Five Principles of RDzogs Chen Transmission in the Kun Byed Rgyal Po

8/10/2019 Five Principles of RDzogs Chen Transmission in the Kun Byed Rgyal Po

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Five Principles of rDzogs chen Transmission in the

Kun byed rgyal po

Jim Valby

As long as practitioners meditate any buddhist or non-buddhist view, it is impossible for them to realize primordial

enlightenment. Practitioners realize primordial enlightenment by totally relaxing in atural Presence!beyond

cause and effect. "ive principles of r#zogs chen transmission $ historical, root, yoga, intentional and literal

$ explain how to totally relax in atural Presence. %hese five principles are explained in the &'' folios of

the () chapters&of the Kun byed rgyal po,*the principal tantra of rDzogs chen sems sde. +henpo henphen

ser)explains in detail these principles in his &)'' folio commentary on the Kun byed rgyal ponamed

Ornament of the State of Samantabhadra.

%hese five principles establish conceptually the meaning of unmista/en effortless,self-perfected atural Presence. Practitioners with high capacity0 do not struggleon the paths of spiritual vehicles.1 2nstead, they totally relax in atural Presence,directly recognizing the immediacy and totality of primordial enlightenment.

Historical Principle

%he Kun byed rgyal posays3(

dang po yid ches pa yi khungs bstan phyir

lo rgyus don gyi bshad lugs bstan par bya

! atural Presence is also called pure, perfect, intrinsic, non-dual, primordial, instant rigpa/nowledge-awareness.

& %hese principles are explained explicitly in chapter !*. 4hapters &!, &5 and ) give additional explanations.

* Kun byed rgyal poeditions include3 sNga 'gyur bka' ma shin tu rgyas pa, folios 0-&( of volume *5*of %674 8&5(*9 mTshams brag, folios !-!5( of volume 0') of %674 8&!&!9 mKhyen brtse:gTingskyed;, folios !-!(0 of volume !11 of %674 8&!!(9 Bai ro'i rgyud 'bum, folios *(*-)* of volume !9

sDe dge, folios !-!1'9 and sGang steng, folios !a-5*b.

) m+han po gzhan phan er shulrdzong, and this commentary is his only /nown composition.

%he commentary appears in volumes )'!' and )'!! of section 8&5(*, available as Adobe-readable P#" files from the %ibetan 6uddhist 7esource 4enter :%674; founded by ?ene >mith.

0 4apacity is usually explained with five topics3 confidence in the primordial enlightenment of themaster, oneself and all beings9 devoted interest and active participation in the master


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!( 7evue dGHtudes %ibItaines

"irst, the historical principle is explained in order to provideconfidence in the source.

%he historical principle5 is explained to disciples to produce confidence in theprimordial source, which transmits its /nowledge in three ways3 directtransmission is the natural empowerment of primordial emptiness with infinitepotential9 symbolic transmission is the raw energy of each experience, which

demonstrates its definitive meaning through its own nature9 oral transmission isspeech and elegant compositions with profound concepts and words.Practitioners with low to medium capacity gradually develop the high capacity tocompletely relax in the /nowledge of primordial enlightenment by wor/ing withthese three aspects of the transmission of ualified r#zogs chen masters, inside acommunity of practitioners who help each other.!'Fral transmission involves words and concepts which masters and texts explain tohelp disciples develop capacity to continue in the recognition of the immediacyand totality of primordial enlightenment. %he essence of the oral transmission isthat everything is already the wisdom-energy of primordial enlightenment, beyondrenunciation, antidotes, development, accomplishment, purification,transformation and attainment. Practitioners with high capacity do not ta/e refuge

in the words and concepts of oral transmission.%he meaning of symbolic transmission is that every experience of every being isalready the pure, empty, self-perfected wisdom-energy of primordial /nowledge.%here is no hierarchy of wisdom-energy experiences. %he raw energy of eachexperience demonstrates its definitive meaning through its own nature. Also, wemay begin to recognize the immediacy of wisdom-energies through sacredsymbols, such as a mirror, a crystal, space, a peacoc/


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"ive Principles of rDzogs chen%ransmission !5

Hverything of the universe of saMsra and nirvNa arises as the enlightened energyof the one self-perfected atural Presence. 6ut teachers still mista/enly teach thatdisciples should fabricate enlightenment by applying discipline, renunciation,interruption, purification and transformation.

Root Principle

%he Kun byed rgyal posays3!&

chos kun rtsa ba sems su 'dus pa'i phyir

de nas rtsa ba'i don de bstan par bya

%he root principle is explained so that :one understands that; theroot of all phenomena is Presence.

%he root principle!* explains that all phenomena of saMsra and nirvNa areprimordially enlightened and unified in atural Presence. Oncreated, primordial,all-pervasive and insubstantial atural Presence is the source of all teachers,

teachings, disciples, times and places. atural Presence is not some obKect orexperience to produce, discover or maintain. 8e relax with unstructured, raw,timeless awareness in the primordially empty source, which has infinite potentialto manifest anything through sound, light and rays. ound< means the vibrationand movement of emptiness.


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!0' 7evue dGHtudes %ibItaines

Yoga Principle

%he Kun byed rgyal posays3!)

theg pa'i khyad par so sor dbye ba'i phyir

yo ga'i don gyi rtsa ba bstan par bya

%he base of the yoga principle is explained in order to differentiate

the features of the vehicles.

%he yoga principle!differentiates the features of spiritual vehicles, so that seriouspractitioners with high capacity can completely transcend actions, efforts,acceptance, reKection, cause, effect, struggle, achievement, purification andtransformation.6ecause all spiritual paths lead away from the recognition of the immediacy andtotality of primordial enlightenment, we must learn how to use anything from anyteaching without being conditioned by it. 8e learn how to study, practice and livein the context of atural Presence. 2t is impossible to get familiar with aturalPresence when we are ta/ing refuge in the ideas, words and experiences of

spiritual vehicles. 6ut we can uic/ly develop capacity using the ideas andmethods of any spiritual vehicle when we do so inside the transmission of aturalPresence.%he obstacles and deviations of spiritual vehicles include views, meditations,initiations, mandalas, samayas, behaviors, paths, levels, wisdoms, sacred activitiesand goals. 2t is impossible for practitioners to get familiar with atural Presencewhile conditioned by and attached to these obstacles and deviations.


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"ive Principles of rDzogs chen%ransmission !0!

Atiyoga transcends all actions, efforts, struggles, causes and effects. Althoughatural Presence is beyond differentiation or exclusion, Atiyoga explains howdifferent teachings struggle with views, behaviors, samayas, practices, and soforth. atural Presence is far superior to any vehicle.6ecause followers of spiritual vehicles are attached to methods, such asrenunciation, interruption, development, purification, transformation andaccomplishment, they do not /now how to relax in uncorrected atural Presence."ollowers of @rava/ayna use the four truths to reKect the selforiginated wisdom-energies of atural Presence. "ollowers of Pratye/abuddhayna use meditation on

the twelve lin/s of interdependent origination to bloc/ relaxation in aturalPresence. "ollowers of the 6odhisattva vehicle conceive relative and absolutetruths and gather merits and wisdom by gradually traveling on the five paths andtraining on the ten levels for eons. "ollowers of +riyatantra try to purify andempower all phenomena, using mantras, mudras and visualizations related to

!nasatt#aand samayasatt#adeities. "ollowers of yogatantra do not understandunchanging atural Presence, so they meditate deities, using the five factors ofmanifest enlightenment and the four types of miracles. %hey cultivatecontemplation of the relative #aradhtu ma()ala with characteristics andcontemplation of absolute emptiness without characteristics. "ollowers ofCahyoga use the three contemplations and the four aspects of approach andattainment to transform the five aggregates and five elements into the purema()alaof enlightenment. "ollowers of Anuyoga do not understand how to relaxin uncorrected atural Presence, so they assign the name


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!0& 7evue dGHtudes %ibItaines

/nowledge, beyond views, meditations, samayas, sacred activities, paths, spirituallevels, trainings, antidotes, struggles, achievements and purifications.%he main point of r#zogs chen teaching is relaxation in atural Presence beyondcause and effect. 8e do not try to set up some new, improved frame of referencein which to ta/e refuge. 8e do not try to escape from the circumstances of oursituation. 8e can ta/e care of our responsibilities much more easily if we governour ever-changing presence inside time with atural Presence outside time. 7ightnow we can understand total primordial liberation, beyond vehicles, with theirviews to understand, meditations to accomplish, samayas to preserve, sacred

activities to perform, paths to travel, levels to practice, antidotes to depend upon,and purifications to apply for removing obstacles.%he intention is that each practitioner directly experiences unconditioned,primordial, atural Presence, beyond words, ideas and actions. %here is nothing todeny, establish, accept or reKect based upon the dualism of relative and absolutetruths. "ortunate practitioners with high capacity effortlessly self-liberate byrelaxing in unfabricated primordial enlightenment beyond searching andstruggling.atural Presence already abides as the all-pervading enlightened state of saMsraand nirvNa, beyond efforts to achieve some imaginary state of enlightenment. Allphenomena are the enlightened energies of unborn atural Presence, beyond the

origination and cessation of four noble truths, beyond dependent origination,beyond ritual cleanliness, and beyond the development and accomplishmentstages.6eyond struggle and practice, atural Presence experiences diverse phenomenaas one flavor, beyond good, evil, pure, impure, reKection and acceptance.Practitioners with low to medium capacity hold onto the frames of reference ofthe provisional teachings of the gradual paths of the vehicles of cause and effect.As long as practitioners continue to grasp suggestive teachings, they will notunderstand and should not be taught the effortless realization of the self-originated wisdom of atural Presence.

Literal Principle

%he Kun byed rgyal posays3!(

mi rtogs don de rtogs par bya ba'i phyir

tshig gi don de sgra ru brod par bya

%he words of the literal principle are communicated in order toprovide understanding of the non-conceptual meaning.

!( "olio 0!, chapter !*, m%shams brag edition.


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"ive Principles of rDzogs chen%ransmission !0*

%he meaning of the literal principle!5is that words are precisely communicated toprovide conceptual understanding of the non-conceptual meaning of theabsolute euality of atural Presence beyond all struggle and achievement. %heintellectual meaning of words and concepts is connected with non-conceptualmeaning. "or a practitioner with high capacity, the oral transmission is never thesecret refuge. %he application of the literal principle depends upon the capacitiesof individuals. 8e learn how to use words and concepts to undermine our framesof reference. 8e learn to connect with the intended non-conceptual meaningbeyond the words and concepts.

>ome practitioners almost automatically build a new


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!0) 7evue dGHtudes %ibItaines

learnL =ow is the seed plantedL 8hen do practitioners transcend the intellectual meaningL

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Five Principles of RDzogs Chen Transmission in the Kun Byed Rgyal Po