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74-571: Samten Gyeltsen was born in 1936 in Amdo Sharkhog, eastern Tibet. He received religious training in Dzogchen meditation from his uncle. He completed his studies in the Bon monastery in 1955, obtaining the degree of geshe , and left with a group of friends to Drepung Monastery , a Gelug gompa near Lhasa . The monastery was known for its high philosophical training. After leaving Drepung due to

148-603: A guru or lama who introduces one to our own primordial state and provides instruction on how to practice. This "direct introduction" and transmission from a Dzogchen master is considered absolutely essential. The Dzogchen tradition contains numerous systems of practices, including various forms of meditation, tantric yogas and unique Dzogchen methods. The earliest form of Dzogchen practice (the Semde , "Mind" series) generally emphasized non-symbolic "formless" practices (as opposed to tantric deity yoga ). Later developments led to

222-623: A central concept in Dzogchen. According to Ācārya Malcolm Smith: A text from the Heart Essence of Vimalamitra called the Lamp Summarizing Vidyā ( Rig pa bsdus pa’i sgronma ) defines vidyā in the following way: "...vidyā is knowing, clear, and unchanging" In Sanskrit, the term vidyā and all its cognates imply consciousness, knowing, knowledge, science, intelligence, and so on. Simply put, vidyā means unconfused knowledge of

296-463: A direct immersion in awareness. During the Tibetan renaissance era (10th to early 12th century), Dzogchen underwent significant development, incorporating new practices and teachings from India. This period saw the emergence of new Dzogchen traditions like the "Instruction Class series" and the "Seminal Heart" ( Tibetan : སྙིང་ཐིག་ , Wylie : snying thig ). Dzogchen is classified into three series:

370-426: A direct understanding of the mind's pure nature through meditation and specific Dzogchen methods. The Fruit is the realization of one's true nature, leading to complete non-dual awareness and the dissolution of dualities. Dzogchen practitioners aim for self-liberation ( Tibetan : རང་གྲོལ་ , Wylie : rang grol ), where all experiences are integrated with awareness of one's true nature. This process may culminate in

444-446: A lack of funerary, charnel ground and death imagery found in some Buddhist tantras. According to Germano, instead of tantric deity yoga methods, early Dzogchen mainly focused on simple calming ( śamatha ) contemplations leading to a "technique free immersion in the bare immediacy of one's own deepest levels of awareness". Similarly, Christopher Hatchell explains that since for early Dzogchen "all beings and all appearances are themselves

518-403: A space. Spaces are not used to divide words. The Tibetan alphabet has thirty basic letters, sometimes known as "radicals", for consonants. As in other Indic scripts , each consonant letter assumes an inherent vowel ; in the Tibetan script it is /a/. The letter ཨ is also the base for dependent vowel marks. Although some Tibetan dialects are tonal , the language had no tone at the time of

592-433: A technical term employed within the Dzogchen lineages for a particular lineage of empowerment propagated by Jigme Lingpa . This empowerment consists of the direct introduction of the student to the intrinsic nature of their own mind-essence, rigpa , by their empowering master. In Dzogchen tradition, pointing-out instruction ( Tibetan : ངོ་སྤྲོད་ཀྱི་གདམས་པ་ , Wylie : ngo sprod kyi gdams pa , THL : ngo-trö kyi dam-pa )

666-496: A written tradition. Amdo Tibetan was one of a few examples where Buddhist practitioners initiated a spelling reform. A spelling reform of the Ladakhi language was controversial in part because it was first initiated by Christian missionaries. In the Tibetan script, the syllables are written from left to right. Syllables are separated by a tsek (་); since many Tibetan words are monosyllabic, this mark often functions almost as

740-647: Is "great" because: The Three Series of Dzogchen ( Tibetan : རྫོགས་ཆེན་སྡེ་གསུམ་ , Wylie : rdzogs chen sde gsum ) are a traditional Tibetan Buddhist classification which divides the teachings of the Nyingma school's Dzogchen tradition into three series, divisions or sections. These three are: the Semde ('Mind Series'), the Longdé ('Space Series') and the Menngagde ('Instruction Series'). Traditional accounts of

814-554: Is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Bön aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. The goal of Dzogchen is knowledge of this basis; this knowledge is called rigpa ( Sanskrit : vidyā ). There are spiritual practices taught in various Dzogchen systems for awakening rigpa . Dzogchen emerged during the first dissemination of Buddhism in Tibet , around

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888-410: Is above most other consonants, thus རྐ rka. However, an exception to this is the cluster རྙ /ɲa/. Similarly, the consonants ར /ra/, and ཡ /ja/ change form when they are beneath other consonants, thus ཀྲ /ʈ ~ ʈʂa/; ཀྱ /ca/. Besides being written as subscripts and superscripts, some consonants can also be placed in prescript, postscript, or post-postscript positions. For instance,

962-616: Is also referred to as "pointing out the nature of mind" ( Tibetan : སེམས་ཀྱི་ངོ་སྤྲོད་ , Wylie : sems kyi ngo sprod , THL : sem kyi ngo-trö ), "pointing out transmission", or "introduction to the nature of mind". The pointing-out instruction ( ngo sprod ) is an introduction to the nature of mind . There are three major divisions of the Dzogchen path, known as the "Three Dharmas of the Path." These are tawa , gompa , and chöpa . Namkhai Norbu translates these three terms as 'view,' 'practice,' and 'conduct.' Garab Dorje (c. 665) epitomized

1036-666: Is designed as a simple means for inputting Dzongkha text on computers. This keyboard layout was standardized by the Dzongkha Development Commission (DDC) and the Department of Information Technology (DIT) of the Royal Government of Bhutan in 2000. It was updated in 2009 to accommodate additional characters added to the Unicode & ISO 10646 standards since the initial version. Since

1110-576: Is more focused on oral forms of introduction. Germano writes that the Mind Series serves as a classification for the earlier texts and forms of Dzogchen "prior to the development of the Seminal Heart movements" which focused on meditations based on tantric understandings of bodhicitta ( byang chub kyi sems ). This referred to the ultimate nature of the mind, which is empty ( stong pa ), luminous (' od gsal ba ), and pure. According to Germano,

1184-586: Is often explained through three "liberations" or capacities of a Dzogchen practitioner: Advanced Dzogchen practitioners are also said to sometimes manifest supranormal knowledge (Skt. abhijñā, Tib. mngon shes ), such as clairvoyance and telepathy . Tibetan script The Tibetan script is a segmental writing system, or abugida , derived from Brahmic scripts and Gupta script , and used to write certain Tibetic languages , including Tibetan , Dzongkha , Sikkimese , Ladakhi , Jirel and Balti . It

1258-492: Is perfect stainless wisdom in the realm beyond concepts, it is perfection. Because behavior is perfect universal wisdom in the realm beyond correction, it is perfection. Because view is perfect non-conceptual wisdom in the realm beyond achievement, it is perfection. Because fruit is the perfect twenty-five wisdoms in the realm beyond frame of reference, it is perfection. The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva explains that Dzogchen

1332-528: Is simply read as it usually is and has no effect on the pronunciation of the consonant to which it is subjoined, for example ཀ་ཝ་ཟུར་ཀྭ (IPA: /ka.wa.suː.ka/). The vowels used in the alphabet are ཨ /a/, ཨི /i/, ཨུ /u/, ཨེ /e/, and ཨོ /o/. While the vowel /a/ is included in each consonant, the other vowels are indicated by marks; thus ཀ /ka/, ཀི /ki/, ཀུ /ku/, ཀེ /ke/, ཀོ /ko/. The vowels ཨི /i/, ཨེ /e/, and ཨོ /o/ are placed above consonants as diacritics, while

1406-560: Is solely for the consonants ད /tʰa/ and ས /sa/. The head ( མགོ in Tibetan, Wylie: mgo ) letter, or superscript, position above a radical is reserved for the consonants ར /ra/, ལ /la/, and ས /sa/. The subscript position under a radical can only be occupied by the consonants ཡ /ja/, ར /ra/, ལ /la/, and ཝ /wa/. In this position they are described as བཏགས (Wylie: btags , IPA: /taʔ/), in Tibetan meaning "hung on/affixed/appended", for example བ་ཡ་བཏགས་བྱ (IPA: /pʰa.ja.taʔ.t͡ʃʰa/), except for ཝ , which

1480-483: Is the basis of all appearances and that this basis, called mind itself, is empty and luminous. The Space series meanwhile is focused on emptiness (Skt. śūnyatā, T. stong-pa nyid ). Finally, the Instruction Series itself is seen as the most direct kind of realization, without the need to meditate on emptiness or mind. Over time, the Instruction Series came to dominate the Dzogchen tradition and it remains

1554-416: Is the end of space. Space is infinite in all directions; so is dharmakaya. Dharmakaya is all-pervasive and totally infinite, beyond any confines or limitations. This is so for the dharmakaya of all buddhas. There is no individual dharmakaya for each buddha, as there is no individual space for each country. The Dzogchen View of the secret instruction series ( man ngag sde ) is classically explained through

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1628-578: Is used across the Himalayas and Tibet . The script is closely linked to a broad ethnic Tibetan identity, spanning across areas in India , Nepal , Bhutan and Tibet. The Tibetan script is of Brahmic origin from the Gupta script and is ancestral to scripts such as Lepcha , Marchen and the multilingual ʼPhags-pa script , and is also closely related to Meitei . According to Tibetan historiography,

1702-611: The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra . Furthermore, scholars like Sam van Schaik see Dzogchen as having arisen out of tantric Buddhist completion stage practices. The earliest Dzogchen sources appeared in the first half of the 9th century, with a series of short texts attributed to Indian saints. The most of important of these are the "Eighteen Great Scriptures", which are today known as the "Mind Series" ( Semdé ) and are attributed to Indian masters like Śrī Siṅgha , Vairotsana and Vimalamitra . The later Semdé compilation tantra titled

1776-492: The bardo (intermediate state between death and rebirth ). In trekchö, one first identifies the innate pure awareness, and then sustains recognition of it in all activities. In tögal ("crossing over"), a yogi works with various gazes and postures which lead to various forms of visions (in dark retreat or through sky gazing ). The most comprehensive study of sky-gazing meditation, known as tögal or thod rgal , has been written by Flavio A. Geisshuesler. Although

1850-582: The All-Creating King ( Kunjed Gyalpo , kun byed rgyal po) is one of the most important and widely quoted of all Dzogchen scriptures. Germano sees the early Dzogchen of the Tibetan Empire period as characterized by the rejection of normative Vajrayana practice. Germano calls the early Dzogchen traditions "pristine Great Perfection" since it is marked "by the absence of presentations of detailed ritual and contemplative technique" as well as

1924-710: The Centre national de la recherche scientifique (National Centre for Scientific Research). During his time there, he was awarded with the CNRS Silver Medal for his contribution to Human Sciences. A number of Revue d'Études Tibétaines was dedicated to him in November 2008. He also held the post of the President of the International Association of Tibetan Studies between 1995 and 2000, being

1998-898: The Latin script . Multiple Romanization and transliteration systems have been created in recent years, but do not fully represent the true phonetic sound. While the Wylie transliteration system is widely used to Romanize Standard Tibetan , others include the Library of Congress system and the IPA-based transliteration (Jacques 2012). Below is a table with Tibetan letters and different Romanization and transliteration system for each letter, listed below systems are: Wylie transliteration (W), Tibetan pinyin (TP), Dzongkha phonetic (DP), ALA-LC Romanization (A) and THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription (THL). The first version of Microsoft Windows to support

2072-491: The Nyingma school attribute this schema to the Indian master Mañjuśrīmitra (c. 8th century). According to modern Tibetologists , this doxographic schema actually developed in the literature of the Instruction Series (c. 11th century onwards) as a way to distinguish and categorize the various Dzogchen teachings at the time. According to Instruction Series texts, the Mind Series is based on understanding that one's own mind

2146-578: The eleven vajra topics . These can be found in the String of Pearls Tantra ( Mu tig phreng ba ), the Great Commentary by Vimalamitra as well as in Longchenpa 's Treasury of Word and Meaning ( Tsik Dön Dzö). Dzogchen practice ( gompa ) relies on the Dzogchen view which is a "direct, non-dual, non-conceptual knowledge" of the pure nature. This is achieved through one's relationship with

2220-692: The first dissemination of Buddhism in Tibet (7th to 9th centuries CE) during the Tibetan Empire and continued during the Era of Fragmentation (9th to 11th centuries). American Tibetologist David Germano argues that Dzogchen is likely a Tibetan Buddhist development. However, numerous ideas key to Dzogchen (like emptiness and luminosity ) can be found in Indian sources, like the Buddhist tantras , buddha-nature literature and other Mahāyāna sources like

2294-488: The fourteenth Dalai Lama , the term dzogchen may be a rendering of the Sanskrit term mahāsandhi . The term initially referred to the "highest perfection" of Vajrayāna deity yoga . Specifically, it refers to the stage after the deity visualisation has been dissolved and one rests in the natural state of the innately luminous and pure mind . According to Sam van Schaik , in the 8th-century tantra Sarvabuddhasamāyoga,

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2368-438: The "Secret Cycle" ( gsang skor ), "Ultra Pith" ( yang tig ), "Brahmin's tradition" ( bram ze'i lugs ), the " Space Class Series," and especially the "Instruction Class series" ( Menngagde ), which culminated in the "Seminal Heart" ( snying thig ), which emerged in the late 11th and early 12th century. The most influential texts in this period are Seventeen Tantras ( rgyud bcu bdun ). The most important scholarly figure in

2442-411: The "expanse" or "space" ( klong or dbyings ) or the "expanse of Dharma" ( chos dbyings , Sanskrit: Dharmadhatu ). The term Dharmakaya (Dharma body) is also often associated with these terms in Dzogchen, as explained by Tulku Urgyen : Dharmakaya is like space. You cannot say there is any limit to space in any direction. No matter how far you go, you never reach a point where space stops and that

2516-421: The (essentialist) categories of substance and quality; [...] rang-bzhin (actuality) remains open-dimensional, rather than being or turning into a rigid essence despite its being what it is; and that thugs-rje (resonance) is an atemporal sensitivity and response, rather than a distinct and narrowly circumscribed operation. The 19th–20th-century Tibetan Buddhist scholar, Shechen Gyaltsap Gyurme Pema Namgyal, sees

2590-585: The 7th to 9th centuries CE. While it is considered a Tibetan development by some scholars, it draws upon key ideas from Indian sources. The earliest Dzogchen texts appeared in the 9th century, attributed to Indian masters. These texts, known as the Eighteen Great Scriptures, form the "Mind Series" and are attributed to figures like Śrī Siṅgha and Vimalamitra . Early Dzogchen was marked by a departure from normative Vajrayāna practices, focusing instead on simple calming contemplations leading to

2664-518: The 9th-century spoken Tibetan, and current pronunciation. This divergence is the basis of an argument in favour of spelling reform , to write Tibetan as it is pronounced ; for example, writing Kagyu instead of Bka'-rgyud . The nomadic Amdo Tibetan and the western dialects of the Ladakhi language , as well as the Balti language , come very close to the Old Tibetan spellings. Despite that,

2738-496: The Buddha-nature as ultimate truth, nirvana, which is constituted of profundity, primordial peace and radiance: Buddha-nature is immaculate. It is profound, serene, unfabricated suchness, an uncompounded expanse of luminosity; nonarising, unceasing, primordial peace, spontaneously present nirvana. Direct introduction is called the "Empowerment of Awareness" ( Wylie : rig pa'i rtsal dbang , pronounced "rigpay sall wahng"),

2812-711: The Dzogchen teaching in three principles, known as "Striking the Vital Point in Three Statements" ( Tsik Sum Né Dek ), said to be his last words. They give in short the development a student has to undergo: Garab Dorje's three statements were integrated into the Nyingthig traditions, the most popular of which in the Longchen Nyingthig by Jigme Lingpa (1730–1798). The statements are: Nyingma Dzogchen texts use unique terminology to describe

2886-596: The Dzogchen tradition portrays ultimate reality as something which is "beyond the concepts of one and many." According to the Dzogchen-teachings, the Ground or Buddha-nature has three qualities: Herbert V. Guenther points out that this Ground is both a static potential and a dynamic unfolding. They give a process-orientated translation, to avoid any essentialist associations, since ngo-bo (facticity) has nothing to do with nor can even be reduced to

2960-435: The Dzogchen view (Tib. tawa ). Some of these terms deal with the different elements and features of the mind and are drawn from classic Buddhist thought. The generic term for consciousness is shes pa ( Skt. vijñāna ), and includes the six sense consciousnesses. Worldly , impure and dualistic forms of consciousness are generally referred to with terms such as sems ( citta, mind), yid ( mānas ) and blo ( buddhi ). On

3034-482: The King which were afterward translated. In the first half of the 7th century, the Tibetan script was used for the codification of these sacred Buddhist texts, for written civil laws, and for a Tibetan Constitution. A contemporary academic suggests that the script was instead developed in the second half of the 11th century. New research and writings also suggest that there were one or more Tibetan scripts in use prior to

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3108-534: The Sarma traditions. These new influences were absorbed into Dzogchen through the practice of finding treasure texts ( terma ) that were discovered by "treasure revealers" ( tertons ). These tantric elements included subtle body practices, visionary practices like dark retreat , and a focus on death-motifs and practices (such as funerary and relic rituals, bardo teachings, phowa , etc). These new methods and teachings were part of several new traditions such as

3182-684: The Semdé (Mind Series, Tibetan : སེམས་སྡེ་ , Wylie : sems sde ), Longdé (Space Series, Tibetan : ཀློང་སྡེ་ , Wylie : klong sde ), and Menngaggidé (Instruction Series, Tibetan : མན་ངག་གི་སྡེ་ , Wylie : man ngag gi sde ). The Dzogchen path comprises the Base, the Path, and the Fruit. The Base represents the original state of existence, characterized by emptiness ( stong pa nyid ), clarity ( lhun grub , associated with luminous clarity ), and compassionate energy ( snying rje ). The Path involves gaining

3256-609: The Space and Instruction Series are associated with later (historical) developments of Dzogchen "which increasingly experimented with re-incorporating tantric contemplative techniques centered on the body and vision, as well as the consequent philosophical shifts his became interwoven with." In Dzogchen, there are three central aspects: the Base , the Path and the Fruit . The Base represents

3330-732: The Tibetan keyboard layout is MS Windows Vista . The layout has been available in Linux since September 2007. In Ubuntu 12.04, one can install Tibetan language support through Dash / Language Support / Install/Remove Languages, the input method can be turned on from Dash / Keyboard Layout, adding Tibetan keyboard layout. The layout applies the similar layout as in Microsoft Windows. Mac OS -X introduced Tibetan Unicode support with OS-X version 10.5 and later, now with three different keyboard layouts available: Tibetan-Wylie, Tibetan QWERTY and Tibetan-Otani. The Dzongkha keyboard layout scheme

3404-490: The Tibetan script was developed during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo by his minister Thonmi Sambhota , who was sent to India with 16 other students to study Buddhism along with Sanskrit and written languages. They developed the Tibetan script from the Gupta script while at the Pabonka Hermitage . This occurred c.  620 , towards the beginning of the king's reign. There were 21 Sutra texts held by

3478-509: The arrangement of keys essentially follows the usual order of the Dzongkha and Tibetan alphabet, the layout can be quickly learned by anyone familiar with this alphabet. Subjoined (combining) consonants are entered using the Shift key. The Dzongkha (dz) keyboard layout is included in Microsoft Windows, Android, and most distributions of Linux as part of XFree86 . Tibetan was originally one of

3552-409: The attainment of a rainbow body at the moment of death, symbolizing full Buddhahood . Critics point to tensions between gradual and simultaneous practice within Dzogchen traditions, but practitioners argue these approaches cater to different levels of ability and understanding. Overall, Dzogchen offers a direct path to realizing the innate wisdom and compassion of the mind. Dzogchen arose in the era of

3626-407: The basic Tibetan alphabet to represent different sounds. In addition to the use of supplementary graphemes, the rules for constructing consonant clusters are amended, allowing any character to occupy the superscript or subscript position, negating the need for the prescript and postscript positions. Romanization and transliteration of the Tibetan script is the representation of the Tibetan script in

3700-424: The basis has a natural cognitive potentiality which gives rise to appearances. This is the ground for saṁsāra and nirvāṇa . The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva ( Dorje Sempa Nyinggi Melong , rdo rje sems dpa' snying gi me long ), a major Dzogchen tantra , explains the term Dzog (Perfection) as follows: Because rigpa is perfect wisdom in the realm beyond effort, it is perfection. Because meditation

3774-440: The basis that is its own state. Ma rigpa ( avidyā ) is the opposite of rigpa or knowledge. Ma rigpa is ignorance, delusion, or unawareness, the failure to recognize the nature of the basis. An important theme in Dzogchen texts is explaining how ignorance arises from the basis or dharmatā , which is associated with ye shes or pristine consciousness. Automatically arising unawareness ( lhan skyes ma rig pa ) exists because

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3848-418: The consonants ག /kʰa/, ད /tʰa/, བ /pʰa/, མ /ma/ and འ /a/ can be used in the prescript position to the left of other radicals, while the position after a radical (the postscript position), can be held by the ten consonants ག /kʰa/, ན /na/, བ /pʰa/, ད /tʰa/, མ /ma/, འ /a/, ར /ra/, ང /ŋa/, ས /sa/, and ལ /la/. The third position, the post-postscript position

3922-578: The difficult political situation, Samten moved to Nepal and later to India. After working for some time in Delhi , he was invited to England by David Snellgrove under a Rockefeller fellowship. Upon moving to Europe, he assumed the surname Karmay. He studied under two mentors, Snellgrove and Rolf Stein, who both recognized Samten's knowledge of Tibetan texts. He earned an M. Phil degree at the SOAS, University of London . In 1980 he moved to France, where he entered

3996-981: The first Tibetan to be elected to the post. In 2005 he was a visiting professor at the International Institute for Asian Studies , under the sponsorship of Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (""Society for the Promotion of Buddhism""). Asian Commitment: Travels and Studies in the Indian Subcontinent and South Asia, David l. Snellgrove, Orchid Press 2008 himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/ Digital Himalaya: Revue d'Études Tibétaines Number 15, Novembre 2008 - Tibetan Studies in Honour of Samten Karmay, Part II, November 2008 Dzogchen Samding Dorje Phagmo Dzogchen ( Tibetan : རྫོགས་ཆེན་ , Wylie : rdzogs chen 'Great Completion' or 'Great Perfection'), also known as atiyoga ( utmost yoga ),

4070-462: The form of a turban-like headdress—that allows the religious practitioner to gain access to the source of vitality located in the heavens. Both the head and the headdress have deep resonances with animals—particularly deer and sheep—which are central for the sky-gazing practice because of their ability to ascend and descend vertically to move in between various realms of existence. Norbu notes that "Tantric practices may be used as secondary practices by

4144-488: The fruit or result of practice are non-dual from the ultimate perspective, in Dzogchen understands the path as not separate from the result or fruit of the path (i.e. Buddhahood ). Once a Dzogchen practitioner has recognized their true nature (and "do not remain in doubt" regarding this), the path consists of the integration ( sewa ) of all experiences in their life with the state of rigpa. All these experiences are self-liberated through this integration or mixing. This process

4218-465: The general ground ( spyi gzhi ) or the original ground ( gdod ma'i gzhi ). The basis is the original state "before realization produced buddha s and nonrealization produced sentient beings". It is atemporal and unchanging and yet it is "noetically potent", giving rise to mind ( sems, Skt. citta ), consciousness ( shes pa, Skt. vijñāna ), delusion ( ma rig pa, Skt. avidyā ) and knowledge ( rigpa , Skt. vidyā ). Furthermore, Hatchell notes that

4292-539: The grammar of these dialectical varieties has considerably changed. To write the modern varieties according to the orthography and grammar of Classical Tibetan would be similar to writing Italian according to Latin orthography, or to writing Hindi according to Sanskrit orthogrophy. However, modern Buddhist practitioners in the Indian subcontinent state that the classical orthography should not be altered even when used for lay purposes. This became an obstacle for many modern Tibetic languages wishing to modernize or to introduce

4366-452: The introduction of the script by Songtsen Gampo and Thonmi Sambhota . The incomplete Dunhuang manuscripts are their key evidence for their hypothesis, while the few discovered and recorded Old Tibetan Annals manuscripts date from 650 and therefore post-date the c. 620 date of development of the original Tibetan script. Three orthographic standardisations were developed. The most important, an official orthography aimed to facilitate

4440-508: The main Dzogchen practices becoming more infused with various preliminary and tantric methods like deity yoga, semdzin (holding the mind), rushen (separating samsara and nirvana), and vipasyana ( lhagthong ), which are all seen as skillful means to achieve the basic state of contemplation of the primordially pure state. The key Dzogchen meditation methods, which are unique to the tradition are trekchö ("cutting tension") and tögal , along with unique Dzogchen teachings on awakening in

4514-417: The original, unchanging state of existence, characterized by emptiness, clarity, and compassionate energy. The Path comprises three key elements: view, practice, and conduct. The view focuses on gaining a direct understanding of the pure nature of the mind. Practice involves meditation techniques and specific Dzogchen methods. Conduct means integrating these practices into daily life. The Fruit represents

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4588-468: The other hand, nirvanic or liberated forms of consciousness are described with terms such as ye shes ( jñāna , 'pristine consciousness') and shes rab ( prajñā , wisdom). According to Sam van Schaik , two significant terms used in Dzogchen literature is the ground ( gzhi ) and gnosis ( rig pa ), which represent the " ontological and gnoseological aspects of the nirvanic state" respectively. Nyingma Dzogchen literature also describes nirvana as

4662-455: The practitioner of Dzogchen, alongside the principal practice of contemplation." Similarly, physical yoga (Tib. trulkhor ) may also be used as supporting practices. According to Namkhai Norbu, in Dzogchen, "to become realized simply means to discover and manifest that which from the very beginning has been our own true condition: the Zhi (gzhi) or Base." Since the basis, the path of practice and

4736-404: The radical ཀ /ka/ and see what happens when it becomes ཀྲ /kra/ or རྐ /rka/ (pronounced /ka/). In both cases, the symbol for ཀ /ka/ is used, but when the ར /ra/ is in the middle of the consonant and vowel, it is added as a subscript. On the other hand, when the ར /ra/ comes before the consonant and vowel, it is added as a superscript. ར /ra/ actually changes form when it

4810-453: The script's invention, and there are no dedicated symbols for tone. However, since tones developed from segmental features, they can usually be correctly predicted by the archaic spelling of Tibetan words. One aspect of the Tibetan script is that the consonants can be written either as radicals or they can be written in other forms, such as subscript and superscript forming consonant clusters . To understand how this works, one can look at

4884-434: The series that is most widely practiced and taught while the other two series are rarely practiced today (with the exception of a few masters like Namkhai Norbu ). According to Namkhai Norbu , the three series are three modes of presenting and introducing the state of Dzogchen. Norbu states that Mennagde is a more direct form of introduction, Longde is closely associated with symbolic forms of introducing Dzogchen and Semde

4958-549: The singular enlightened gnosis of the buddha All Good (Samantabhadra, Kuntu Zangpo )", there is nothing to do but to recognize this inherent awakened mind, relax and let go. During the Tibetan renaissance era (10th century to the early 12th century) many new Vajrayāna texts, teachings and practices were introduced from India. At this time, the Nyingma school and its Dzogchen traditions reinvented themselves, producing many new scriptures and developing new practices influenced by

5032-474: The systematization of these new traditions was Longchenpa Rabjampa (1308–1364). Later figures who also revealed important treasure text cycles include Karma Lingpa , (1326–1386, who revealed the bar-do thos-grol ), Rigdzin Gödem (1337–1409), Jigme Lingpa (1730–1798), who revealed the influential Longchen Nyingthig and Dudjom Lingpa (1835–1904). Dzogchen is composed of two terms: According to

5106-407: The term thod rgal is generally translated as "Direct Transcendence" or "Leap Over," Geisshuesler argues that the expression really means "Skullward Leap" as it consists of the Tibetan words thod ("above," "over," but also "head wrapper," "turban," "skull") and rgal ("to leap over"). In the larger Tibetan cultural area, it is the most elevated part of the human body—the skull or, its extension in

5180-456: The term refers to "a realization of the nature of reality" which arises through the practice of tantric anuyoga practices which produce bliss. In the 10th and 11th centuries, when Dzogchen emerged as a separate vehicle to liberation in the Nyingma tradition, the term was used synonymously with the Sanskrit term ati yoga (primordial yoga). Rigpa (Sanskrit: vidyā , "knowledge") is

5254-467: The translation of Buddhist scriptures emerged during the early 9th century. Standard orthography has not been altered since then, while the spoken language has changed by, for example, losing complex consonant clusters . As a result, in all modern Tibetan dialects and in particular in the Standard Tibetan of Lhasa , there is a great divergence between current spelling, which still reflects

5328-428: The ultimate goal – realizing one's true nature and achieving Buddhahood. This involves discovering the inherent state of the base and integrating all experiences with one's awareness of it. Ultimately, it leads to complete non-dual awareness, transcending egoic limitations, and dissolving dualities. A key concept in Dzogchen is the "base", "ground", or "primordial state" (Tibetan: gzhi , Sanskrit: āśraya ), also called

5402-457: The vowel ཨུ /u/ is placed underneath consonants. Old Tibetan included a reversed form of the mark for /i/, the gigu 'verso', of uncertain meaning. There is no distinction between long and short vowels in written Tibetan, except in loanwords , especially transcribed from the Sanskrit . The Tibetan alphabet, when used to write other languages such as Balti , Chinese and Sanskrit , often has additional and/or modified graphemes taken from

5476-414: Was originally developed c.  620 by Tibetan minister Thonmi Sambhota for King Songtsen Gampo . The Tibetan script has also been used for some non-Tibetic languages in close cultural contact with Tibet, such as Thakali , Nepali and Old Turkic . The printed form is called uchen script while the hand-written cursive form used in everyday writing is called umê script . This writing system

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