Dalai Lama Foundation Study Circle Montreal

Dharma Quote of the Week

In the Mahayana, there exist the vows of the Bodhisattva…but in Dzogchen, there exist no such rules or vows.

When the Indian Buddhist master Atisa came to Tibet in the eleventh century, he met the famous Tibetan translator Rinchen Zangpo. Atisa asked him how he practiced the Tantras which he had translated, and he replied that he practiced them meticulously one after the other. But Atisa told him that this was not the correct way. He pointed out to the translator that all of the Tantras could be condensed and integrated into a single Upadesa and one need only practise that in order to maintain all of the transmissions which he had received.

The same is true with Dzogchen. If we really understand this single teaching here which comes directly from Guru Padmasambhava, we can attain liberation. But we must grasp this vital core of the teaching. No matter what we are doing, which ever among the four modes of behavior–walking, sitting, lying down, or eating, we must always hold to awareness, never forgetting, never losing this awareness. This is the real meaning of Rigdzin, one who is totally aware. In Dzogchen, there is only one rule–always be aware in whatever we do, never be distracted!(p.68)

–from Self-Liberation through Seeing with Naked Awareness by translation and commentary by John Myrdhin Reynolds, foreword by Namkhai Norbu, published by Snow Lion Publications

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