Approaching the Great Perfection: Simultaneous and Gradual Methods of Dzogchen Practice in the Longchen NyingtigDzogchen, the Great Perfection, is the highest meditative practice of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Approaching the Great Perfection looks at a seminal figure of this lineage, Jigme Lingpa, an eighteenth-century scholar and meditation master whose cycle of teachings, the Longchen Nyingtig, has been handed down through generations as a complete path to enlightenment. Ten of Jigme Lingpa's texts are presented here, along with extensive analysis by van Schaik of a core tension within Buddhism: Does enlightenment develop gradually, or does it come all at once? Though these two positions are often portrayed by modern scholars as entrenched polemical views, van Schaik explains that both tendencies are present within each of the Tibetan Buddhist schools. He demonstrates how Jigme Lingpa is a great illustration of this balancing act, using the rhetoric of both sides to propel his students along the path of the Great Perfection. |
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Approaching the Great Perfection: Simultaneous and Gradual Methods of ... Sam Van Schaik Limited preview - 2013 |
Approaching the Great Perfection: Simultaneous and Gradual Methods of ... Sam Van Schaik No preview available - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
alaya awareness ba’i bsam bshad bstan bu’i buddha buddha nature byung bzang chen po’i chos dang bral dbang de’i dgongs dharmakaya dran dzin emptiness gcig gnad gnosis gnyis grol grub gsal gsang gsum gsungs gyur gzhi Jigme Lingpa khor kyang ldan leapover Longchen Nyingtig Longchenpa ltar luminosity ma’i Madhyamaka Mahamudra mahayoga meditation mind mindstream mkha mngon mnyam mtha mthong ngag ngang ngo bo nirvana nondual nyams nyid Nyingma one’s pa’i path Perfection phyin phyir rang bzhin rdo rje rdzogs pa chen realization rgyud rnal byor rnam rtog rten rtsal Samantabhadra samsara sangs rgyas Seminal Heart sems Seven Treasuries sgom shar skye snang ba snying sogs spros spyod stong tantras teaching thams cad theg thob thugs Tibetan treasure texts tsam tshe tshig tshogs tshul Vajrayana yoga Yogacara zhes zhig zhing