The Practice of Dzogchen (Longchenpa, Harold Talbott (editor), Tulku Thondrup (translator))
Second-Rate Rabjam
[My 3-star Amazon review (NDA) of “The Practice of Dzogchen: Longchen Rabjam’s Writings on “The Great Perfection” by Longchenpa, Harold Talbott (editor), and Tulku Thondrup (translator).]
When this book was published in 1989, it introduced the world to the radical spiritual teachings of the legendary Dzogchen master Longchen Rabjam. And because it did, respected Buddhist scholar Matthew Kapstein praised it and stated, "This book fills a major gap." But in the twenty-five years since this book was published, better presentations of Rabjam's teachings and Dzogchen have hit the market, and in my estimation, this book no longer stands out as a significant work on Tibetan Buddhism.
When I first read this text ten years ago, I was unimpressed with it because the writing is so bad - and nothing changed when I reread it last week. The author, Tulku Thondrup, admits that he is not an authority on Dzogchen, and his poor translation and anotation bare this out. Moreover, the editor, Harold Talbott, did a slipshod job editing the text. (For example, one chapter subtitle has "Exercises" spelled "Excercises.") As is the case with many other Buddhist texts, failure, at times, to differentiate between Mind and mind leads to unintelligible prose.
Here's an example: "In mind there is no mind, as the nature of mind is clarity." Here is a typical example of the text's poor writing: "The appearances of clarity are the primordial wisdom of Thodgal."
"Wisdom" is not primordial; it refers to an understanding that humans develop. Clarity is not primordial, but the Clear Light that spawns "clarity" in humans is. A competent translator-writer would write something like, "By virtue of communing with the primordial Clear Light, a Thodgal practitioner develops spiritual wisdom." Here's another example of the text's awful writing:
"The Mind dwells primordially in the nature of three Buddha-bodies: the emptiness is the Ultimate Body (Dharmakaya), the clarity-nature is the Enjoyment Body (Sambhogakaya), and the all-pervading compassion is the Manifested Body (Nirmanakaya). In the state of indivisibility (or union) of original or primordial purity and spontaneous accomplishment, Atiyoga ascertains that all the phenomena of samsara and nirvana are equal, without discriminations, in the spontaneously accomplished great mandala."
The Mind does not dwell in the nature of three Buddha-bodies; the three Buddha-bodies are dimensions of Mind. There is no such Existent or existent as "the emptiness." The Dharmakaya is empty, or formless, but its essence is Awareness. The Sambhogakaya is Bliss-bestowing Clear-Light Energy, not "clarity-nature." The Nirmanakaya is not allpervading compassion. Rather, the Blissing/Blessing Power of the Sambhogakaya poured through the Nirmanakaya (the Buddha as form body) is "all-pervading compassion." Phenomena have nothing to do with discriminations. Phenomena simply are, and exist independently of any discriminations, all of which are mind-based. A big problem with this book is that very little of it is about actual Dzogchen practice. As another reviewer points out, most of this book is about Dzogchen metaphysics rather than praxis. Hence, the book's title is a misnomer.
Even though this tome is poorly written and not true to its title, it does contain lots of information on Dzogchen and Rabjam; hence I believe it merits three stars (changed from two on December 21, 2014, because when I Google Dzogchen and Rabjam topics, I inevitably end up led to excerpts from this text). The book I most highly recommend for those interested in Rabjam's Dzogchen is "The Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding" (see my five-star review).
[My 3-star Amazon review (NDA) of “The Practice of Dzogchen: Longchen Rabjam’s Writings on “The Great Perfection” by Longchenpa, Harold Talbott (editor), and Tulku Thondrup (translator).]
When this book was published in 1989, it introduced the world to the radical spiritual teachings of the legendary Dzogchen master Longchen Rabjam. And because it did, respected Buddhist scholar Matthew Kapstein praised it and stated, "This book fills a major gap." But in the twenty-five years since this book was published, better presentations of Rabjam's teachings and Dzogchen have hit the market, and in my estimation, this book no longer stands out as a significant work on Tibetan Buddhism.
When I first read this text ten years ago, I was unimpressed with it because the writing is so bad - and nothing changed when I reread it last week. The author, Tulku Thondrup, admits that he is not an authority on Dzogchen, and his poor translation and anotation bare this out. Moreover, the editor, Harold Talbott, did a slipshod job editing the text. (For example, one chapter subtitle has "Exercises" spelled "Excercises.") As is the case with many other Buddhist texts, failure, at times, to differentiate between Mind and mind leads to unintelligible prose.
Here's an example: "In mind there is no mind, as the nature of mind is clarity." Here is a typical example of the text's poor writing: "The appearances of clarity are the primordial wisdom of Thodgal."
"Wisdom" is not primordial; it refers to an understanding that humans develop. Clarity is not primordial, but the Clear Light that spawns "clarity" in humans is. A competent translator-writer would write something like, "By virtue of communing with the primordial Clear Light, a Thodgal practitioner develops spiritual wisdom." Here's another example of the text's awful writing:
"The Mind dwells primordially in the nature of three Buddha-bodies: the emptiness is the Ultimate Body (Dharmakaya), the clarity-nature is the Enjoyment Body (Sambhogakaya), and the all-pervading compassion is the Manifested Body (Nirmanakaya). In the state of indivisibility (or union) of original or primordial purity and spontaneous accomplishment, Atiyoga ascertains that all the phenomena of samsara and nirvana are equal, without discriminations, in the spontaneously accomplished great mandala."
The Mind does not dwell in the nature of three Buddha-bodies; the three Buddha-bodies are dimensions of Mind. There is no such Existent or existent as "the emptiness." The Dharmakaya is empty, or formless, but its essence is Awareness. The Sambhogakaya is Bliss-bestowing Clear-Light Energy, not "clarity-nature." The Nirmanakaya is not allpervading compassion. Rather, the Blissing/Blessing Power of the Sambhogakaya poured through the Nirmanakaya (the Buddha as form body) is "all-pervading compassion." Phenomena have nothing to do with discriminations. Phenomena simply are, and exist independently of any discriminations, all of which are mind-based. A big problem with this book is that very little of it is about actual Dzogchen practice. As another reviewer points out, most of this book is about Dzogchen metaphysics rather than praxis. Hence, the book's title is a misnomer.
Even though this tome is poorly written and not true to its title, it does contain lots of information on Dzogchen and Rabjam; hence I believe it merits three stars (changed from two on December 21, 2014, because when I Google Dzogchen and Rabjam topics, I inevitably end up led to excerpts from this text). The book I most highly recommend for those interested in Rabjam's Dzogchen is "The Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding" (see my five-star review).
