Spiritual Alternative # 5: Dzogchen Buddhism

This is one of the major meditation traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, and is affiliated primarily with the Nyingma school, though it is also the primary approach of the heterodox Bon tradition, which combines Buddhist elements with an indigenous pre-Buddhist form of Tibetan spirituality, and is also used in the Kagyu tradition (along with Mahamudra).  It is a Mahayana and Vajrayana (or tantric) tradition. 

The basic premise of Dzogchen (or “The Great Perfection”), which is common to all Mahayana traditions, is that all sentient beings are always already enlightened buddhas and simply need to recognize it.  Dzogchen is premised on the belief that all sentient beings have the mind of clear light or intrinsic awareness, and this is the true nature of every sentient being, i.e. the buddha-nature of every sentient being.  The mind of clear light or intrinsic awareness is really none other than the awareness which each and every sentient being has right now, in the present moment.  Dzogchen’s aim is to recognize that one already abides in or as this intrinsic awareness, and that this occurs effortlessly.  This recognition is not even a form of meditation according to many Dzogchen masters. 

All objects of consciousness arise within the mind of clear light or intrinsic awareness, which reflects all things that arise within it but does not become caught up in them.  Samsara and nirvana, or the cycle of endless death and rebirth and release from this cycle, which are set in opposition to each other in pre-Mahayana Buddhist traditions, both arise within the mind of clear light or intrinsic awareness.  The mind of clear light perceives both, and both are in fact manifestations of the mind of clear light.  Every sentient being has this intrinsic awareness and simply needs to recognize it to manifest his or her basic buddhahood.  It is not an underlying unity like the Brahman of the Advaita Vedantins or the One of the Neoplatonists.  Rather, it is non-dual, which is to say, beyond all dualities and dualistic notions, including any notion of the One as opposed to the many or Brahman as opposed to Maya, whether from a relative or an absolute perspective.

Although the above is Dzogchen’s basic premise, and in theory it is permissible simply to rest in one’s true nature, the mind of clear light, which is one’s inherent buddhahood, there are eight other “vehicles” (Skt. yanas) besides the ninth and highest vehicle, Dzogchen (Skt. Atiyoga), that one can use to achieve the progressive realizations of wisdom and awakening according to the Nyingma tradition.  In fact, the Nyingma holds that it is best to first practice the lower eight vehicles, ideally in order, before being introduced to the “effortless” ninth vehicle of Dzogchen itself. 

The first three vehicles are non-tantric, with the third being the Mahayana proper, and the first two consisting of the vehicle of those who come to know the Buddha’s teaching by hearing or reading about it (known as the Shravakayana, which includes the Theravada), and the vehicle of solitary buddhas (Pratyekayana).  In these two stages, the adept practices mindfulness and concentration meditation, which will be discussed in greater detail in the section on the Theravada. 

In the third vehicle, the Mahayana, the adept cultivates the bodhisattva vow and begins the journey to full buddhahood by going through the ten stages (or bhumis) of the bodhisattva path.  The bodhisattva path and bodhisattva ideal is the defining feature of the Mahayana, of which all extant Tibetan traditions are part (note that some schools of Tibetan Buddhism add several more bhumis to the basic list of ten). 

The next three vehicles are the “outer tantric” vehicles.  Here, the adept uses mantras, mudras, the contemplation of mandalas, ritual empowerment by gurus (instruction by a guru is also necessary in the vehicle of Dzogchen, according to most Nyingma masters), dream yoga, etc. 

The next two vehicles are “inner tantric” vehicles, and consist of contemplating oneself as a deity, of visualizing oneself as a deity, ultimately seeing the contingency of one’s own sense of identity and all phenomena.  The highest vehicle, again, is Dzogchen itself.

Dzogchen, like other Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, accepts the traditional Buddhist cosmology of six realms of rebirth for beings within samsara, who are reborn again and again until they become awakened to their true or inherent nature as buddhas.  While all of this occurs within the pure effortless awareness of the mind of clear light or intrinsic awareness, it still seems like concrete reality to sentient beings trapped in samsara because they ignorantly identify with the objects of this awareness rather than recognizing their true nature as this awareness itself.  Thus, it is still important for such beings to engage in wholesome or moral behavior (in order to obtain a more favorable rebirth), and it is important for them to practice Buddhism in order to realize their true nature, eliminate ignorance, and develop the perfections of a bodhisattva. 

Dzogchen has a very sophisticated and detailed account of the process of awakening, and some of its teachings are simple and straightforward, while others are complicated and nuanced.  The tantric practices of the Nyingma are quite complex and difficult, but the basic practice of Dzogchen is simple in theory, though very few people actually recognize the mind of clear light or intrinsic awareness in practice.  After all, if it were really easy to do this, virtually anybody who heard and understood this teaching intellectually would become a fully awakened buddha very quickly, and would not simply be, like all other sentient beings, a buddha who has not yet realized his or her true nature. 

Needless to say, most people who hear Dzogchen teachings and understand them intellectually do not quickly become fully awakened buddhas, and Dzogchen is only fully useful for those who have already practiced extensively in at least some of the eight lower yanas.  However, it can be partially useful for everybody, since it is possible to recognize the mind of clear light or intrinsic awareness as the perceiver or space of cognition behind any experience that one has at any time.  But again, there are few who can recognize it as such all the time or even most of the time (or, heck, even some of the time). 

To my mind, Dzogchen and the traditions in which it is found are full of contradictions.  They teach that the supreme goal is to effortlessly abide in the awareness one already has, because this is none other than the awareness of a buddha, but also feature extraordinarily complicated paths of multiple stages of spiritual development chock-full of elaborate rituals and hierarchical esoterism.  I know I will be accused of misunderstanding Dzogchen, as well as the Nyingma, Kagyu, and heterodox Bon traditions, but I honestly do not see any way for these conflicting facets of these traditions to be reconciled. 

I also do not believe in the law of karma or the multiple realms of rebirth, either literally or figuratively, since I have yet to encounter convincing evidence for the existence of either.  (There is some evidence for rebirth, and some evidence for post-mortem existence, but nothing that convinces me that either is a reality.  Furthermore, none of these accounts provide evidence for the law of karma, or the view that the morality or immorality of one’s past and present actions determine the circumstances of one’s future births, and that the morality or immorality of one’s past actions have determined one’s present circumstances.)