Oral Transmission of the Zhang Zhung Nyen Gyud 

The Dzogchen teachings are the highest realization within the teachings of Yungdrung Bon. They are a direct path that cuts through all egoist delusions and reveals the innate and pristine Buddha within, available to those that have a single-minded devotion to awakening. The direct personal relationship between teacher and student is central to the true transmission and blessing of Dzogchen. To receive this blessing and authentic transmission is to receive the authorization from within the continuous lineage of the Primordial Buddha, Kuntuzangpo.

1. Unbroken Transmission of the Direct Introduction

The core of Dzogchen is recognizing the empty and luminous nature of one's own mind (Rigpa). This realization cannot be achieved through mere intellectual study or reading books. It requires the master's direct introduction, which relies on the master's realization and blessing. If the lineage is broken, the practice loses its vital essence, becoming mere words and theories, which makes genuine realization impossible.

2. The Oral Instructions to Eliminate Confusion and Errors

The path of Dzogchen is subtle and potent, but it carries the risk of misidentification (mistaking ordinary states for Rigpa). Within an authentic lineage, the master provides crucial oral instructions based on the experience of past accomplished masters to help the student recognize and eliminate obstacles and confusion. This serves as a vital safeguard for the meditator.

3. The Swift and Potent Power of Lineage Blessings

To ensure the rapid manifestation of results and infuse the practice with spiritual power, the master transmits the full stream of realization blessings from the past enlightened masters through empowerment, transmission, and oral instructions. This power enables the practitioner to experientially realize the Dzogchen view, rather than just understanding it intellectually, ensuring swift and uninterrupted progress.

This supreme path traces its lineage directly back to the Primordial Buddha, Kuntu Zangpo, through an unbroken succession of realized masters down to my own Root Lama.

For centuries, this profound teaching has been passed from ear to ear, maintaining its pristine purity, untouched by ordinary human concepts or textual interpolations. This lineage is revered for its Fourfold Purity, ensuring:

• The Transmission of Wisdom is untainted by external scriptures.

• The Transmission of Meaning is free from minor commentaries.

• The Transmission of the Precepts is unmixed with human speech.

• The Transmission of Realization is undiluted by the influence of negative forces.

• The thread of compassion has remained unbroken, and the cloud of blessings has never dispersed.

Over the years, I have been fortunate to have received teachings and transmissions from His Holiness 34th Menri Trizin Lungtok Dawa Dargye Rinpoche, the spiritual leader of Bön and the abbot of Menri Monastery, Khenpo Nyima Dhondup Rinpoche, the Abbot of the Bön Dialectic School at Menri Monastery, and His Eminence Menri Ponlob Rinpoche, head teacher at Menri Monastery.