Adriano Clemente – Preliminary Practice in Dzogchen

A talk given by Adriano Clemente at Merigar West, Italy, 10 August 2021

I was requested to give an introduction to this book, The Stairway to Liberation, that Rinpoche wrote many years ago. There is another book that Rinpoche wrote on the tregchöd and finished in the early 70s. It is quite a large book with many topics and is more or less the essence of all the methods of the Dzogchen upadesha. In this book it says that there are preliminary practices and then main practices. When it mentions the preliminary practices it refers to another book which is The Stairway to Liberation which was written later than the main book on tregchöd, more or less at the time Rinpoche was teaching in Naples. Then it was translated by Cristiana De Falco. Some years ago we had to review some old books and booklets including this one and we now have the updated version. 

What does preliminary practice mean? In general we say Dzogchen, dzogpa chenpo, which means our real nature. Our real nature means that this state is like the source of all phenomena. Usually we always say samsara and nirvana which are concepts of our mind. At least samsara is a concept that corresponds to something we experience. Even though we say nirvana we don’t know what it means but we use these two terms because samsara is our ordinary life with its suffering. This samsara that is suffering we experience not only now but it also goes on continuously beyond time and we cannot say when it started or will end. 

In the Invocation of Samantabhadra, at the end it says all beings of the Six Lokas are like me, Samantabhadra, but the difference is that they are dreaming. We are dreaming now, we are not aware, and even if we are aware, we cannot wake up. To awaken means Buddha. What do we need to awaken to our primordial state, to our Buddha? We need the teaching, the path. There are many different paths. The Dzogchen or Atiyoga path has three main points: view, meditation and action or conduct. The view means we are like somebody who is walking in the dark. Maybe we need to go somewhere but we have no idea which path we should take. The view means that there is someone who is expert, who has already reached the place we want to go and he explains to us so we can reach that place. This is a general understanding of what we call the view.

In Buddhist teaching starting from Sutra there are different kinds of views but they are basically explained through our mind and reasoning and we have to try to understand them through our concepts. Even in Sutra we have to apply that which has become the object of our understanding and it must become something real. In the end we transcend that.
In the Sutra we have the concept of emptiness, shunyata. We can study and have some idea of what shunyata means and how we should reach that understanding but it doesn’t mean that we remain stuck with that concept of emptiness. That shunyata must become a living experience for the practitioner so that he or she has real understanding of it. That is why we have prajnaparamita, for example. Even in the Sutra it is very important to understand that meaning and it must become a living experience. 

Then in the Tantras, the view is a little different because the principle of the Tantras is not based on just emptiness as the point of arrival. In the outer Tantras and especially in the inner Tantras emptiness is the real nature of all phenomena, but the way we reach that understanding is that we work with the dimension of our energy, through empowerment and application of the practice of transformation of deities and mandala and so on. We are dealing with our inner energy which is what we call the natural quality of the primordial state.

When we consider the point of view of Dzogchen Atiyoga, a Dzogchen teacher can explain about the view to make us understand what it means so we have some idea of what the primordial state is, but that is not what we call the Dzogchen view. The Dzogchen view is when the teacher has introduced the student and the student has recognized and acquired knowledge of the primordial state. Then he or she has to apply that view, to become familiar with that state. This is the meaning of gompa in Tibetan. Usually we say meditation but the real meaning is not just meditation. Gompa means that we have become familiar with or have mastered some object or knowledge through reflection or application of a method.

Then the third aspect, chöpa or conduct, means to act, to apply, to use, it has many meanings, but in Dzogchen it means that we bring the knowledge of the primordial state that we have into our daily life. Then it becomes the conduct or chöpa of Dzogchen, otherwise it has no meaning. If one is a Dzogchen practitioner and does a half hour of practice a day but the rest of the time is distracted, then chöpa does not exist. We must remember these three points: view, cultivation of that view, and bringing that view into our daily lives. 

When we talk about meditation or practice in Dzogchen we have preliminary practices and main practices. Firstly, what is the main practice in Dzogchen? It is tregchöd. Tregchöd means that once we have that recognition of our primordial state, our three gates of body, voice and mind are relaxed and integrated in that knowledge. There is no specific practice. We just have to continue that state that we have discovered. So tregchöd is the main practice and then there is thögal. Once we have become familiar with tregchöd and have become a tregchöd practitioner, then thögal implies specific methods through which we can very quickly have complete integration of our outer energy with our inner energy of the elements. 

Usually in the Dzogchen tantras, they say that tregchöd is for the lazy ones while for the diligent there is thögal because with tregchöd we don’t have to do much effort once we have that knowledge. With thögal we have to apply many methods and positions and to practice for a long time so it involves a lot of effort. 

So as main practices we have tregchöd and thögal. Then in Dzogchen we have two kinds of preliminary practices. The first one is not specific to Dzogchen and we call it outer common preliminary practice. It comes from the understanding of the Four Awarenesses. In all Tibetan schools we have Refuge, Bodhichitta, the Mandala Offering, Vajrasattva Purification and Guruyoga and each of these has a specific reason why we need to apply it. When we talk about the Four Awarenesses, precious human birth, impermanence, suffering and samsara, in Tibetan they are called lodog nampa zhi (blo ldog rnam pa bzhi); lo means the mind, dogpa means to turn back. For instance, we may have many plans to become rich, but in order to do that we have to do some negative actions. Lo dog means we have this awareness that everything is impermanent, that negative actions are the cause of suffering, so we turn back our mind and we change. 

The Four Awarenesses just means that we become aware of our real situation in samsara. It is something we can discover ourselves without reading a book or even reading about the Four Awarenesses. If we start to follow a teaching, the basis of that means we are not satisfied. This dissatisfaction can have different causes; sometimes we have passed through a serious tragedy in our life and that becomes a secondary cause for awakening us to recognize the nature of suffering. Other times our natural character means that we are not satisfied, something inside us is looking for something more. Some people are satisfied all their lives just eating and drinking, having a family and watching football on tv and are fine with that until their death. The majority of human beings are like that. There are very few who question themselves: who am I, where do I come from, where am I going. 

Some people have this spiritual inclination which comes from former lives. Then maybe in former lives we were already practitioners, we had already met Rinpoche, but we were not very good practitioners at that time. Maybe we were animals and ate some food that Rinpoche authenticated with mantras and that became a cause for us. For certain many of us are like that because that is how the relationship with the master develops in general. Then in life we need a secondary cause to awaken these traces that we have inside. In Tibetan we say le ntro (las ‘phro) which means the continuation of former karma wakes up through that secondary cause. The secondary cause can be different things like suffering, like problems, but even if it is very painful for us it becomes the cause for our awakening to that connection to the teacher and the teaching. In any case when we say the Four Awarenesses it means that we become aware of our situation and how important it is to follow teaching in order to become free from the confusion of samsara. 

After we have that knowledge or understanding then the natural outcome of that awareness is what we call Refuge and Bodhichitta. When we say refuge what does it mean? It means we are aware of our weak situation in samsara because we are slaves to karma and emotions. We recognize that the only way to have some rest from this suffering is to follow the teaching and the teacher. When we meet the teacher in the beginning, for many of us, we have a feeling of very strong devotion. This is good because it means that there is a connection with that teacher and at that point naturally we take refuge in the master because we think that whatever problems we have there is finally somebody who can lead us out of that suffering. This is the meaning of refuge. It means that the teacher, his teaching and his community are all  part of the refuge. The teacher because we have trust that he can bring us out of confusion and suffering. The teaching because it is the way we can overcome that suffering. And the community because those following the same teacher are all trying to help each other. Even in a worldly situation, a friend is someone we can trust so if we are sad we immediately call our friend who tries to console us. So even more than that, our spiritual friends, the sangha, should have this feeling of union and collaboration. That is why we say to take refuge in the teacher, teaching and community. 

Bodhichitta is connected to that understanding. In general it can have different meanings but in Dzogchen Atiyoga Bodhichitta is just another name for the primordial state. In the Sutra teaching it can also have that kind of meaning when we talk about absolute bodhichitta. But when we talk about relative bodhichitta it means that when we understand the primordial state, Buddha nature, whatever it is, that is the only source of happiness and freedom. When we have that certainty in ourselves, we also know that all other beings who are suffering have that same possibility because everybody has that potentiality. Then we try to help all other beings to have that knowledge or recognition. This is what is called bodhichitta. 

Then in a traditional way we have Mandala Offerings and Vajrasattva Purification. The Mandala Offering is in order to accumulate merits meaning we can have some good circumstances in our human life in order to be able practice the dharma without obstacles. If a person has no merits, life is very difficult. He may not have a job, he may be ill, have problems, then it is difficult to join the teaching and apply the path. In general accumulation of merits means we are doing good actions with altruistic intentions and apply that without thinking that it is for one’s own interest. 

The Vajrasattva Purification is also very important. In general we have mainly two kinds of obstacles to our condition, digpa (sdig pa) and dribpa (sgrib pa). Digpa means the result of a negative action. Intentionally we may have some anger, some hatred and want to destroy an enemy, finally get rid of that enemy and are satisfied with that action. Then we have accumulated this digpa or negative cause. Some practitioners consider that Dzogchen means self-liberation but do not understand the real meaning of this. It seems that we decide with our mind, we free our mind of all concepts and think that there is no good action or bad action because our nature is beyond karma. Then, who cares, we can do whatever we want. In the beginning we have the idea that since we are Dzogchen practitioners we can do anything one time with no problems. Then gradually we become accustomed to that wrong behaviour. We can have many experiences of practitioners who are alcoholic or drug addicts, but they are just harming themselves. So good intention is important.

Dribpa is another type of obstacle which means obscuration or something that prevents us from having clarity. For instance some practitioners have received shiné teachings, one-pointed meditation. When they try to fixate on an object with concentration they may fall asleep after some time. In general we can have many obstacles to our clarity. Dribpa is one aspect. If we want to go more into the finer details then there are two kinds of obscurations, one is emotions and the other is conceptual obscurations. When we go deeper into Dzogchen practice we have these explanations. That is why we need preliminary practices.

The last of the traditional practices is Guruyoga although in the sense of preliminary practice and in Atiyoga Dzogchen it is slightly different. When we do Guruyoga as a preliminary practice the purpose is to receive blessings, empowering energy as if we are receiving an empowerment or important transmission from the teacher. We can feel that empowering energy within ourselves physically. It is a kind of blessing that we receive in that moment and helps to remove our obstacles and purify our condition. Even if the teacher is not present in front of us, we pray to the teacher with heartfelt devotion and ask to receive that blessing in order to remove our confusion and suffering, in that way if we have real participation we can feel that we are receiving something. Then in the end the teacher dissolves into us and we are in the unified state. In a general way this is what we call Guruyoga.

In the Dzogchen teaching when we say Guruyoga it is not only that but also the finality of receiving the blessing is to recognize our own primordial state. In that sense the unification state means the state of the master has transferred into our condition and now we are abiding in that same condition. That is why in Dzogchen when we do Guruyoga we don’t need to receive the four empowerments like in the Vajrayana way. Sometimes even if we do it in a dualistic way just with the letter A we can receive blessings and integrate them within ourselves. We sound A and visualize a white A in a five-colored thigle. This A is our primordial state which is the same state in which the Master abides forever. And the five-colored thigle is just like the natural quality of our primordial state, what we call primordial potentiality. Primordial potentiality is the same root or source of samsaric vision and pure vision. Then when we apply that Ati Guruyoga we find ourselves at the centre of all manifestations. So these are what we call preliminary practices in a common way.

Then we have the special preliminary practices of Dzogchen – the Dzogchen upadesha series. In all the important tantras  such as the drathalgyur (sgra thal ‘gyur) we have the explanation of rushen. We also have inner, outer and secret rushen. The full title is khorde rushen; khorde means samsara and nirvana, rushen means separation. Of course it is not possible to physically separate samsara and nirvana so it means going to the source of what is called samsara and nirvana, going to the root of our mind. When we say the mind it means the cause of samsara because even the word samsara is a concept of our mind. It does not exist outside our mind. All the objects of our sense perceptions are connected to our mind so we say the root of samsara is our mind. But then our mind is not the supreme source because it is like a reflection of our primordial state. Our primordial state is like a mirror. All reflections that appear in this mirror are like functions of our mind and senses. But the capacity, the openness of the mirror to have that possibility of reflecting any manifestation is what we must understand, through our concepts, to be the primordial state. 

The master tells us that our mind, our individuality, our situation is not real. They are like reflections in the mirror. Then we have to discover what the pure nature of the mirror is. The teacher gives many examples and the student tries to think and have some idea about that. “Ah, now I understand. My thoughts are just like reflections in the mirror but the real nature of the mirror is like the real nature of my mind.” So then the real nature of the primordial state becomes like a concept. We have a concept of samsara and nirvana and we have the concept of the mind and the nature of the mind. That is why we need to discover the state beyond concepts through experience. 

The first recognition that we need to have is through secondary causes, which can be different. When the teacher gives transmission or direct introduction that is a secondary cause because we already have the primary cause within ourselves – the primordial state. We only have to discover it. Then the teacher gives different methods to introduce that state and once we discover it, or even have a flash of it, that is recognition. When we have that recognition of what samsara and nirvana mean, mind and the nature of mind, it becomes a real experience for us. All the rushen practices have the purpose of making that knowledge more stable. 

We have the rushen of body, voice and mind because we consist of body, voice and mind. With the body we can do the vajra position and some visualization connected to that. With the voice we apply different ways such as practices with the sound of HUM. With the mind the rushen practices go to the root of our thoughts, searching for mind. There are also other rushen practices of the mind like those in the base of Santi Maha Sangha. All these methods work to bring us to complete relaxation of body, voice and mind. 

But that relaxation doesn’t mean that we just let go without any presence. At the end of any rushen practice there is always nalma (rnal ma) which in Tibetan means remaining as it was in the beginning, without us needing to change or correct anything. In Dzogchen meditation or contemplation, we often hear the term machö (ma bcos) or uncorrected. What do we not have to correct? Once we have recognition of the primordial state then we are in the state in which there is no need to add or subtract anything. But of course if we are doing meditation and let our mind free to jump here and there in a distracted way, that is not correct. In that case it is better to correct it. If we are sleepy we can look up. If we are agitated we look down. That is the way to correct and this is the meaning.

Nalma means trying to find ourselves in our original nature. Why do we have to find ourselves in our original nature? Because if we are in that state of relaxation in which the mind does not work, for example, we have held the vajra position for a long time and are exhausted, then at that moment our mind cannot function and we find a kind of blank state in which we don’t have the possibility to judge. In that moment we are in that kind of neutral state which is very useful for recognizing our pure presence. 

This principle is the same with the semdzin with the syllable PHAT in which we try in a forceful way by ourselves to stop this judging function of the mind. We find a kind of neutral state. In Tibetan we say lungmatenpa (lung ma bstan pa) or hedewa (had de ba), which means startled. For example if we are doing something and suddenly something falls, we turn and in that moment our mind is empty. This kind of empty condition of the mind or this condition without thoughts is not the state of contemplation or rigpa, but it can allow the possibility of the recognition of the state of rigpa. That is why we have this series of rushen practices.

In rushen we also have the Purification of the Six Lokas, a very important practice more connected to our inner condition of energy and the obstacles and impediments  connected with the condition of the energy of our body. When we talk about our inner body we say chakras and channels and thigles which are all connected to our different emotions and the karmic pranas that flow through our body. That is something we carry in our consciousness from one lifetime to another and why we need to purify the Six Lokas in order to purify the inner seeds of the five emotions that are the causes of the Six Lokas. It is also a very useful practice.

So these in general are the preliminary practices in Dzogchen. Once we have that recognition of our state and it becomes stable then we try to apply that in the essence of the practice that is called tregchöd. When they hear tregchöd some practitioners consider it to be very special and something that Rinpoche only taught at a few retreats, like longde, thögal and yangthig that are all practices that Rinpoche taught only in specific circumstances. But when Rinpoche started to teach, he always taught tregchöd at all of his retreats. Every time he introduced the primordial state through oral teaching, through symbols, through direct introduction that was always introducing the state of rigpa which is the basis of the practice of tregchöd.  

In Tibetan we have two terms – nyam (nyams) and togpa (rtogs pa). Nyam means experience. We can have some experience of our primordial state. We do a session of practice and during that session we have some special perception, or after meditation we are walking and we can have  some experience of a state beyond dualism. Then we go home, we speak to our wife or husband and immediately he/she asks why we didn’t do this or that and we start going to concepts, emotions arise and we forget about that nyam or perception. That is a very common experience for all of us.  That is why we shouldn’t mistake experience and togpa which means real understanding or full-time integration in that knowledge. When we meet such a rare person who has this understanding then we can have that feeling. We can feel that wisdom alive even in different traditions. For example, I have met several masters, also in other traditions, and I had the same feeling of that natural wisdom, an expression of that wisdom in that person. It means that that knowledge has been completely integrated and they are able to express that in daily life. Then I think we know what we should do to develop our capacity and our knowledge and we are going in that direction so we should remember that.  

Transcribed by L.Granger