Alan Wallace discusses key points to the Dzogchen worldview concerning the nature of the mind and appearances. Follow along as he comments on the root text in the excerpt below, or starting on page 155 in the PDF of the root text available in Lesson 1 or in your copy of Heart of the Great Perfection.

Moreover, wherever you transmigrate and take birth within the three realms of existence, you do not proceed to new places after leaving the earlier ones behind. Rather, like daytime appearances and dream appearances, one experience of delusive appearances becomes another; therefore, come to the certain recognition that saṃsāra [486] consists of delusive experiences. Saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are wholly present as your own perceptions, and they are wholly included within the expanse of the essential nature. This essential nature is called the ground. The unaware aspect of the ground is called the substrate, and its pure aspect is called the dharmakāya. Due to its being exhausted in the darkness of unawareness, this very primordial ground, like space, which enables all appearances to arise, is the substrate. The appearing aspect of dualistic conceptualization manifests as the delusive experiences of displays of the three realms. (more…)

Alan Wallace discusses key points to the Dzogchen worldview concerning the nature of the mind and appearances. Follow along as he comments on the root text in the excerpt below, or starting on page 153 in the PDF of the root text available in Lesson 1 or in your copy of Heart of the Great Perfection.

2. Destroy Grasping At the Permanence of Things

If whatever is established as an entity is definitely, truly existent and permanent in its own nature, it must be replete with seven qualities, namely: invulnerability, indestructibility, reality, incorruptibility, stability, total unobstructability, and total invincibility. Even though things resemble this in seeming to be firm, heavy, solid, existent, and permanent, if all houses, earth, stone, fire, and water were destroyed, controlled, blown out, and dispersed, they would suddenly vanish like a dream or an illusion. Fathom this by ascertaining them as emptiness, devoid of inherent nature. (more…)

In this excerpt from a translation by Alan Wallace, Gyatrul Rinpoche comments on Padmasambhava’s teachings on insight—specifically, on revealing the nature of awareness. Selected from Natural Liberation: Padmasambhava’s Teachings on the Six Bardos.

In this clip, Alan Wallace introduces and gives context to this lesson’s meditation practice. Start here and then move on to the guided audio meditation below.

Follow along as Alan Wallace comments on the text in the excerpt below, or starting on page 149 in your copy of the root text found in Lesson 1, or in your copy of Heart of the Great Perfection.

Although I practiced in that way, when I encountered even a minor issue, I would lose my own grounding in the nature of existence and revert to ordinary states. For example, when I was alone and naked in the wilderness, if I were to become frightened when various ferocious animals and savages let out terrifying roars, I would be no different than an ordinary person. In that case, there would be no way I could be liberated in the intermediate period by way of such meditation. But with heartfelt faith and reverence I prayed to my guru, the Lake-Born Vajra, “Please grant me right now practical instructions for handling such circumstances!” Falling asleep with immense devotion, in a dream I had a vision of Orgyen Dorjé Drolö appearing from an expanse of blazing fire and light, and he chanted the lyrics of this Hūṃ song: [479] (more…)

In this supplemental reading translated by Alan Wallace, Gyatrul Rinpoche comments on Padmasambhava’s teachings on the bardo of living and how to practice quiescence (shamatha). Includes specific instructions for a common refrain we have heard in the practices: “settling the body, speech, and mind in their natural state.” This reading is selected from Natural Liberation: Padmasambhava’s Teachings on the Six Bardos.

Here, Alan Wallace comments on the Dzogchen understanding of the substrate consciousness and how to relate to appearances. Follow along with the text starting on page 149 in the PDF of the root text (found in Lesson 1) or in your copy of Heart of the Great Perfection, or in the excerpt below.

With those words she dissolved, together with the mirror, into my heart, and my body, speech, and mind were filled with joy and bliss. Those [words] were my rationale, so once again I ardently meditated on luminosity and cognizance. Consequently, at times it seemed as if that which appeared and that which was aware nondually dispersed outward [476] and then converged inward again. On other occasions, that which appeared and that which was aware were nondually and spontaneously objectified and then naturally disappeared. At other times appearances and awareness were nondually self-emergent and self-dissolving, such that I understood that they were not projected out from within the body. I knew that these experiences were attributable to grasping at the ground of being as an object. (more…)

Alan Wallace discusses how Dzogchen helps us view reality from the perspective of pristine awareness. Follow along as he reads from the text in the excerpt below, or starting on page 147 in the PDF of root text found in lesson 1 or your copy of Heart of the Great Perfection.

Now you must diligently investigate the origin from which this mind first arose, the location where it abides in the interim, and the destination to which it finally goes. Meditation is just that!” Then he seemed to dissolve into me.

On another night in a dream, a red yogin claiming to be Orgyen Speech Vajra said, “Son, focus your mind firmly on me. Forcefully cut off all thoughts.” As a result of doing this, thoughts flowed forth uninterruptedly, so I told him my mind wasn’t capable. (more…)

In this lesson, Alan Wallace explores meditation more in depth, going into topics such as awareness, movement, and stillness, and covering some of the challenges meditators may face. You can follow along with the text he comments from in the excerpt below, on page 146 of the PDF of the root text found in lesson 1, or in your copy of Heart of the Great Perfection: Dudjom Lingpa’s Visions of the Great Perfection, Vol. 1.

That which observes is called mindfulness, or awareness, that which is observed is called movement, and resting in that state is called stillness. Identify them as such and meditate! If you meditate earnestly, stable meditative experiences of the bliss, luminosity, and nonconceptuality of śamatha will arise in your mindstream. Consequently, when stillness, movement, and awareness merge into one and all discursive thoughts are self-knowing and self-illuminating, meditate by identifying this as awareness. And when thoughts automatically scatter in all directions, meditate by identifying this as the mind of unawareness. By doing so, in accordance with the degree of sharpness of your faculties, various meditative experiences such as bliss, luminosity, vacuity, stillness, and harshness will certainly occur. Just as it has always been in the moon’s nature to wax and wane, so it is in the mind’s nature to be periodically happy and sad. So without hope or fear, rejection or acceptance, negation or affirmation, do not lose your own grounding in that very luminosity and cognizance. [472] This is a crucial point. Meditative experiences and appearances disappear by themselves, fading away, unable to sustain themselves, like illusions and dreams, so recognize this. If you cherish, refute or affirm, hope or fear, or become attached to or fixate on experiences such as bliss, luminosity, vacuity, harshness, dreams, or subtle extrasensory perception, this will lead you toward errors and obscurations, so recognize this. (more…)

Alan Wallace continues his commentary on how shamatha practice alone is not enough. Follow along on page 146 in your copy of the text or in the excerpt below.

Then investigate the mind as the agent that conjures up all kinds of thoughts, seeking out its shape, color, and form, as well as its source, beginning, and end, and whether it really exists or is totally nonexistent. By doing so, once you have determined with confidence that it cannot be established in any way at all, you have entered the path. [471]

If you forcefully suppress the thought process while focusing your mind single-pointedly on such things as a stick or pebble, then many obsessive thoughts will arise, as if you had blocked an irrigation canal, and your body, speech, and mind may become sharply uncomfortable. In that case, loosely relax and watch your thoughts from afar, clearly observing whatever arises.