Boundless Vision: A Manual of Dzogchen Changter Yoga

A reverent book to be read and digested quietly.

The book’s original title in Tibetan is A Vision Ornament of the Knowledge-Holders. It is a commentary on a cycle of 39 texts published in 5 volumes titled A Vision Ornament of the Rigzin Knowledge-Holders that Fulfills Every Pure Hope: A Manual that Blends and Simplifies the Instruction of All-Good Boundless Vision. The title of the commentary has been mercifully shortened to Boundless Vision. The original text was written in the 14th century by the terton Rigzin Godem in Western Tibet. The author of the commentary, Tulku Tsulo (d.1957), was a famous scholar and meditation master in Western Tibet. These teaching are from a lineage known as the Changter or Northern Treasure School. This book is a clear and detailed manual of Dzogchen instructions. Dzogchen, the most esoteric branch of Vajrayana Buddhism, practices what it calls non-meditation and relies on bringing awareness into a present moment, spontaneous, non-dual relation to the world. Tulku Thondrup, the translator, is a well-known teacher living in America and is a representative of the Northern Treasure School. He was asked to translate this text by one his teachers who was a disciple of Tulku Tsulo. He began the translation in 2000 CE and in 2010 passed the text to Keith Dowman. It has been Keith Dowman’s mission to translate Dzogchen texts into a poetic vernacular that is understandable to modern readers. In this effort he uses terms like pixel, praxis, self-envisionment and alpha purity, rendering the text in a language devoid of many of the technical Tibetan terms of Vajrayana Buddhism that often go untranslated in other traditional texts. The heart of the book is in the chapters that deal with techniques for Breakthrough and Leap-over. These chapters provide a litany of detailed meditation instructions. In the Vajrayana tradition there are a myriad of meditation practices, typically starting with the standard silence meditations of calm abiding and penetrating insight. The hallmark of Tibetan Buddhism is the incredible trove of practice texts called sadhanas which provide detailed visualizations accompanied by mantra recitations. However, in Dzogchen the primary practice is non-meditation, a direct realization that views the world from a non-dual non-egoistic perspective freed from the baggage of personal opinions, judgments or prejudices. Here the point of view is the basic human nature inherent in each of us rather than the accumulation of habitual thoughts and emotional patterns that have developed as a result of individual heredity, education and the circumstances of a person’s birth. Basic human nature is the same regardless of your language, country of origin, race, sexual orientation, etc. When the intellect voices basic human nature it speaks with wisdom, when behavior is motivated by basic human nature it is compassionate, and when emotions are an expression of basic human nature you experience equanimity and bliss. In the most radical Dzogchen teachings the usual meditation practices such as visualization and mantra recitation subvert this direct realization and are just more mental subterfuge. In Dzogchen the meditation posture is the one you are in now and there is no point in sitting on a cushion, rather the point is to directly realize basic human nature and express it through the intellect, emotions and behavior. The first section of the book is a review of the preliminary practices of Tibetan Buddhism. Then starting with the chapters on Breakthrough and Leap-over the language undergoes a dramatic transformation to express the basic principles of Dzogchen. What sets this book apart from the proliferation of other books about Dzogchen are the series of instructions that facilitate the unique Dzogchen realization. Anyone who has attended retreats with the editor of the text, Keith Dowman, will immediately recognize several of the practices that he uses. These include the meditation on the HUNG stick, the practice of sky-gazing, open-eyed observation, and the release of emotions in a direct experience of the six realms. The first and the last part of the book are almost a contradiction of the chapters on Breakthrough and Leap-over. This text is referred to as a lam-rim or gradual approach to Dzogchen, which could be considered an oxymoron or contradiction in terms. Finally, there is another strange sort of contradiction that creeps into text in that the translator feels it necessary to issue a series of warnings which are echoed in other parts of the text. Tulku Tsulo warns that anyone who shares this text inappropriately will be reborn in a “hell of ultimate torment” and Tulku Thondrup goes so far as to warn that “divine protectors” have vowed to punish those who misuse the text. This sort of thing often accompanies Dzogchen texts and creates a weird tension between the elevated understanding of human nature embodied in the text and this kind of talk that seems, at least to the Western mind, to be supervened by the realization taught in the text. The text has nothing that is beyond the understanding of anyone willing to make the effort to study it. It is highly esoteric and only students who are interested in Dzogchen will be motivated to read it. However, to these people this text is exciting since it contains some very practical instruction that is rare in these types of books.

This is a 14th century terma (revealed hidden treasure) of Rigzin Godemchan's with a 20th century commentary by Tulku Tsulo and a 21st century translation by Tulku Thondrup, given a final dusting up by editor Keith Dowman with the result a very traditionally organized presentation of innermost dzogchen teachings (with gradual path preparation leading to direct introduction to and detailed instructions on what is always present) in a very fresh and down to earth way.And it stands out from the pack of similar books (both termas, commentaries and modern translations) as being remarkable in both its clarity and immediacy.The book begins with a short editor’s note by Dowman and forward by James Low and then a longer intro by Thondrup where they clearly convey the significance of this particular text and lineage – as well as give a warning of who this is intended for (which may explain the discouragingly hefty price tag). The bottom line is that this is a retreat manual intended for someone who is sincere and under the guidance of a qualified master; in other words, a text to supplement the essential oral instructions. For anyone else it is just intellectual fodder which may certainly lead to bloat and possible foundering….The text that follows is composed of a lengthy discussion of the essential preliminaries involved - outer, inner and secret (p. 15-97), and then the details of the two aspects of dzogchen proper – breakthrough and leap over – along with supplemental bardo teachings and descriptions of the various ways of final liberation (p. 99-193). As such it is a mix of exo and esoteric instruction, which may appear contradictory to the uninitiated, but are in fact merely the two inseparable aspects of reality (appearance and awareness), and the beauty of this is that it doesn’t linger on the literal/solid view of the apparent (exoteric), but rather subsumes it within the figurative esoteric whole of the pure presence of dzogchen.As Dowman notes in his preface, “… this text belongs to the lam-rim genre of dzogchen manuals and as such may be categorized as a latter day example of graduated, progressive Dzogchen exegesis… The view in the second part, however, quite distinct from that of the preliminaries, presents Dzogchen in a radical manner – as nondual realization.”And it is in the second part that Dowman’s touch becomes apparent with a freeing up of the traditional verbiage…. “Because the trikaya (threefold dimension of pure being) appears in vision along the path, we actually secure everlasting, spontaneously-arising pure presence in a matrix of experiential luminous alpha-purity; other approaches, conversely, depend upon aspiration to attain the unitary trikaya as the ultimate result.” (p. 82).Radical dzogchen indeed….but lest we forget, there is a reason the tradition teaches ALL this material. Especially in regard to the extraordinary special dzogchen preliminary practices Tulku Tsulo writes, "If this preliminary training is not completed, we will have no experience of the actual meditation, and even if we have meditative experience, it will not become stable. The Secret Lamp of Crucial Instruction again: 'If you lack instruction in the preliminaries, it will be like trying to flood a field without a dam.'" (p.97)Now that we are ripe and fully receptive what follows in the text is the heart of dzogchen covered in great detail for over 50 pages.... "Dharmakaya is found nowhere but in pure presence, which does not exist as any thing but rather as emptiness. It cannot be impeded; it is free of dualistic elaboration; and free of the possibility of falling into space-time dimensions. This very primal awareness is reality itself, Samantabhadri." (p. 100)And (my favorite), "Though we appear to be human beings, in reality we are Samantabhadra." (p. 109)And, "The lama leads us to a solitary place and instructs us in this way:' Be constantly mindful of everything that arises into consciousness inside and outside. Whatever you think, all the challenging movements of your intellect, everything, is contained within the scope of mind itself. The phenomena of mind are your relative mind - your intellect - while the nature of your mind is always thought free. Relax your physical body naturally in the fivefold meditative posture." Relax the energetic body in silence, refraining from making any designation. Relax your mind into its vivid, natural clarity where there is no striving." (p. 110-111)And, "Fourth, relative mind and pure presence are not the same. Conscious mind is composed of dualistic conceptual ignorance and doubting thought. Discursive thought is the cause of it. Pure presence is actual self-realization, which implies a vision of one's own essential nature, which never departs from the spaciousness that is emptiness. It is free from all dualistic elaboration." (p. 113)And, "...We should realize that the ceaseless noncrystallizing arising of self-envisionment inhabits all pulsating thought. If a tree is cut at its root, its branches will wither; likewise, if we realize that the essence of the mind is the unborn dharmakaya, we will realize sublime form, which is the envisionment of the creativity of pure presence, the creativity arisen from the nature of mind, as unborn emptiness..... Through this we realize that all phenomena - samsara and nirvana - are primal awareness itself, the intrinsic clarity of pure presence, the nature of mind...At the same time, we have confidence that the compassion of the primal awareness of pure presence ceaselessly suffuses the heart of every being." (p. 115)And so on and so forth...delightfully so.Again, there is nothing new in these teachings (after all this is a 14th century text!), but HOW it is presented is what is remarkable and recommendable. For those initiated into the innermost essence and especially those with a modern appreciation of the radical (direct and non-religious) approach, this book will be a touchstone similar to translations of Longchenpa’s best works.

This is an inspired and lucid practice manual radiant with the blessings of Tulku Tsulo's wisdom. I found the Breakthrough (Trekcho) section to be particularly rich and clarifying. The style of the manual strikes me as similar to the Yeshe Lama and i suggest it as an excellent companion volume to that text."We have confidence that the compassion of the primal awareness of pure presence ceaselessly suffuses the heart of every being. Dwelling in that confidence, experientially we reach the depths of the vast matrix of mind. All the delusions of phenomena are purified in their own nature..." !!!!

This is considered one of the most sacred of dzogchen manuals and clearly presents both the graduated and radical or sudden approach. Keith’s editing shines in its ability to make this an easily readable text and one not easy to put down. This book will shine light on wherever you are on the dzogchen mandala, the only place you can ever truly be.

This is a very valuable book; a treasure.