PART I – Refining the View

The first two-hour seminar will focus on the origins and development of Dzogchen in the context of Vajrayāna Buddhist traditions of Mahāmudrā, the “Great Seal,” as propounded by male and female mahāsiddhas, or realized adepts, in India and Oḍḍiyāna, the legendary cradle of Tantric Buddhism on the ancient Silk Road. Special attention will be given to early teachings on sahajananda, or “innate bliss,” as the basis for later presentations of “great perfection” in the Seventeen Dzogchen Tantras and Tibetan “heart-essence” (nyingtik) traditions.

PART II – Perfecting the Path

The second two-hour seminar will explore the “methods” of Dzogchen as presented in its earliest known texts, including the integral view of Saṃsāra and Nirvāṇa realized through deeply embodied preliminary practices (kordé rushen) and “taking nature as the path” by attuning to the spontaneous sounds, or reverberations, of the inner elements of earth, water, fire, and wind with the support of natural features of the environment such as waterfalls and swift rivers. These fluent practices, sometimes supported by medicinal “essence extracts” (chudlen), traditionally serve as skillful means for Dzogchen adepts to awaken to their inherent, inborn Buddha Nature.

PART III – Unifying Insight and Action

The third two-hour seminar will examine the function of the Six Yogas, as originally propounded in the Mahāmudrā traditions of Naropā and Niguma, in the transmission and practice of the signature Dzogchen techniques of Trekchöd and Thögal (“cutting through” and “crossing over”). Special emphasis will be given to the practice of Tummo, or Inner Fire, in the unified Mahāmudrā–Dzogchen transmissions of Yuthok Yönten Gonpo and Tertön Pema Lingpa, as well as in the context of contemporary understanding of the bioelectrical nature of the human body and its interface with consciousness.

Part IV – Realising Spontaneous Fruition

Great Perfection teachings are traditionally presented as a unity of View, Meditation, Action, and Fruition, in which directly perceiving one’s ultimate nature, or ground of being, is the View; stabilizing that recognition is Meditation; and integrating the experience into all aspects of one’s life is Action.

Fruition, the subject of the fourth seminar in this series, refers to the spontaneous unfolding of one’s ultimate nature as pure luminosity when aligned with the Natural Great Perfection that is life itself.

This seminar will review how deeply embodied physical practices that draw on the “perfection” (Dzogrim) stages of Vajrayāna Buddhism serve to entrain awareness to its highest potential for self-illuminating, altruistic wisdom.

This concluding seminar will also explore the current, cross-cultural trajectory of Dzogchen through interdisciplinary scholarship concerning the luminous nature of mind and consciousness, thus promoting a view of the Great Perfection as the default potential of the human condition.

Suggested Reading: Tibetan Yoga: Principles and Practices, pp. 243-279.