang rig as "self-awareness" or "intrinsic awareness". Beyond the fact thatrig pameans "knowledge", and is the antonym ofma rig pa ignorance, there ismuch confusion regarding the compound "rang rig".

Many people incorrectly assume thatrang rig is a contraction of "rang gis rig pa " i.e. self-knowing, as indicated by the instrumental particlegis. Thecompound is in fact a contraction ofrang gi rig pa which we can understandfrom the genetive particlegi as we can clearly see in the comment on thefollowing line of thesgra thal gyur : /rang rig rtog pa kun 'bral bas/ [AdzomChogar edition].

The commentary for this line found in thesgra thal gyur commentary reads/de yang gzhan las ma byung bas rang rig pa/ i.e. "Further, since it does notcome from elsewhere, [it is] one's vidyā".

Further proof of the above reading may by found in the rendering of thiscitation in the recently mentioned Aural Lineage , [dgongs pa zang thal, vol 4,

pg. 335, Simla edition] which gives a slightly different form of the citation:/rang gi rig pa kun grol bas/ i.e. "Since one's vidyā is free from all..."

That the author of the Aural Lineage glossess rang rig withrang gi rig pa issignificant, in that it shows how Dzogchen masters of the past naturally thinkabout this construct.


Rang rig

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18th October 2012

Though the nature of vidyā pervades all,the dharmakāya is encountered in the intimate instructions.

-- The Unwritten Tantra

Introduction

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14th October 2012

The state of realization of the tathāgatas is of two kinds:sensations cease through unfabricated equipoise;heat is obtained through the uncultivated view.

-- The Tantra of The Union of The Sun and The MoonPosted 14th October 2012 by Malcolm Smith

The State of Realization of the Tathāgatas

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27th September 2012

[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CAgZcEG_wb0/UGNYFzEmaeI/AAAAAAAAAOU/hinCWHtWIlc/s1600/vimalamitra.jpg

Pandita Vimalamitra

Courtesy: S. NoskovUp until now, Longchenpa's (1308-1364)Tshig don mdzod or Treasury of Subjects has taken the pride of place as the definitive system of exegesis of the so-called Dzogchen "snying thig" tradition derived from the seventeentantras. David Germano's 1992 dissertation, Poetic thought, the intelligent Universe, and the mystery of self: The Tantric synthesis of rDzogs Chen infourteenth century Tibet, was certainly a milestone in the study of this topic,but leaves much to be desired in terms of exposing the origins of this system

of analysis of the man ngag sde class of tantras.Fortunately, we are now in a better position than we were in 1992. Severalseminal commentaries on tantras such as the sgra thal gyur and so on, have

A Preliminary Note on Vimalamitra's Aural Lineage

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come to light, which are now being critically edited by native scholars suchas Chogyal Namkhai Norbu and so on.

We also have had the good fortune of the publication of a 12th century textauthored by one mKhas pa Nyi 'bum, the son of Zhang ston bkra shi rdo rje,called the rdzogs pa chen po tshig don bcu gcig pa bzhugs so (bod ljongs midmangs dpe skrun khang; lha sa; 2008) orThe Eleven Subjects of The Great Perfection . We have also the good fortune of the publication ofThe Aural Lineage of Vimalamitra (rgod kyi ldem 'phru can. dgongs pa zang thal. TBRCW18557. 4: 187 - 406. simla: thub bstan rdo rje brag e wam lcog sgar ,2000).

In regards to the third text mentioned above, The Aural Lineage , this latter text is a slightly augmented recension with interpolations of supplementarycitations and brief summaries into the original text authored by Nyi 'bum.

Presented as a dialogue with King Trisong Detsen at Chimpu, apart from theintroduction and a couple of scene specific interpolations, it presents aversion of the Nyi 'bum text in its entirety with differences accountable bydiffering manuscript traditions and scribal errors. In several places wherethere is a difference between The Eleven Subjects and the Aural Lineage they are resolved by examining the same passages presented in theTreasury. In some cases sense can be restored to passages in the ElevenTopics with the Aural Lineage .

Moreover, the citations attributed to Vimalamitra in both theTreasury and the Aural Lineage find their origin in Nyi 'bum'sEleven Subjects .

Further, we can understand that at least one of the major commentaries onthe seventeen tantras was present during the time of Nyi 'bum from which hemust have derived his own presentation of the eleven topics i.e. the eigthand final chapter of the commentary ofThe String of Pearls Tantra attributedto Vimalamitra; the colophon of which notes that it was transmitted by Nyi

'bums's nephew, Guru Jo 'ber to one Gru gu Jo 'bum.

Thus, with the publication of the latter two texts, we can now triangulate theposition ofThe Treasury of Subjects. Germano's thesis lends the impressionthat The Treasury of Subjects is a unique contribution of Longchenpa to thefield of Dzogchen exegesis. But in fact, for its subject matter,The Treasury of Subjects is wholly dependent on Nyi 'bum's earlier text, both in terms of thegeneral sequence of citations and of lifting entire passages or reworkingentire passages. Thus, Nyi 'bum's seminal text, The Eleven Subjects of TheGreat Perfection provides the grand outline upon which the scholasticexegesis of the entire later Nyinthig tradition depends. It was clearly the maintext used to teach the general outline of snying thing used up until the time of Kumararaja and it is absolutely certain thatThe Eleven Subjects was the


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expression of Mahāyāna given his separate treatment of this doctrine in thesgrub mtha' mdzod and in the Treasury of Subjects.

One might also speculate that the earlier text was rennovated by RigdzinGodem and included in the dgongs pa zang thal collection because itrepresents an earlier tradition than that of Longchenpa, has a less clutteredpresentation, is not as long, is easier to teach and so on, and as such doesindeed represent the basis of the authentic aural lineage of Vimalamitra.

However, as indicated above, the study of the three texts concerning theeleven topics authored by Longchenpa, as well as the dgongs pa zang thal 's Aural Lineage, is not complete without reference to the earliest extanttext we have on the subject, The Eleven Subjects of The Great Perfection .Therefore, Nyi bum's text occupies a critical point in the history of theevolution of the snying thig tradition and should not be overlooked.

Posted 27th September 2012 by Malcolm Smith

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30th August 2012

One's knowledge of the non-duality ofall phenomena is bodhicitta.

— Vajrasattvamāyājālaguhyasarvādarśa-nāma-tantraPosted 30th August 2012 by Malcolm Smith

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27th May 2012

May the secret treasury of all victors,the unsurpassed Dzogchen teachings,

World Thigle

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spread widely through all dimensions just like the sun rising in the sky.

[http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8015/7274576886_71c7fb5004.jpg]

Posted 27th May 2012 by Malcolm SmithLocation: Ashfield, MA 01330, USA

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16th May 2012Dzogchen is the heart of all paths, whether of samsara or nirvana, and isthe truth that everyone is trying to discover. What is Dzogchen? We allknow the answer to that question ‐‐ it is our real condition.

Everyone, no matter what religion they belong to, is trying to discover thetruth. That truth exists in the heart of every single sentient being. So whenyou discover that truth, there is no need to remain locked in thelimitations of "Buddhist" and "non‐Buddhist".

The Heart of All Paths

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Limitations are what cause all the suffering in the world.

We cannot change the world for others, but we can change the world forourselves. The only way to do this is to evolve beyond the limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race, and tribe. If we go beyond theselimitations through discovering our primordial potentiality, then we areparticipating in changing the world.

As we have seen, for example, the six liberations are not just for Buddhists‐‐ you don't have to make someone a Buddhist in order to sing Song of theVajra for them, for example, or recite the Aspiration of Samantabhadra ‐‐any sentient being who hears these sung or recited will have a seed of future liberation planted in their continuum, thos grol (liberation throughhearing). You don't have to make someone a Buddhist to give them some

myong grol (liberation through taste), or give them a btags grol (liberationthrough wearing), or show them some image that is a mthong grol(liberation through sight), or give them some incense which is a speciallyformulated dri grol (liberation through smell), etc.

Of course I am a Buddhist. But where I used to be a Buddhist before I was aDzogchen practitioner, now it is other way around. This is not because of some intellectual trip. This is based on my practice of Buddhism andDzogchen for 20+ years now.

I can see really clearly that we need to go beyond Buddhist provincialism.We even complain about sectarianism among Buddhists. We also war witheach other about such things whose Karmapa is the real one; which isbetter, gzhan stong or rang stong; is yogacara as high as madhayamaka ornot; is Theravada Hinayāna or not; is Mahāyāna or the tantras the realteaching of the Buddha or not. If we do not go beyond these kinds of pettyintellectual differences, we will never survive as a species and we will

continue to destroy ourselves.

In the end it honestly does not matter much whether we put our faith inJesus, Krishna or Buddha. There is no perfect faith that leads to liberation.The only thing that leads to liberation is knowledge of our true condition.When we know that state, we don't have need of faith since now we havecertainty.

We do not need to ecumenically pretend that all paths lead to the sameplace. All we need to understand is that everyone is searching for the samething, the peace and happiness that springs from freedom. We canovercome all our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race andtribe just by maintaining presence and awareness of this fact.


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When we have overcome our own limitations regarding religion, ideology,nation, class, race and tribe, then we can work with any circumstances. If one is attached to some limitation, there is no way one can work well withcircumstances. One can only work with circumstances by seeing what one'slimitations are.

When we overcome our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, raceand tribe then we are more free. We are more free to celebrate life,sorrow at death, wonder at creation, we are more free to enjoy our livesand the lives of others.

When we overcome our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, raceand tribe we are more free to celebrate the threatening "other", tocelebrate the beauty of human diversity and difference, which is the

strength of our species.

When we overcome our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, raceand tribe we are more free to act wisely, to cherish this beautiful planetwe live on and all the richness of life, the plants, the animals, the rocks,minerals, oceans, mountains, rivers, and lakes it offers us.

When we overcome our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, raceand tribe through knowing our own state through personal experience theuniverse and all the beings in it are revealed as an astonishing panoply of spheres of light and color, sound, lights and rays that has no boundary norcenter.

When we overcome our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, raceand tribe through knowing our own state just as it is, we have no need toensure any creed, no need to confirm any ideology, no need to controlanyone or anything ‐‐ we can let the free be free as they have been all

along whether they know it or not.

When we overcome our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, raceand tribe thorugh direct and perfect knowledge of our own state, then, if we have the capacity, we can introduce others to their own state withoutregard to religion, ideology, nation, class, race and tribe.

If, for example, Dzogchen teachings are only for Buddhists, how can weever hope to overcome our limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class,race and tribe? How can enforcing limitations of religion, ideology, nation,class, race and tribe ever be useful in the project of overcoming ourlimitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race and tribe?


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Dzogchen teachings are for all who are interested. Because the ancientpeoples of Zhang Zhung and Tibet were interested in Dzogchen, Dzogchenspread there before the formal advent of Buddhism in that country.Originally Dzogchen was not a formal part of Buddhism. It spread through avery small lineage of practitioners. This group of practitioners, beginningwith Mañjuśrīmitra, saw that Dzogchen was the essence of what theBuddha was trying to communicate. So they spread it slowly. Later,because Padmasambhava, Vairocana and Vimalamitra brought it to Tibetand some Tibetans too understood it was the essence of the Buddha'steaching, they kept it in secret and it slowly spread among Tibetans. Then,in the 11‐12th century, when the Nyingmapas gained self‐awareness as anindependent school, they adopted Dzogchen as their official "position" incompetition with the new translation trends and incorporated it into theirschool. But by this time, Dzogchen had completely died out in India. ButDzogchen, as is proven by its presence in Bon, is not strictly the provence

of Buddhism. Though the Bonpos revised their teachings to bring them intoline with Buddhist teachings, Zhang Zhung Nyengyud is an authentic line of Dzogchen intimate instruction that do not depend on Garab Dorje.Therefore, in the same way that early masters of Dzogchen were free fromlimitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race and tribe and taughtDzogchen to whoever came to them, we should also endeavor to overcomeour limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race and tribe.

We must not consider the Dzogchen teachings as belonging to any religion,ideology, nation, class, race or tribe. Instead, as practitioners of Dzogchen,we should endeavor to overcome our personal limitations of religion,ideology, nation, class, race and tribe through knowing our real state justas it is. When we know our own state just as it is, we can engage withpeople wherever they are without ourselves throwing up any barriers of religion, ideology, nation, class, race and tribe. So I suggest it is veryimportant for Dzogchen practitioners, including myself, to overcome anylimitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race and tribe. We already

have the means to do this ‐‐ we simply need to will to do it. If we groundourselves in the deep natural transformation that comes from recognizingand integrating with our primordial potentiality, then we can go beyondthe limitations of religion, ideology, nation, class, race and tribe. By goingbeyond these limitations (as well as the limitations of conceptuality,imputation, paths, stages, realizations, attainments, buddhas and sentientbeings) through recognizing our own innate state that is originally pure andnaturally formed, we can move freely through the world and meeteveryone and everthing from the authentic space of recognition of greatoriginal purity of all that is.

Posted 16th May 2012 by Malcolm Smith

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1st May 2012

Phenomena are the suffering of samsara,if one abandons phenomena, bliss is obtained.

--The Tantra of Self-Arisen VidyāPosted 1st May 2012 by Malcolm Smith

Phenomena

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24th April 2012

Though the different vehicles are beyond concept,there is no more than one if wisdom is realized.

— The Tantra of Self-Arisen VidyāPosted 24th April 2012 by Malcolm Smith

Vehicles

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Treasury of Ati