The Demystification of Dzogchen Thodgal (Togal), Part 2

by L. Ron Gardner on December 20, 2014

This article can be considered as Part 2 of my December 13, 2014 post, “Dzogchen Thodgal (Togal), Namkhai Norbu's POV Versus Mine,” posted at electricalspirituality.com. In this article, I will expand upon what I wrote in that article. [Anyone is free to repost this article as long as they give me credit for it.] If you read Dzogchen texts, you will repeatedly see Togal (the highest Dzogchen practice) defined as “leap over” and/or “spontaneous presence,” but none of these texts and none of the Dzogchen teachers can explain what this means. I can.

“Leap over” means to bypass or supersede Treckho, which is the basic practice of Dzogchen.Treckho means to “cut through,” and what a yogi cuts through (with his diamond-like awareness) is “spiritual materialism” (meaning all that is not Spirit, or the Sambhogakaya) until he contacts, and can then commune with, Spirit, or the Sambhogakaya, a.k.a. the “Other Side”.

But an advanced yogi can bypass or supersede Treckho, directly and immediately “leaping over” spiritual materialism to Spirit itself, the Other Side. Once the yogi “leaps over” to the Other Side, and “locks-in” to the Spirit and begins to channel it, his infused contemplation (which allows him to rest in the Spirit¬current) can be described as a state of samadhi-like “spontaneous presence”— hence Togal is commonly refered to as “spontaneous presence.”

There are “Four Visions” in Togal, and Dzogchen master Namkhai Norbu describes them thus: “The first of the Four Visions of Thodgal is called the 'Vision of Dharmata' (or ‘nature of reality') and the second vision is the further development of the first. The third is the maturation of it, and the fourth is the consummation of existence.” As Norbu's description makes clear, there aren't four separate visions; there is a single “vision” that intensifies or matures until it culminates in the Realization, or “Vision,” of the Dharmata: universal Suchness, or Being-ness.

I contend that Togal is simply channeling the Spirit/Sambhogakaya, a.k.a the Dharmamehga (or Dharma Cloud) in both Hindu and Buddhist traditions. In Mahayana's Ten Stages (Bhumis) of a Bodhisattva's Enlightenment, the final four stages are classified as “pure,” and the first six stages as “impure.” This is the case because the unborn immaculate Clear-Light is “Purity” itself, while disciplines and practices that don't involve Clear-Light energy are classified as “impure.”

When the descent of the Dharmamegha (or Dharma Cloud) into the spiritual Heart-center (Tathagatagarbha in Mahayana, Hridayam in Hinduism) is complete, meaning the Heart-knot has been cut (called the Heart-release by the Buddha), then Bodhicitta (or Buddhahood) is attained. Bodhicitta mean Conscious Light, or En-Light-ened Consciousness, and it is simply the permanent union of one's consciousness (citta) with Clear-Light Energy (Bodhi), the Sambhogakaya, or Dharma Cloud. As such,

Yoga, where the yogi's individual consciousness permanently unites with universal Spirit, or Shakti. When the Heart-knot is cut in the Tatagatagarbha, the yogi, or bodhisattva, attains Bodhicitta, and becomes a Tathagata, a Buddha who dwells in, and as, immanent Suchness (or Being-ness) that is coincident with universal Suchness, the Dharmata (the Dharmakaya as the the spontaneously arising Absolute).

Longchen Rabjam, the great Dzogchen master, defined Togal as “resting in the continuum of the radiance of Awareness.” This is tantamount to a Christian mystic channeling the Holy Spirit, a Jewish mystic receiving the Supernal Influx, and a Hindu Yogi conducting the Shakti-current. Again, Dzogchen is not superior to other forms of pure mysticism; it is just “packaged” and “marketed” to convince its followers/practitioners that it is.

What of the Four Visions? Again they simply refer to the depth (or intensity and fullness) of the descent of the Dharmamegha, or Sambhogakaya. The “Clear”-Light is clear, meaning it can't be seen. Rather, it is felt-intuited. “Seeing” the Light is a figure of speech. Yes, one can see all kinds of things (especially in the dark), including “thigle” (spheres of rainbow light), but that is a manifestation of Clear-Light Energy, not the unmanifest Clear Light itself. Figuratively speaking, one gets a Light Body when the fourth “Vision” is attained, but any “rainbow” manifestation is superfluous to this attainment.

{ 22 comments... read them below or add one }

Eliot December 21, 2014 at 1:06 am

Mr. Gardner,

The entirety of your Electrical Spirituality is actually sublated (a philosophical term which means to to assimilate a smaller entity into a larger one) within the true understanding of Dzogchen.

What you call (erroneously) the Sambhogakaya is actually the Dang energy of the Dharmakaya. By integrating the Dang energy or what you call “channeling the Holy Spirit/Supernal Influx/Anugraya Shakti” Etc. One may attain the Dharmakaya. The Dharmakaya is formless, ineffable, and can only be felt/intuited. This indeed is a great attainment surpassing 99% of other spiritual paths, however this is only one third of the way to the Rainbow Body (which no other spiritual tradition has understanding of, although Jesus arguably attained Rainbow Body, I don't think anyone else has in the entire Christian tradition, and neither Adi Da nor Maharishi dissolved into rainbow light at their deaths thus indicating the incomplete nature of their realization).

Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche is his book “Healing with Form, Energy and Light” says: “When abiding in non-dual awareness -Cutting Through (Trekcho)- experience is a flow of empty phenomena, an unceasing flow of light.” “The real master is that light in the heart, the non-dual awareness, Rigpa. Connect your mind to your heart and then, keeping the connection to pure presence, open the senses and relax.”

So we can see that what you teach is analogous to the 3rd or “Rigpa” stabilization of Trekcho. Once you fully stabilize Rigpa at the heart (Which you would refer to as regenerating the Amrita Nadi) you move onto the Final 4th or “Vision” stabilization of Trekchod, in which the Togal visions begin to appear without utilizing the special methods of Togal and Yangti (Dark retreat) such as the Gazes, postures and so forth.

So the path you teach will lead eventually to full enlightenment, but it's most likely too slow to do it in one lifetime. You speak of the 10 Bhumis of the Mahayana and correctly describe them in relation to the Cloud of Dharma and so forth. What you don't realize is that Dzogchen actually has 16 Bhumis, the last 6 are unknown to the Mahayana understanding.

1) Perfect Joy (Skt. pramudit!bh"mi; Tib. rabtu gawa; Wyl. rab tu dga' ba) 2) Immaculate / Stainless (Skt. vimal!bh"mi; Tib. drima mepa; Wyl. dri ma med pa) 3) Luminous / Illuminating (Skt. prabh !kar#bh"mi; Tib. o jepa; Wyl. ‘od byed pa) 4) Radiant (Skt. arci $mat#bh"mi; Tib. o tro chen; Wyl. ‘od ‘phro can) 5) Hard to Keep / Hard to Conquer (Skt. sudurjay!bh"mi; Tib. shintu jankawa; Wyl. shin tu sbyang dka' ba) 6) Clearly Manifest (Skt. abhimukh #bh"mi; Tib. ngontu gyurpa; Wyl. mngon du gyur ba) 7) Far Progressed (Skt. dura%gamabh"mi; Tib. ringtu songwa; Wyl. ring du song ba) 8) Immovable (Skt. ac!labh"mi; Tib. miyowa; Wyl. mi g.yo ba) 9) Perfect Intellect (Skt. s !dhu&at#bh"mi; Tib. lekpe lodro; Wyl. legs pa'i blo gros) 10) Cloud of Dharma (Skt. dharmamegha!bh"mi; Tib. chokyi trin; Wyl. chos kyi sprin) 11) Universal Radiance (Tib. kuntu o; Wyl. kun tu ‘od) 12) Lotus of Non-Attachment (Tib. machak pema chen; Wyl. ma chags padma can) 13) Gatherings of Rotating Syllables (Tib. yige khorlo tsokchen; Wyl. yi ge ‘khor lo tshogs chen) 14) Great Samadhi (Tib. tingdzin chenpo; Wyl. ting nge ‘dzin chen po) 15) Vajra Holder (Tib. dorje dzin; Wyl. rdo rje ‘dzin) 16) Unexcelled Wisdom (Tib. yeshe lama; Wyl. ye shes bla ma)

Link: http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Sixteen_bhumis The Rainbow light tigles far from being superfluous are actually a manifestation of the Rolpa energy of the true Sambhogakaya or dimension of non-physical but but visually perceptible Light. By integrating this Rolpa energy one attains the great Sambhogakaya.

Finally the tigles and Vajra chains which are expressions of the Tsel energy of the Nirmanakaya or dimension of physical reality (a kind of Frozen Light according to renowned Quantum Physicist David Bohm) manifest. These are called “Mouches Volantes” by the medical community and are mistakenly assumed to be a physical defect in the eye. Once the Tsel energy begins to be integrated, the Miraculous Powers or Siddhis become available. Walking on water, levitation, leaving handprints in solid rock and all these sign of a truly realized master such as Jesus, the Buddha, Padmasambhava and others.

It's easy to be skeptical in the spiritual wasteland of Post-Pseudo-Christian western civilization, but in Tibet and Nepal there are those who attain the Rainbow Body even to this very day.

In short the Procustean bed of “Electrical Spirituality” mutilates the body of the Great Perfection quite severely and is shown to be exclusive-reductive, ignorant of the Rolpa and Tsel energy, and subtly dualistic in that it places exclusive emphasis on the Formless aspect while ignoring the Luminous Form aspect which is not “superfluous” but integral to attaining the Rainbow Body which was both promised by Christ “Thou shall not taste death” and demonstrated by his resurrection, and also by the many Dzogchen masters who have attained this body even unto this very day. Reply

Michael January 2, 2015 at 7:40 am Dear Eliot could you tell me more about what you have said about the rainbow body etc.? Do you want my email address? Where have you gotten your knowledge? Do you practice these secret teachings and from whom have you learned? Is there any material out there to read about these things that is authentic? Thanks very much in advance for your answer!!! best wishes to you Michael

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L. Ron Gardner December 21, 2014 at 9:00 am

Sorry Elliot, I took on the same parochial thinking as yours in my article/review “Dumbed-Down, Disintegral, Discombobulated Dzogchen,” which along with being an article at Electricalspirituality.com is a (two-star) Amazon review of Jackson Peterson's book “The Natural Bliss of Being.” Anyone who checks out the 300 + comments to the book will find me debating with Jackson on the Light or Rainbow Body.

I will be posting another article/review on Tuesday — a one star Amazon review of Mantak Chia's “Cosmic Fusion.” Chia claims a Light or Rainbow Body takes 80 to a few hundred years to attain and that thousands of Taoist masters have attained one. But he also equates the Light or Rainbow Body with the Holy Spirit. I've read Buddha and Padmasambhava (and innumerable other ancient masters) — and I don't recall a single secret or special Togal-type teaching relative to attaining a Light or Rainbow body. Why is that? How about Garab Dorje? I don't recall it associated with his teachings, either.

I contacted Padma Publishing some months ago, and asked them when the Togal teachings involving visions and thigle emerged in Tibet. They couldn't answer the question and couldn't direct me to anyone who could. Maybe it was Jigme Lingpa. Can you point out special Togal instructions in Longchen Rabjam's teachings? I've never encountered them. Any such instructions, or “method,” would contradict his emphasis on effortlessness and non-seeking. Any such “method” would be a contraction of/in Consciousness, the Dharmakaya, because it would involve volition and dualistic (or subject-object) attention, and would also necessarily, simultaneously contract the Radiance, or field of Light-Energy, of the Dharmakaya.

Please tell me who introduced these Togal teachings involving Four Visions and thigle to Dzogchen. My teaching is simple: It is about Sat-Chit-Ananda — the Trikaya, and the Trinity. There is only one Reality and one true Yoga (Divine Yoga) — but many Buddhists don't see it that way; hence they don't appreciate my Dharma.

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L. Ron Gardner December 21, 2014 at 9:45 am

Elliot, David Bohm was deeply into J. Krishnamurti's teachings — and though Krishnamurti spoke of what he called the “Benediction” (tantamount to the descent of the Dharma Cloud). he never mentioned anything about thigle or a rainbow body. If David Bohm ever spoke of this, please direct me to this information. Whether someone's physical body dematerializes or not at death has nothing to do with Enlightenment. The Buddha's body didn't dematerialize. I've never read any Zen master who talks about attaining a Rainbow Body, and I've never read about any Zen master's body dematerializing at death. But given your parochial POV, you probably don't consider any of them Enlightened.

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Eliot Shieler December 22, 2014 at 8:23 am

Mr. Gardner,

Togal is part of the “Menngagde” subdivision of Dzogchen, “Menngagde” can be translated as “Secret Pithy Oral Instructions”. As any historian can tell you, tracing the origins of oral tradition is very difficult if not impossible due to it's very nature. Now consider the fact that it is held “Secret” and it's only logical that western scholarship will not likely be able to full illuminate it's origins.

The tradition itself holds that the teachings originated with Garab Dorje (Who attained the Rainbow Body at death), they were transmitted to his disciple Manjushrimitra who divided them in to the three series: Semde, Longde, and Menngagde. Manjushrimitra's disciple Shri Singha (Who attained the Rainbow Body) further divided Menngagde into the outer, inner, secret, and innermost secret cycles. Khenpo Namdrol explains:

“These four great cycles present the Trekcho teachings in a similar way, but where they differ is in the clarity, explicitness and detail of how the Togal teachings are given. Shri Singha gave the outer, inner and secret cycles of the category of pith instructions to both Vimalamitra and Jnanasutra. He transmitted the innermost secret cycle to Jnanasutra, who then passed it on to Vimalamitra.”

Also it is said that Padmasambhava met Garab Dorje in a pure vision, and he also received the Nyingtik teachings from Manjushrimitra. He then travelled to the Parushakavana charnel ground where Shri Singha granted him the teachings of the Three Classes of Mind, Space and Pith Instructions. After granting him the Outer, Inner and Secret cycles, Shri Singha conferred on Padmasambhava the teachings of the Innermost Unsurpassed Cycle of Pith Instructions, the Khandro Nyingtik, along with all the tantras and instructions. He stayed for twenty-five years, receiving and contemplating on this teaching. Subsequently, he went to the Sosadvipa charnel ground and practised for three years, obtaining an enlightened body that was “like the reflection of the moon in water, not subject to birth or death”. He attained ‘the Rainbow Body of great transference', in which form he later went to Tibet. In this subtle light body, great masters such as Padmasambhava and Vimalamitra can remain, without dissolving into the Dharmakaya, for as long as there is service to perform for sentient beings.

There also exists the Bonpo Dzogchen tradition which almost entirely consists of Menngagde series instructions on Trekchod and Togal. The Bonpos hold that these teachings originated with the founder of their religion Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche which they claim taught in Olmo Lungring (which they claim is synonymous with Shambhala), a part of a larger country called Tagzig in Central Asia about 18,000 years ago, though modern scholarship would place it closer to 1800 B.C.E.

As for Longchenpa, he did indeed speak of Togal, Tigles, Vajra chains and so forth. However these have been excised from the publicly available texts with which you are familiar in order not to confuse the average uninformed and uninitiated reader. -More to come-

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Eliot Shieler December 22, 2014 at 8:26 am

-Continued from previous comment-

The “Method” of Togal far from being “volitional” “contracted” or “dualistic” works in the same general way your own “Holy-Spirit” channeling (which is actually a sub-stage of Trekchod) works.

One merely approximates the Fruition through a psycho-physical “Gesture” and allows oneself to be effortlessly and automatically Liberated. You speak of their being only “One Reality” and in that you are absolutely correct. However your understanding actually contains subtle dualism. You give the Formless segment of the Continuum of Radiance unwarranted ontological primacy over the Luminous Form aspect of the Continuum.

Dzogchen understands that the Formless Dharmakaya, the Luminous-yet-non-physical Sambhogakaya, and the Physical World of Frozen Light or Nirmanakaya each have equal ontological status just as the colors Red, Green, and Blue have equal ontological status as part of the spectrum or continuum of visible light. To make an analogy: Water has three distinct phases, Aerial humidity (Gaseous), Water (Liquid), and Ice (Solid).

The Transcendental Fallacy is to believe in the Primacy of Humidity due to its qualities of all¬pervasiveness insubstantiality and formlessness. Liquid water is more tangible and thus dismissed as not Absolutely formless by the Trancendentalists who hold with Humidity as the only true nature of water. However liquid water is not Solid enough for the Materialists who hold that only solid Ice is the true nature of water.

The Trancendentalists hold that the path consists of heating up all the ice and water until everything is pure aerial humidity. The Materialists hold that the path consists of the freezing of all water into nice neat solid ice.

The Dzogchenpa sees all of these views as partial, that the nature of water contains all three phases, none of which is superior or inferior, and that the path consists of integrating the the three phases as they are, without Transforming or Abandoning any part of the continuum whatsoever. -More to Come-

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lrongardner December 22, 2014 at 11:22 am

Eliot, I'm going to write a third part to my “The Demystification of Dzogchen Thodgal (Togal)”and post it by the weekend. I will provide Rabjam excerpts from “The Practice of Dzogchen” which make it clear that true, original Togal is the same practice as channeling the Holy Spirit, the Divine Power-continuum. And as the excerpt makes clear, Dzogchen is “dualistic” yoga — about uniting two hypostases. But if you further consider my writings, you'll see that the yoga/spirituality I teach isn't dualistic — it's intradeical or dyadic, just like Dzogchen. The Sambhogakya and Nirmankaya are the Dharmakaya, simply in a particular phase or context. I've read Tenzin Wangyal (see my three star review “Wonders of the Natural Mind”), and he doesn't particularly impress me. He is clueless regarding the Trikaya. Keith Dowman is laughable — but perhaps entertaining to read if one drops acid. Jackson Peterson is a joke. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was overrated (see my two-star review of “Rainbow Painting,” and Namkhai Norbu is the best of the mediocre lot, which isn't saying that much.

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Michael January 2, 2015 at 7:29 am

Dear Mr. Gardener,

i hope i am not disrespecting of you but i was led here and i am very interested in what Eliot describes. Dear Eliot could you tell me more about what you have said about the rainbow body etc.? Do you want my email address? Where have you gotten your knowledge? Do you practice these secret teachings and from whom have you learned? Is there any material out there to read about these things that is authentic? Thanks very much in advance for your answer!!! best wishes to you Michael

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efn April 5, 2015 at 5:05 am

“But an advanced yogi can bypass or supersede Treckho, directly and immediately “leaping over” spiritual materialism to Spirit itself, the Other Side” You have demonstrated a basic lack of understanding of these terms and are reifying english words without understanding the background context of the native terms, nor how such english renderings have been criticized.

Togal IS a tangent of treckho, there is no Togal without it, as it would be like watching television and nothing more. This is just basic doctrine and your attempt to hypostatize a semantic distinction into a doctrinal or soteriological one is laughable and wreaks of sloppy and uncritical scholarship.

Read some of Elias Capriles or actually read a lot more of Norbu, because he criticizes rendering Togal as you do because it leads non-scholars to mistake what is being referred to, the irony of which is that the example he gives of an error of non-scholars is exactly the one you make. 0/10 article, poor uncritical and sloppy topical bullsh#t.

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lrongardner April 5, 2015 at 8:11 am

I've read Capriles, and five of Norbu's books. You're right: Strictly speaking, Treckho and Togal are inseparable, just as Holy Communion and conducting the Holy Spirit are inseparable. But what I'm saying is that an advanced practitioner, at times, doesn't have to work to “cut through” spiritual materialsm, which is the practice of Treckho, to get to the “Other Side,” the Sambhogakaya.” He bypasses the explicit “work” of Treckho, because his Togal practice naturally includes it. Reply efn April 9, 2015 at 9:06 am

You keep reifying the poor translations of “cut through” and “other side” as if they are verbs, which they are not. Even saying the “work” of treckho completely misunderstands what it is. These sort of translations are extremely poor and contribute to the “Buddhist babble”, a more accurate and contextually accurate translations of treckho is “spontaneous, instant, and absolute release of tension”, and Togal is “as soon as you are here, you are there”. Though this is considered the most accurate, close students conferred with Dzogchen experts and agreed that “acceleration”, which can still fool people into thinking of a verb of some sort, but none the less can work STRICTLY in the context of understanding it as “in that it has also been used by the Master Norbu and that it expresses the essence of Thogel, in that the practice catalyzes the spontaneous liberation process of the Tekcho, making it swifter”. The important point here is that it is a catalyst for the “spontaneous, instant, and absolute release of tension” of trecko, in no way is it a replacement for it.

So no, Togal practice can't just naturally “include” treckho, it can't occur before hand and there is no record, anywhere, of that occurring, all attempts at such instead are criticized as a complete waste of time and not liberating.

Furthermore, you seem to totally misunderstand the history of togal in relation to early Dzogchen, and in general the history of Dzogchen. The earliest instances of Dzogchen are found in Indian Tantra texts, as a view, not a practice or vehicle of any sort, merely a contextual background in which to practice tantric guru yoga.

In Tibet, when Dzogchen first came, it was, as scholars put it, in the form of “pristine Great Perfection”, opposed to what is called “funerary” or “tantric” Great Perfection. Pristine great awareness, which is radical Dzogchen devoid of praxis, specific techniques, path, and so forth most resembles what is called Semde series now. The other series didn't exist yet and guess what, neither did thogal. It is right to note that there was no emphasis on appearances at all, nor visions. In fact Dzogchen didn't speak of death or after birth states at all, it wasn't until it began to evolve a bit and be influenced by funerary tantra did it do so. And the early cases of it actually discussing death

and after death, involved embracing the invisible, rather than the “extrinsic manifestations of Buddhanature”. Again though, at this stage there was no such thing as Thogal, it didn't exist. It wasn't until certain Indian tantric texts made it into Tibet, which were concerned with visions and funerary rights and after-death states, which influenced Tibetan Buddhism considerably, that Tibetan Dzogchen start to become “tantric” or “funerary” Dzogchen. This change was most pronounced in the Seminal Heart tradition, and one of its big players that sealed the deal for it, Longchenpa. Though conservative movements wanted to keep Dzogchen “pure”, including the great Nyangrel Nyima Ozer, and wanted to preserve “pristine” Dzogchen as radical as it could be, so again, no path, no specific techniques, no praxis, no visualization (per tantra), no emphasis on appearances, no thogal.

However, this conservative movement failed, and its remains, called “Crown Pith”, in a stroke of irony, where incorporated into the fourth cycle, along with “Ultra Pith” and a lessor known and hardly ever mentioned Pith called “Great Perfection Total Transcendence”, which apparently has a view which transcends all others. The point of this all is, that until the Seminal Heart tradition gaining dominance due to Longchenpa, there was no Thogal, Thogal was a Seminal Heart innovation which was influenced by tantra and involved an emphasis on appearances. Longchenpa distinguishes how Thogal works compared to Tantra visionary states in his grub mtha' mdzod (The Treasury of Dogmas: a Lamp for

the Meaning of All Vehicles to Liberation from Samsara), which involves leaving everything in its natural place unlike the “forcing” of the winds into the central channel like Tantra, which creates deluded manifestations mistaken for non-dual knowledge.

So all this talk about you knowing that Thogal is, is complete nonsense. You present Thogal as nothing more than Treckho (yet try to distinguish it on laughably fallacious grounds rooted in making a mountain of poor translations), because you don't know the history of either nor what either really entail. You read several vague English books and clearly have received no intensive oral instruction on the matter, which is by far the most critical to have a clue about these “methods” since they still are part of the core

“whispered” cycle of Dzogchen. Thogal has ALWAYS been about visions and emphasizing the visionary aspect, as it came from the Seminal Heart tradition, spearheaded by Longchenpa. Rather you seem to prefer a conservative Dzogchen, which is totally fine, that of the Crown Pith and Semde, and would probably really like Nyangrel Nyima Ozer's works (which you clearly have not read). I know you claim to have read “all the big names in Dzogchen”, but we both know this untrue, as it is likely you have not even heard of Nyangrel before, despite him being one of the HUGE names in Dzogchen.

Lastly, your misconstruing of the sambhogakaya is baffling, you try to discuss it in a Dzogchen context, but neither use a Dzogchen or Tantric definition.. .which is obviously an issue of equivocation. Take care, and for your own sake, stop talking about things you know little about. You are not a scholar or specialist on these matters and frankly are just spreading ignorance.

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Ken the Kun November 7, 2015 at 1:53 pm

“When, having applied the key points of practice, one has the view that is the direct perception of reality, in that instant timeless awareness arises inwardly; it is pristine, hence unwavering and free of the proliferation and resolution of thoughts. This is trekcho, or reaching dharmakaya in the immediacy of one's own true nature. The skillful means that bring about the seemingly external manifestation of the visions of utter lucidity is togal (one's nature experienced as a state of spontaneous presence), in which the path is based on rupakaya (.) we find that there are two approaches: togal, which involves effort, and trekcho, which is effortless. As noted earlier in the same source (The Pearl Garland):

There is natural freedom, which does not involve effort,

and practical implementation, which does.” -The Precious Treasury of Philosophical Systems, Longchen Rabjampa

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L. Ron Gardner November 7, 2015 at 6:22 pm

Ken the Kun, good quote. In his two most important spiritual texts — “The Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding” and “A Treasure Trove of Scriptural Transmission: A Commentary on The Precious Treasury of the Basic Space of Phenomena,” there is hardly any mention of Togal. Effortlessness is exalted, which would reduce an effortful Togal to a remedial, reductive practice.

The real problem with Rabjam is that he is an unclear thinker who contradicts himself, especially regarding Trekcho and Togal. In a “Treasure Trove of Scriptural Transmission,” he writes: “As for resting imperturbably in awareness, in togal this consists of resting in the continuum that is the radiance of awareness. But in trekcho, the utterly profound key point is to rest right in actual awareness, naked and unobstructed.”

If one is resting in this continuum, then there is no effort. But if one reads further, he seems to exalt trekcho above togal. He writes: “The enlightened intent of the single decisive point concerning sensory appearances is to seek a means of resting awareness itself. This is the supreme secret of secrets.” According to this quote, why should one even bother with togal if trekcho “is the supreme secret of secrets”? While I appreciate Rabjam's writings, I see them as less than integral and fully developed.

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Bill November 12, 2015 at 1:02 pm

IMHE for one to so easily dismiss the writings of other Traditions speaks highly of Intellectual Superiority because of not having realised Two-fold Emptiness, or of not having it stick sufficiently well such that one's Ego was not humbled enough to see the error of its Judge-mental ways ! Or of having lost access to one's own Wisdom probably due to leaving one's own Path and assuming it was safe to start some sort of a cross-analysis ? i.e. Mental thought processing and Conceptual Bullsh1t ! Respectfully,

Bill.

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L. Ron Gardner November 12, 2015 at 7:59 pm

Bill, it's easy for me to diss deficient Dharma, because the deficiencies are clear to me. I find Buddhists to be almost as parochial as Christians. Their “God” is emptiness, and when I deconstruct their “God,” they often go ballistic, like you have.

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Bill November 13, 2015 at 2:52 am

Ah thank you for the rely however you have missed the point Mr Gardner. The True Dharma is non-Conceptual Widsom and cannot be directly known /experienced until, as I mentioned, realisation of two-fold “emptiness” has taken hold of one's Consciousness.

That is why any attempts at Deconstruction and / or Cross-Analysis are simply misguided attempts from a still dominant Egoic Head-space. Of course constructing a Conceptual Map is useful in some ways, along the way, but there comes a point when the Map of Conceptuality is thrown away for the Territory of non¬Conceptuality ! My best wishes to you nevertheless, Regards, Bill.

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Eminem January 30, 2016 at 5:10 pm

All this philosophical talk regarding Thogal practice is just a lot of nonsense. The experience of twofold emptiness in a rainbow flash of luminosity will happen due to a state of Grace. There are practices you can do to invite this Grace (Thogal and dark retreat), but these are just strategies. Usually the flash of epiphany is experienced in the presence of a Guru....

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L. Ron Gardner January 31, 2016 at 2:52 pm

As I've repeatedly made clear, Togal (or “Leap Over”) is simply directly connecting to the Sambhogakaya, or Shakti, and channeling/beholding this Clear-Light Energy.

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Alejandro May 9, 2016 at 8:45 pm

How can you say ” highest Dzogchen practice) defined as “leap over” and/or “spontaneous presence,” but none of these texts and none of the Dzogchen teachers can explain what this means. I can.2 Only by saying that you are breaking all of your samaya as a practitioner. You have a huge ego, togyal is a very dangerous practice for people who have big egos. And the translation of leap over is completly wrong, there is nothing to leap, Norbu talks about that in other books, which are not ment to be read by people who haven't recieved direct introduction, and yet he always says when talking about togyal that he is not given nor lung nor permision to do the practice.

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L. Ron Gardner May 10, 2016 at 1:27 am

Alejandro, Norbu is good as long as he sticks to Trekcho. He doesn't really grok Togal. What one “leaps over” in Togal is the spiritual materialism that Trekcho must cut through.

I've received direct Introduction, and I channel the Sambhogakaya into the Vajra Heart-cemter.

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kara November 26, 2016 at 5:19 pm

Hi Ron: I just bought your book Electrical Christianity and then found this site. I started to read the blogs and can not find the section where you make statements concerning men and genius.

I do sort of remember it said, “when a woman can write spiritual literature on the level of say, Ramana Maharshi, Adi Da or Anyway, after I read this I thought about the two

books which have influenced me the most and they were both written by women. Did you consider, Mary Baker Eddy, who wrote “Science and Health' and seemed to really walk the talk or Helen Schucman who wrote, A Course in Miracles. ? Thanks , Ron. I appreciate the blogs.

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L. Ron Gardner November 27, 2016 at 1:06 pm

Hi Kara: Thanks or buying EC. I hope you find it enlightening. I'm not a fan of “A Course in Miracles,” and it doesn't take a genius to write a book on science and health. If you go to my other blog — electricalspirituality.com (you can click quickly get there by clicking on the on link at the top of this blog) — you will find the tab “Books” on the top. Under the first entry for this tab “Beyond the Power of Now: A Guide to, and Beyond, Eckhart Tolle's Teachings,” you will find the excerpt from the book “Light on Relationships.” This excerpt briefly expresses my POV on women and genius.