Sutra Tantra and Dzogchen - Ngakma Nor'dzin & Ngakpa 'ö-Dzin

 

In this video from February 2010, Ngakma Nor’dzin explains the the three yanas of Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen.

Ngakma Nor’dzin: From the Dzogchen point of view there are the three yanas of Sutra, Tantra and Dzogchen. Sutra is the renunciate path, so the base of the path is the experience of unsatisfactoriness. The path is to renounce the causes that we see for that, such as desire and anger, and the result is the experience of emptiness. Emptiness is seen as the fruit of the path of Sutra, whereas in Tantra emptiness is seen as the base of the path of Tantra. So we begin with that.

Now some people would say: “How can you begin with that unless you fully practise the path of Sutra?” But one can experience emptiness through devotion to the Lama, or through one’s empty experience of engaging with the preliminary practices of Tantra. With the traditional preliminary practices such as prostrations and mandala offerings, of which you practise a hundred thousand, one experiences a quality of emptiness simply through flinging yourself on the floor going up and down up and down a hundred thousand times. It’s an extraordinary thing to do – “Why am I doing this? I’m getting all sweaty and hot.” It takes up a lot of time and one has to let go of something in order to engage in and complete that path.

A very direct way of experiencing emptiness is in relationship to the Lama. If you meet a Tantric teacher who inspires you, who you feel you have confidence in, you can engage in the path with that person. Then one’s sense of devotion is an experience of emptiness because you’re able to put aside your own rationale and enter into being open to what they teach. In the path of Tantra we don’t separate ourselves off from all the things in the world that might produce unhelpful emotions. We engage with those as the energy of the path, so that we can transform them into the experience of non-duality – and non-duality is the fruit of the path of Tantra.

Now in Dzogchen, the base, the path and the fruit of Dzogchen are all the same. They are all non-duality. They are all the spontaneous experience of non-duality. Here it becomes very clear that a relationship with a teacher is totally essential, because the teacher introduces you to the experience of non-duality. Now this can be done in a formal way through pointing-out instructions, Dzogchen empowerment. But this can also happen in an informal way of just being with your teacher and just discovering the view through entering into the relationship with your teacher. You may be doing very mundane tasks like helping them cook the dinner, and there’s something about the quality of that experience, or something that is said in casual conversation, that shifts your view so you have a direct experience of the non-dual state. And then, once one has had that experience, one has to remain there without doubt – one has to have confidence in that experience. Allow the flickering of that experience to increase through one’s practice and then eventually you arrive at a point where you can simply continue.

Pure... impure? - Illusory Advice

 

To regard the body as impure—or anything as impure—is a limited and dualistic perspective. Purity and impurity may appear as definite separate states, yet we can quite easily understand—with a little investigation—that purity or impurity are only relative definitions based in a particular view.

From the perspective of Vajrayana there is no pure or impure – everything is available for transformation. Tantra begins with the experience of emptiness – the pregnant space from which form arises. Form is simply that which arises – and does not need to be viewed in terms of pure or impure. Human bodies are as they are and are available for appreciation.

Samsara is not a separate existence to nirvana. They are the same experience – it is view that changes. 

 

Singing in a group - Relaxing into Meditation

 

Singing is particularly powerful if practised in a group. Each person’s length of breath will be different, so new notes will be starting all the time. Sometimes the effect will be harmonious and sometimes discordant. Lack of harmony does not matter and is part of the experience of the exercise. When the sound is discordant, allow this to be interesting rather than experiencing it as unpleasant.

Relaxing into Meditation, Ngakma Nor’dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2010, ISBN: 978-1-898185-17-8, p22

Silent Sitting - Ngakma Nor'dzin & Ngakpa 'ö-Dzin

 

In this video from February 2010, Ngakpa ’ö-Dzin and Ngakma Nor’dzin discuss the reality and benefit of silent sitting practice.

Transcript

Ngakpa ’ö-Dzin: What we would say for the sake of somebody who’s considering beginning meditation practice, is that silent setting is all about boredom and pain.

Ngakma Nor’dzin: – it’s not that bad! You make it sound worse than it is!

Ngakpa ’ö-Dzin: I think it’s worth giving people a non-governmental health warning that those images of people looking serene – these are inspirational indications of perhaps the resultant condition and it doesn’t always feel that way when you practise.

Sitting practice is coming face to face with the reality of our own condition and the irony of the fact that we think our minds are our own, and they should do what we want. We sit, and we may attempt to have no thought – and at that point we can discover that thought actually seems to have the nature of an addiction.The process of that practice leads us to understand that we’re actually quite keen on thinking and we’re not too keen to let go – and that in itself is interesting.

So we realise that there is something else happening – some deep-seated habit or need that is saying: ‘Think. Think about anything. Think about shopping. Think about going to Tesco in your pyjamas. Think about almost anything rather than not think’.

So rather than leave a practitioner with this difficulty, we can then engage in various methods that are there to enable us to come to an experiential understanding that the possibility is there that we can sit and not be addicted to thought. This leads to the possibility of spaciousness that will be there spontaneously in the rest of our lives. But silent sitting practice in a formal sense is fundamental to giving us the opportunity for that to happen.

The habitual state of being we discover in silent sitting is actually what’s there all the time underlying our actions – that we develop certain habit patterns and they’re always there. We find them in their raw sense when we attempt to sit, and through that process discover what is behind that.

We discover that we can sit comfortably without thought, and then that spaciousness appears within our lives and allows us to see our emotions almost from a different dimension, and certainly a dimension that includes a sense of humour. As soon as humour can arise then the situation explodes. We no longer take it seriously. We no longer entirely take ourselves seriously, and we can let go of things that previously we had been so dreadfully attached to.

Love and Appreciation - Spacious Passion

 

The wonder I experienced as a child at the beauty of a spectacular sky, or the sensation of rain on my skin, or the sting of hail, may be lost as I plod, head down on my way to wherever. A cynic once described life as ‘one damn thing after another’ – and so it is when there is no appreciation. The warmth of melting into delightful appreciation of my loved one may fade if I take their love for granted and forget to fall in love with them every day. Love is a dance of communication and shared experience – its existence depends on each arising moment of appreciation.

Spacious Passion, Ngakma Nor’dzin, Aro books worldwide, 2006, ISBN 978-0-9653948-4-0, chapter 5 Infinite Impermanence, p117

 

Breathing in is receiving. Breathing out is giving - Battlecry of Freedom

 

Tonglen is a meditation practice that is connected to the breath. It is said to have been a secret practice of Atisha, practised only with his disciples. It begins with visualising a person, group, or situation where help is needed. On the in-breath all pain and dissatisfaction is received and absorbed. On the out-breath limitless benefit and help is given.

This is a practice of developing awakening intent – the wish to benefit others. The breath is a natural rhythm of being a human being – to be alive is to breathe. To use a fundamental requirement of life as a means of awakening is skilful practice. Tonglen engages this natural rhythm. Breathing in is receiving. Breathing out is giving. 

Battlecry of Freedom by Ngakma Nor’dzin, Aro Books worldwide, 2019, ISBN 978-1-898185-46-8, Part II - the slogans, p59