Dzogchen Zhang Zhung Nyengyü

The Oral Transmission of Dzogchen Zhang Zhung is one of the three principal systems in the Yungdrung Bön Tradition for the transmission of Dzogchen or "great perfection" teachings.

In the palace of great bliss on the crown of my head,

Is my benevolent Root Guru to whom I pray;

Oh, Precious One who reveals (my own) nature of mind as Buddha,

Please grant me the blessing that I may recognize my own nature!

The Mind to Mind Transmission of the Zhang Zhung Nyengyu

How did the tradition and teachings of Bön and the lineage of Dzogpachenpo Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyü start?

As a teaching itself there is no beginning because there is no time. Now, the question arises who was the first person who discovered or composed this transmission and to whom did he communicate them? 

Traditionally the Bönpo teachings come from the primordial master or primordial state who is the expression of the Dharmakaya or the dimension of Bon (Bonku), the reality body or the pure dimension of absolute truth, that is Kunzhi, the universal ground of Dzogchen. 

The personification for this primordial state or nature of mind is called Kuntuzangpo in Tibetan and Samantabhadra in Sanskrit. Kuntuzangpo transmitted the whole teachings to the Sambhogakaya manifestation (Dzogku) Shenlha Ödkar, who in turn gave the complete transmission to the Nirmanakaya Buddha Shenrab Miwo (Tulku) the historical founder of the lineage of Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyü and also the first of the nine masters of the mind to mind transmission. 

This transmission of mind takes place directly from mind to mind and the first discovery or recognition of this transmission takes place in the mind. It is not a person, but is the primordial state itself, the first master is the primordial state and his student is the movement of mind; the time when it was taught is the timeless space. That means that there is no time in that space and that there is not even the concept of a student taught by a master. 

When we say student - now and today - we think of a student as a person, as a human being. But in this case it is not a student as a person or any concept. It is only the awareness taught by the primordial state beyond time.

The awareness is itself teaching the awareness to develop it. We can say the master is the primordial state and the student is self-knowing awareness.

This is the origin of the teaching, transmitted from mind to mind directly. In this dimension there was no word to explain it. In the great unconditioned realm beyond space, which is primordially pure, beyond samsara and nirvana and spontaneously perfected with all the potential qualities, where there is no cause, no external dimension or universe and no internal dimension of beings contained in this universe, no form, no color, lies the ‘paradise of space’, the citadel where the primordial master, self-arising-awareness, the Bönku Buddha Kuntuzangpo, gave the teachings to the Perfection Body Buddha Shenlha Ödkar by direct mind transmission, of mind, in mind, and none other than mind. 

Buddha Shenlha Ödkar, in turn, transmitted the teachings to his ‘mind’ student the Manifestation Body Tönpa Shenrab Miwoche, who in turn transmitted the teachings in the world of Zhang Zhung by mind transmission without words. Thus, these teachings were gradually handed down in this way by the lineage of nine masters of the mind transmission of Zhang Zhung.

In the tradition of Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyü it describes how in the beginning the knowledge or wisdom is actually found in each and every individual. If there exists this knowledge in an individual, then there is also an understanding in them. Therefore the question is not only where does this understanding arise but when it does, and especially from the point of view of a Dzogpachenpo we say that if there is a recognition of Rigpa, the innate awareness, where does this awareness first arise from?

It arises spontaneously from Kuntuzangpo, in its pure dimension of the non-conceptual mind; and not only this understanding or innate awareness or Rigpa, but anything arises in Kuntuzangpo, from this non-conceptual pure dimension because in that space exists no concept at all. 

While we only have one mind, it can be easier to understand by thinking of the mind as two. But this is merely an analogy. In this analogy the Natural State communicates with a similar kind of mind. Communication between them can only happen when you have a similar kind of mind; a mind that is open, spacious, clear, accepting with a vast view. Otherwise, if mind were different - like a different computer program - such as the mind of the intellect, it will not communicate; it is not compatible, so to say. The “small” mind that is narrowly focused on held beliefs systems, thought patterns, learned emotional patterns, and distorted perceptions can not connect with or recognize the alive, vibrant, radiant, spacious awareness of the Natural State.

When our innate awareness arises and connects with Kuntuzangpo, the Natural State, recognizing it is none other than the natural state itself, this recognition is the awakened state.

In the same manner Tönpa Shenrab Miwo communicated only to a person who had such an open, vast frame of mind and not to any intellectual person. He taught only to a student who has this non-conceptual base, who has the opportunity, or the ripeness in order to understand what he transmits. That kind of direct transmission or communication went through the first nine Dzogchen masters of Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyü and it is therefore called mind to mind transmission.

According to the Bön tradition, the final goal of any practice and teaching is the instruction of the unsurpassed Dzogpa Chenpo Great Perfection that is received from the qualified Lamas or Geshes, From the guidance of the teachings in this life one needs to get as much experience as possible in this life.

Therefore, according to the tradition of Dzogpa Chenpo, first the deluded mind must be identified. Then, this mind needs a single base, single-pointed method of meditation. Next, where the mind originates, where it stays, and where it goes and so forth needs to be investigated. Then, from the experience of calm-abiding, you must exert in this method of attaining the comfort of the suppleness of the body and mind.

Then, the mind and Rigpa (awareness) must be distinguished and separated. Next, from the path of pointing out the nature of the mind, the natural state needs to be sustained continuously throughout meditation sessions and breaks. Therefore, all the instructions should systematically be obtained and you need to directly realize the real meaning of the teachings by yourself.

From the beginning, your own mind is indivisible from the self-arisen primordial wisdom, or the natural state. Emptiness and clarity are inseparable which is the Bönku Body of Reality, and this is the indivisibility of samsara and nirvana which is pervaded by primordial wisdom. This primordial wisdom is the ultimate reality of all phenomena. Within the Secret Mantra Tantra system, this primordial wisdom is also explained as the fundamental reality of luminosity.

Therefore, remain naturally and realize the natural face of awareness, or the essence of the mind. This way of continuing in the nature of reality is one hundred essential points combined into one instruction. Just this awareness, the indivisible emptiness and clarity, by the power of meditation at the time of practice, the mode of apprehension is to leave whatever is in the mind in its natural condition. The aspect of remaining without connecting to all the arising conceptual thoughts is calm abiding. The limitless intrinsic reality of the naked awareness is the aspect of clarity, having the sharp transparency. Recognizing this awareness free from object and subject is what is referred to as special insight.

This essential point by which the practitioner trains by sustaining the awareness, the experience of the reality of the nature of mind, is the most profound essential point that unifies the ocean-like ways of practice of the Sutra, Tantra, and Dzogchen.

All pure virtue done through the three doors of body, speech and mind,

I dedicate to the welfare of sentient beings throughout the three realms of desire, form and formlessness.

After having purified all the karmic obscurations of the three times,

May we swiftly achieve complete Buddha-hood of the three bodies.