Essence of Mind (Jes Bertelsen)
Dzogchen Misnomer
[My 3-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Essence of Mind; An Approach to Dzogchen” by Jes Bertelsen.]
A student of mine recommended this text, and after a second read, it’s a little better than I initially thought. But regardless, this book should not bear the title “Dzogchen,” because it’s more a general mysticism text than a Dzogchen one. If the author had devoted more space to comparing/contrasting Dzogchen to the teachings of the mystics who have influenced him – J. Krishnamurti, Adi Da, Meister Eckhart, et al – it would qualify as a Dzogchen text. But the author fails to mention the key aspects of Dzogchen (treckho, togal, the Trikaya, and the Three Series) and how they relate to other systems of mysticism.
Bertelsen studied under Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, a Dzogchen teacher whose teachings I don’t rate highly (see my two-star review of “Rainbow Painting”), so his basis for comparing Dzogchen to other mystical teachings would be weak, which perhaps is the reason why he didn’t undertake this task.
Bertelsen, to his credit, attempts to go beneath the surface of the practice of awareness, and explain the stages of awakening that stem from a Krishnamurti-type practice of moment-to-moment choiceless awareness. The author has a PhD in philosophy, and his somewhat contracted writing style bears the stamp of academic formality.
The book is short, not a bargain for the price, and the Kindle layout is awful, with most lines of text containing just three or four words, and sometimes just one or two. Bertelsen is a profound guy, and has the right idea, but he doesn’t really put it all together and fully develop his thesis in this text.
[My 3-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Essence of Mind; An Approach to Dzogchen” by Jes Bertelsen.]
A student of mine recommended this text, and after a second read, it’s a little better than I initially thought. But regardless, this book should not bear the title “Dzogchen,” because it’s more a general mysticism text than a Dzogchen one. If the author had devoted more space to comparing/contrasting Dzogchen to the teachings of the mystics who have influenced him – J. Krishnamurti, Adi Da, Meister Eckhart, et al – it would qualify as a Dzogchen text. But the author fails to mention the key aspects of Dzogchen (treckho, togal, the Trikaya, and the Three Series) and how they relate to other systems of mysticism.
Bertelsen studied under Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, a Dzogchen teacher whose teachings I don’t rate highly (see my two-star review of “Rainbow Painting”), so his basis for comparing Dzogchen to other mystical teachings would be weak, which perhaps is the reason why he didn’t undertake this task.
Bertelsen, to his credit, attempts to go beneath the surface of the practice of awareness, and explain the stages of awakening that stem from a Krishnamurti-type practice of moment-to-moment choiceless awareness. The author has a PhD in philosophy, and his somewhat contracted writing style bears the stamp of academic formality.
The book is short, not a bargain for the price, and the Kindle layout is awful, with most lines of text containing just three or four words, and sometimes just one or two. Bertelsen is a profound guy, and has the right idea, but he doesn’t really put it all together and fully develop his thesis in this text.
