THE VITAL POINT
AS I MENTIONED IN THE FIRST CHAPTER, before the Dzogchen teachings appeared in this world, they spread in the three divine realms called Akanishtha, Tushita and the Abode of the 33 Gods on the summit of Mount Sumeru. Akanishtha, in this case, the symbolic Akanishtha is where Dzogchen was taught to the
gods, and it is within samsara. This is as opposed to the ultimate Akanishtha, which is the realm of the buddha nature itself. In this symbolic Akanishtha, the dharmakaya buddha Samantabhadra manifested out of the spontaneous sound of dharmata and taught the Dzogchen tantras. The teachers of the three kayas, in the context of Ati, are called the dharmakaya buddha Samantabhadra, the sambhogakaya buddha Vajradhara, and the nirmanakaya buddha Vajrasattva. Vajrasattva was the buddha who transmitted the Dzogchen teachings to the first human vidyadhara, the knowledge-holder Garab Dorje. It is said he received
the six million four hundred thousand Dzogchen tantras directly from Vajrasattva. Buddha Shakyamuni was the last of the twelve holders of the Dzogchen teachings. But the person who actually spread them in this world was the human vidyadhara, Garab Dorje. How was it transmitted? Vajradhara is said to be
the manifestation of the dharmakaya buddha, Samantabhadra, yet with all the adornments. He is the same buddha, but when he appears in a form that is fully ornamented he is known as Vajradhara. At the same time, Vajradhara, in his sambhogakaya buddha form, transmitted Dzogchen teachings. His emanation is
Buddha Vajrasattva, who passed on the Dzogchen teachings to Garab Dorje. Garab Dorje is the first human being who disseminated these teachings, but as I mentioned earlier, that does not mean that Buddha Shakyamuni was not a holder of those teachings. Still, the one who truly propagated the 6,400,000 verses,
or shlokas, of the Dzogchen tantras in our world was Garab Dorje. He condensed them all into three sentences called the Three Words That Strike the Vital Point — recognize your own nature, decide on one point, and gain confidence in liberation. Within Ati Yoga are subdivisions such as the outer Mind Section,
the inner Space Section and the secret Instruction Section. The fourth subdivision, called the innermost Unexcelled Section or sometimes the innermost Heart Essence, consists of the extraordinary Dzogchen teachings. It is said that the ultimate view of the teachings given by the nirmanakaya buddha is the
view of the Middle Way, Madhyamika. The ultimate view given by the sambhogakaya buddha is Mahamudra. The ultimate view given by the dharmakaya buddha is Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. Although Buddha Shakyamuni had, of course, realized the nature of all nine vehicles, in his function as a nirmanakaya buddha he publicly gave teachings appropriate for shravakas, pratyekabuddhas and bodhisattvas. The primary view, in this case, was the Middle Way, Madhyamika. Garab Dorje emphasized Ati Yoga, especially the Dzogchen view of the outer, inner and innermost sections of Mind, Space and Instruction. He condensed all the Dzogchen tantras into the three statements previously mentioned. The first of these three statements instructs you to “Recognize your own nature” — buddha nature itself, which is “empty cognizance suffused with awareness.” This nature is empty in essence yet naturally cognizant. These two
aspects are indivisible, and this unity is also called unconfined capacity. Recognizing your own nature for what it is, is the first of the three words of Garab Dorje. Buddha nature, itself, is the very basis or source from which all worlds and living beings originate. Whatever appears and exists comes from
it. How do we describe buddha nature? It is empty in essence and cognizant by nature, and its capacity is “suffused with self-existing awareness.” This is the universal ground from which everything arises. We should understand that it does not fall into any
category, such as an entity that exists or does not exist. The claim that buddha nature is a “thing” that exists, is incorrect. It is not a concrete thing with distinguishable characteristics; instead, it is wide open and indefinable, like space. However, you cannot claim that it is nonexistent, that there is
not any buddha nature, because this nature is the very basis or source of everything that appears and exists. So buddha nature does not fall into any category such as being or not being. Neither does it fit into the category called “beyond being and not being:” it is beyond that formulation, as well.
Buddha nature is said to resemble space. Can we say that space exits? Can we say that it doesn’t? We cannot, because space itself does not comply with any such ideas. Concepts made about space are merely concepts. Space, in itself, is beyond any ideas we can hold about it. Buddha nature is like this. If you
say that space exists, can you define it as a concrete existent entity? But to say there is no space is incorrect, because space is what accommodates everything — the world and beings. And if we think space is that which is beyond being and not being, that is not really space, it is just our concept of
it. So, the first point of Garab Dorje’s is to recognize our own nature and to acknowledge how this nature is, not as our conceptual version of it but in actuality. This buddha nature of ours, which is primordially free from the two extremes of being and not being, is described with the word “unity.” What
does unity mean in this context? Right now, visual forms, sounds and smells and so on are all present in our experience. If buddha nature were nonexistent, there could be no such experiences taking place. But if we say buddha nature does exist, then what is it that experiences? Can you pinpoint it? You can’t,
because it’s empty of all identity, right? Thus, there is no confining these two — perceiving and being empty. While perceiving, buddha nature is empty of a perceiver; while being empty, there is still experience. Search for the perceiver; there is no “thing” to find. There is no barrier between the two. If
it were one or the other there should either be a concrete perceiver who always remains, or an absolute void. Instead, at the same time vivid perception takes place, that which perceives is totally empty. This is
called the unity of experience and emptiness, or the unity of awareness and emptiness. The fact of experience eliminates the extreme of nothingness, while the fact that it is empty eliminates the extreme of concrete existence. In this way, we can say that existence and nonexistence are a unity. This unity is
not something we can devise intellectually, which is why it is called the “view beyond concepts.” We hear the view described as thatness — “just that,” simply as it is. Buddha nature is not identical to space, which is incapable of perception. Don’t we agree that there is experience? This basis for
experience is the cognizant quality. Can these two aspects — empty in essence and cognizant by nature — be separated? If not, that means they are a unity. This unity is what we should recognize when recognizing our buddha nature. To see this fact is what Garab Dorje meant when he said “recognize your own
nature.” Garab Dorje’s second statement is “Decide on one point.” The empty essence is dharmakaya while the cognizant nature is sambhogakaya. The unity of this, the all-pervasive or unconfined capacity, is nirmanakaya. Once we recognize our buddha nature, we should then decide on one point, meaning that the
three kayas of all the buddhas is present simply in that. “To decide on one point,” means to resolve the state free from ignorance and deluded thought. We recognize directly the fact of emptiness; we realize that our nature cannot be pinpointed. The fact of knowing that it is not something to pinpoint proves
the cognizant quality. We cannot separate these two aspects — emptiness and cognizance — because they are a unity. In this way, they are the identity of the three kayas. There is nothing higher or superior to this to decide upon. Garab Dorje’s third statement is “Gain confidence in liberation.” It is said
that meditation is not the most important thing; liberation is. Mere meditation, such as the state of stillness in shamatha meditation, is not necessarily a liberated state. It is not enough to be concentrated while remaining deluded, because training in such a state only leads to rebirth in the dhyana realms. The Buddha proved definitively that mere meditative concentration is not sufficient to gain liberation. Through meditation alone, one ends up in the realms
of the meditation gods and the Formless Realms, states which in themselves definitely do not lead out of samsara. There is a famous quote: “If you know how to meditate, but not how to be free, then aren’t you just like the meditation gods?” So, it’s very important to know how to liberate your deluded thinking.
That is the vital point. Liberation of thoughts can be described as occurring in several different ways. The great master Vimalamitra mentioned three types of liberation. His description can be applied either to the progress of a particular individual or to the different types of capacities of individuals. The first example is said to be like meeting someone you already know; the second is similar to a knot tied in a snake, and the third is the analogy of a thief entering an empty house. Recognize the thought as it occurs so that it is liberated simultaneously with its arising. This is very much unlike the stream of thoughts that surges through the mind of an ordinary person. Often called “black diffusion,” this state is an unwholesome pattern of dissipation in which there is no knowledge whatsoever about who is thinking, where the thought comes from, and where the thought disappears. One has not even caught the “scent”
of awareness; there are only unwholesome thought patterns operating, so that one is totally and mindlessly carried away by one thought after another. That is definitely not the path of liberation! In the beginning, if we have already recognized our nature even once, we have caught the scent of it. Once you
get a “whiff” of your nature, it becomes familiar, like someone you already know: you do not need to doubt who your friend is when you meet him. At this point, thoughts are liberated upon recognition, like the vanishing of a drawing on water. We can grow more and more accustomed to this fact through
practice. Once the practitioner gains an immediate recognition of buddha nature, there is no need to apply any additional technique at all. The same moment a thought starts to move; the thought is liberated by itself. It is like a knot tied in a snake that does not have to be untied by anyone because it
unravels by itself. This exemplifies becoming more stable in the training. Finally, the third analogy of the liberation of thoughts is described as being like a thief entering an empty house. This is called stability or per fection in training. A thief entering an empty house does not gain anything,
and the house does not lose anything. All thought activity is naturally liberated without any harm or benefit whatsoever. That is the meaning of gaining confidence in liberation. There is also what is called the four modes of liberation: selfliberated, liberated upon arising, directly liberated and
primordially liberated. These are not exactly a direct sequence, but are more like different aspects or modes of how liberation is. For example, the fourth one, which is primordially free, refers to the awakened state of rigpa that is already free; it does not have to be liberated. That’s the idea. One of the
lines in the Tsigsum Nedek, the Three Words to Strike the Vital Point, says: “By recognizing dharmakaya in what is liberated, as in the analogy of drawing on water, there is unceasing self-occurring self-liberation.” “Primordially freed” means a state which does not have to be refreed, because it is already
free. With “directly freed”, “directly” has the connotation of immediacy, meaning instantaneously. “Naturally freed” is without an entity that needs to be freed; there is no thing or essence or identity that needs to be liberated. Seeing this, it is naturally freed. “Self-freed” means without even the need
for a remedy. “Freed upon arising” refers to thoughts that dissolve the moment you recognize the awakened state. Sometimes five ways of liberation are mentioned. The additional one, ta-dröl, “universally freed,” means no matter what kind of expression or state occurs, they are all freed in the same way,
thus “universally freed.” In other words, it does not matter which emotion or thought takes place; all are freed by recognizing rigpa. “Universally freed” means that everything is freed; it is not that only one type of emotion is liberated upon arising while the others are not. All the 84,000 types of
disturbing emotions are liberated immediately in a single moment without the slightest remainder. We could view these different types of liberation as a sequence of increasing subtlety. From another point of view, these are merely different modes, different expressions of the same face. Primordially
liberated refers to the awakened state, but if you are talking about dualistic mind, it is not primordially freed. It needs to be liberated. The moment of dualistic mind needs to be dissolved, purified. The awakened state is not like this; it is already purified and fully perfected, so it does not have to be perfected. When a reflection appears in a mirror,
you do not have to imagine that it is there; it is vividly perceived. In the same way, you do not have to imagine basic wakefulness; it is naturally present. When a master performs the empowerment of enlightened mind, conferring the empowerment of nondual wakefulness to your dualistic mind, your thought
activity is seen to be a “self-arising self-liberation.” All thought activity occurs as the expression of awareness. By recognizing its source, it dissolves back into the state of awareness itself. Thoughts occur as an expression of your essence, and not from anywhere else. They do not arise from the
five elements, from the five sense organs, from flesh, blood, temperature, the heat or breath of your body — not at all. They are simply the expression of the primordially pure essence. Once you recognize your essence to be primordial purity, the thoughts that arise from yourself dissolve back into yourself,
within the expanse of your nature. They do not go anywhere else. This is what is meant by self-arising selfliberation. If you do not know your essence, then what arises from yourself does not dissolve within yourself. Rather than being liberated, it goes astray into the six realms of samsara. This is
really the key point here. The thinking of dualistic mind arises or takes place as the expression of [unrecognized] awareness. Once you recognize this basic awareness, the display of thoughts loses all power and simply dissolves into the expanse of buddha nature. This is the basic reason to recognize mind essence. Where does a thought come from? It occurs only as the display of your nature; it does not come from any other source. Look into this matter for a billion years, and you will never see a thought arise out of earth, water, fire or wind. Or out of a body — after all, even a corpse has flesh. There are cavities in the body, blood, heat, and so forth, but these components do not give rise to thoughts. Neither do thoughts arise from the objects perceived, whether they be visual
forms, sounds, smells, tastes or textures. We have the five sense objects, and our body’s five sense organs acting as go-betweens. A corpse has sense organs: it has eyes, but it does not see. It has ears, but it does not hear. It has a tongue, but it does not taste. It has a nose, but it does not smell. It has a body, but it does not feel. A corpse notices nothing. So, can’t we conclude that the basis for every experience is our own minds? Isn’t it only
mind which knows? That which knows is, in essence, empty. It is cognizant by nature, and its capacity is unconfined. Try to see this for yourself and understand that this is how your essence is. Thoughts arise from yourself and dissolve into yourself; they don’t arise from yourself and dissolve somewhere else. Thoughts arise from yourself and, if you recognize their source, they dissolve into yourself as well. So, what is recognized, when we say “recognize’? It means seeing that the nature of mind is unconfined empty cognizance. This is the real condition, the natural state of the three kayas.
Realize this to be the real condition of things as they actually are, not just how they seem. The seeming way is created by our normal rigid and fixating thoughts. Recognize the real state, and this seeming way vanishes. These are the two aspects: the real and the seeming, the ultimate and the relative. The
real is your essence; the seeming is your thoughts. Once you recognize the real state, the seeming way vanishes without a trace. It collapses, dissolves, completely vanishes. That’s what this training is all about. As I mentioned before, the moment of recognizing nondual awareness is called the identity of
the three kayas. Our essence, nature and capacity are the dharmakaya, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya. They are also the three vajras — the vajra body, speech and mind of all the buddhas — which we are supposed to achieve. This real and authentic state is, in itself, empty, which is dharmakaya. Its cognizant
quality, isn’t that sambhogakaya? Its unconfined unity, isn’t that nirmanakaya? This indivisible identity of the three kayas is called the “essence body,” svabhavikakaya. So, in this way, don’t you have the three kayas right in the palm of your own hand? Why would you have to seek them out anywhere else?
These three vajras are the basis for the body, speech and mind of all sentient beings as well. There are no sentient beings who are without body, speech and mind. It is our thinking that causes us to continue in samsara. The moment of recognizing the identity of the three kayas is free from thought. This is
what we should gain confidence in. At the beginning, the genuine recognition of the nature of mind is only a short moment, but it is indeed free from thought. When this state becomes unceasing, how can any of the three poisons exist? Is there any greater quality than that? This original wakefulness is
often described in these words: “Free from thought, yet everything is vividly known.” If there were no wakeful quality, it would be pointless to be free from thought; then it would be nothing but a vacant, dull state. All the great qualities of buddhahood — the wisdom, compassion, and the capability to
benefit others — all arise from this original wakefulness. Let’s return to the word sangye, the Tibetan term for “buddha” which literally means “purified perfection.” Dualistic consciousness tainted with the five poisons is purified, while the innate abundance of wisdom qualities is perfected. This is also
called awakening or enlightenment. This is, in short, the essence or very heart of the “three words that strike the vital point.” If you want more details, you can read the whole Tripitaka, the commentaries of the masters, the 100,000 Nyingma tantras and so forth. A great master once said, “All the thousands
of books and scriptures are taught for the sole purpose of realizing these Three Words.” The Buddha’s sole purpose for giving teachings is to enable us to recognize our empty, cognizant nature, to train in that and to attain stability. The blacksmith may swing his hammer in all directions, but he must always
land it directly on the anvil. In the same way, the Buddha gave all different kinds of teachings, but they all boil down to a single point. Although the blacksmith swings his hammer around in the air, he intends to strike a single point on the anvil. The hammer striking that spot on the anvil is like the “three words that strike the vital point.”
What do we mean by vital point? If you want to kill someone, the physical body has its vital points; for instance, the heart. If you want to kill or cut the life-force of deluded thinking, there is no method other than recognizing buddha nature. How do you kill someone? Cutting off the arms and legs will
not readily kill the person, will it? Stabbing him in the foot will not kill him either. But if you stab him directly in the heart, by the time you pull the knife out your victim is already dead. If you want to kill the delusion of samsara, your weapon is these Three Words. There is another proverb from Kham about a mountain called Ngomo Langtang that is at the edge of a very vast plain. When people walk towards it, it always seems to be just in front of
them, regardless of how far they travel. “Within one day’s walk, Ngomo Langtang is visible. Within two day’s walk, Ngomo Langtang is still visible.” The distance is so vast it seems as though you are not getting any closer. In the same way, when I give a teaching, I speak about just this point and when I
give another teaching, I again speak about just this. It is like the chirp of a small sparrow. A sparrow chirps in the same manner every day. My teaching is always the same. I chirp one day and on the following day I make the very same chirp.
