Thekchod (khregs-chod)
khregs-chod / Thekchod - releasing tensions, cutting through rigidity (a special teaching of the Dzogchen Upadesha Series)
"THEKCHOD......The principle of Thekchod is the primordial purity of everything.....From the viewpoint of the Nying-thig teachings, the original state of the individual, one's inherent enlightened nature, is seen as being primordially pure and spontaneously self-perfected (lhun-grub). These two aspects of the state are realized in the two divisions of Nying-thig teaching and practice, namely, Thekchod and Thodgal....The term Thekchod (khregs-chod) literally means 'cutting loose (chod) the bundle (khregs)'....much as a woodman might cut loose the ties binding a bundle of sticks he has brought with him from the forest. In the case of the individual, this bundle is one's emotional and intellectual tensions and rigidities that keep one imprisoned in a self-created cage and prevent one from realizing one's intrinsic freedom. The principle point of Thekchod is to relax all these tensions of body, speech, and mind that obscure our inherent Buddha-nature, which has been primordially present as the Base (ye gzhi). In Thekchod practice, one settles into a state of contemplation without being distracted for a moment from the view of the primordial purity of our inherent nature. As the master Garab Dorje said: "Whatever is produced in the mind is unobstructed like the clouds in the sky. Having understood the meaning of the complete identity of all phenomenon (in terms of the essence of their emptiness), then when one enters into this (state of contemplation)without following them, this is the true meditation.".....Through the practice of Thekchod, one comes to understand and be totally familiar with the state of contemplation."......John Myrdhin Reynolds....'The Oral Traditions From Zhang-Zhung'....Page 33
"Dzogchen the highest view? In all of the nine successive ways or vehicles we search for the Natural State (gnas-lugs). But this depends on the capacity of the individual. Each of these nine successive ways has a different view. In gen eral, the method of Sutra is the path of renunciation (spong lam), the method of Tantra is the path of transformation (sgyur lam), and the method of Dzogchen is the path of self-liberation (grol lam). So we say that Dzogchen is the final or ultimate way. Self-liberation (rang grol) is the definitive view and method of Thekchod (khregs-chod).
What is required at first is a Direct Introduction to the Natural State (rig-pa ngo sprod). This Natural State is the view of Thekchod. The intro duction is very simple: we just look inward, we look back at ourselves. It is like looking at our own face in a mirror, not looking out at the external world through eye-glasses. Every one of us has the possibility of realizing it for ourselves. It is not very far, but it must be pointed out to us. So it is not a matter of collecting different teachings. As such, it only becomes more remote. No, it is a matter of direct personal experience. The watcher and what is watched both dissolve at the same time and we just leave them as they are. We just continue in the Natural State; that is the view of Thekchod.
"Bönpo Dzogchen Teachings" Taught by Lopon Tenzin Namdak"
QUOTED TEXTS.....
The Oral Tradition from Zhang Zhung: An Introduction to the Bonpo Dzogchen Teachings of the Oral Tradition from Zhang Zhung known as the Zhang-zhung snyan rgyud Translations, Commentaries, and Annotations by John Myrdhin Reynolds. Forward by Lopon Tenzin Namdak This impressive volume includes biographies of the principal early masters in the lineages of transmission of the Zhang-zhung snayn rgyud, translations of Guru Yoga and Dzogchen preliminary practices (ngondro) from the sNyan-brgyud rgyal-ba phyag-khrid. These explanations proceed according to the oral instructions of Yongdzin Rinpoche, Lopon Tenzin Namdak
Arrow and the Spindle: Studies in History, Myth, Rituals and Beliefs in Tibet By Samten G. Karmay Contains 32 articles written over the span of 20 years, covering aspects of history, Dzogchen philosophy, the Bon religion, myths and rituals including "The Soul and the Turquoise: a Ritual for Recalling the bla" and "The Local Deities and the Juniper Tree: a Ritual for Purification (bsang)", articles on the Gesar Epic, as well as on the reunification and disintegration of Tibet
Drung, Deu and Bon: Narrations, Symbolic Languages and the Bon Tradition in Ancient Tibet By Namkhai Norbu, translated from Tibetan into Italian, and edited by Adriano Clemente, translated from Italian into English by Andrew Lukianowicz Includes chapters on selected narrations, symbolic languages, and the twelve lores (sciences) of Bon
Heart Drops of Dharmakaya:Dzogchen Practice of the Bon Tradtion By Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen, commentary by Lopon Tenzin Namdak "This is one of the most important books in Dzogchen as demonstrated by the author, Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen, who attained the Rainbow body. My kind root master, Lopon Rinpoche's clear and direct commentary elucidates all the major points of this essential text." --Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Opening the Door to Bon By Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche Full of practical and explicit instructions, this handbook for Westerners details the outer and inner fundamental Bon practices.
Sacred Tibetan Teachings: On Death and Liberation By Giacomella Orofino, preface by Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche These are lightly used copies of the out-of-print and hard-to-find title. Included in these translations, there is one chapter entitled, "The Doctrine of the Six Lights," a translation of the Bonpo dzogchen text from the Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyu, The Oral Transmission of Zhang Zhung.
Unbounded Wholeness: Dzogchen, Bon and the Logic of the Nonconceptual by Anne Carolyn Klein and Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche The long awaited study and translation of the "Authenticity of Open Awareness", a foundational text of the Bon Dzogchen tradition. It includes an extensive commentary and explanatory material.
Wonders of the Natural Mind: The Essence of Dzogchen in the Native Bon Tradition of Tibet By Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, edited by Andrew Lukianowicz, with a foreword by H.H. the Dalai Lama Introduction to Bon Dzogchen, based upon teachings of the Zhang Zhung Nyan Gyud, the Oral Transmission of Zhang Zhung.
Excerpt from Golden Letters: The Three Statements of Garab Dorje
With regard to the Das-rjes, in each case the master in question attained the Body of Light at the time of his death, when he dissolved his physical body into the dimension of the space of the sky.
1. Tshig gsum gnad du brdreg-pa, "The Three statements That Strike the Essential Points, " of Prahevajra or Garab Dorje(dGa'-rad rdorje)
2. sGom nyams drug-pa,"The Six Meditation Experiences," of Manjushrimitra ('Jam dpal bshes-gnyen)
3. gZer-bu bdun-pa, "The Seven Important Points," of Shrisimha (dPal gyi seng-ge mgon-po)
4. bZhags-thabs bzhi, "The Four Methods for Remaining in Contemplation," of Jnanasutra (Ye-shes mdo)
Before one can practice Thodgal, one must first purify the twofold obscurations and master the state of contemplation throught Trekchod practice, a releasing or a cutting through of all one's tensions and rigidities. If one does not first perfect Thekchod as an absolutely necessary prerequisite, then the Thodgal practice will be little better than watching a cinema show. Although one practices Thodgal not in the state of ordinary consciousness but in the state of contemplation, there is nevertheless the ever-present danger that one will become attached to the visions that arise.
Excerpt from: The Golden Letters : The Three Statements of Garab Dorje, the First Teacher of Dzogchen, Together With a Commentary Garab Dorje, John Myrdhin Reynolds (Translator)
