But in actuality, the intrinsic awareness of Dzogchen is not produced or
initiated by causes and conditions, for the potential of pure being and primal
awareness is intrinsically present and manifests spontaneously.Apply effort to cultivate the sutric approach to buddha but allow not even a
whit of aspiration to arise regarding the pure presence of rigpa.The culture of monasticism, preferred by the Tibetans since the second
propagation of the dharma in Tibet, may be a superior way of life in comparison
with liberal market capitalism, but it does not specifically facilitate experiential
understanding of the nature of mind or spontaneous release in the timeless
moment of the here and now more than does any other culture. Insofar as the
Tibetan monasteries drew in all types of minds from all social classes, those minds
were all expected to enter the tunnel of learning that began with the sutras and
ended with Vajrayana praxis. That curriculum contained no element that on its
own could supply the wherewithal of Garab Dorje’s first precept—recognition of
the nature of mind. Buddhist (and also Bon) monasticism had greatly
overshadowed and suppressed the old shamanism that did in fact contain no small
measure of experiential and initiatory skillful means.
In order that all applicants diligently settle down to a monastically based life of
study, reflection, and contemplation, they must possess an inner conviction that
the progressive path of the Vajrayana does indeed lead to consummate Dzogchen;
skillful introduction to goals and techniques provides and supports that conviction.
Pema Rigtsal explains:
Whether we wish to meditate through inseparable shamata and vipasyana in
the ultimate Dzogchen manner, or whether we seek the five supersensory
powers and temporary happiness in the realms of the gods or men, first, in
order to become fit for the task, we need to cultivate the mind, just as we need
to cultivate a field to prepare it for crops. If we train in shamata at the
beginning, we prepare for the pure presence of Dzogchen.To reveal that vision we need to have confidence in meditation. If we lack
such confidence, we will not be able to remove the veil of dualistic delusion.
What we call “meditation” is nothing but a confident view, keeping pure
presence fixed leisurely within that view. When we have gained confidence in
meditation, all the phenomena of samsara, nirvana, and the path from one to
the other arise as forms of emptiness, apparent yet nonexistent. Those forms
are the path, and traversing it there is neither hatred for an enemy nor love for
a friend, neither hope for nirvana nor fear of samsara. Moreover, when our
potential for such meditation is realized, both samsara and nirvana are bound
together in the one cosmic seed, free of all conceptual elaboration, and
whatever we have specified, focused on, imagined, referenced, or elaborated
will gradually vanish, like mist dissipating in the sky.But in this work, insofar as Vajrayana and Dzogchen are considered side by side,