The Differences Between the Views of Dzogchen and the Madhyamaka

The Differences Between the Views of Dzogchen and the Madhyamaka (Middle Way)

In the Yungdrung Bon tradition, the presentation of outer conduct and paths of abandonment is aligned with the Sutras, while the core of inner practice—the path of transformation—is entrusted to the Tantras. Ultimately, however, the decisive anchor for one’s state of mind is entrusted to the path of liberation: the Great Perfection (Dzogchen).

Within this context, there is a profound and vast difference between the general and specific systems of supreme Dzogchen—particularly the intent of the Four Treatises of Dzogchen—and the unelaborated view of the causal vehicle of characteristics, or the Madhyamaka view. A concise overview of this is presented here with the hope that it will be of benefit to my followers.

The ultimate natural state of the Dzogchen view transcends the objects of sign and terminology; it is an unmanufactured state of basic reality. The great primordial ancestor of all buddhas and sentient beings—the very foundation of samsara and nirvana—is primordially unstained by delusion, obscuration, and mental afflictions. It was not created by causes, nor is it fabricated by conditions or accomplished through deliberate effort; rather, it is self-arisen, possessing the great primordial purity (ka-dak) of baseless emptiness.

Furthermore, all objects of knowledge, including samsara and nirvana, are fully complete within this state, manifesting as various magical displays while remaining omnipresent and unchanging—the great spontaneous perfection (lhun-drub) of qualitative attributes. Moreover, this basis transcends the domain of intellect and possesses the nature of self-cognizing primordial wisdom that recognizes itself.

Therefore, entirely free from expectations regarding abandonment and attainment, or hopes and fears about higher and lower states, it is primordially complete in the nature of the single great sphere (tigle).

In contrast, the view of the initial causal vehicle of the Madhyamaka—following the intent of texts such as the Mirror of Nine Cycles and the Hundred Thousand Verses of Jampa Ma—primarily establishes the mode of emptiness. It reveals the ultimate reality where all signs of elaboration entirely cease, free from birth and cessation, abiding like space without being established in any way whatsoever.

Emphasizing solely a non-implicative negation (med-dgag) that refutes true existence and inherent reality, it employs reasoning to examine manifest appearances and truly existent signs, thereby cutting through elaborations. Scriptural commentaries explain that while the Madhyamaka view merely shows emptiness free from extremes, it does not reveal the profound, luminous qualities of spontaneous presence and the aspect of self-cognizing primordial wisdom found in Dzogchen.

Therefore, it is taught as a graded method wherein individuals with prominent self-grasping are led—by refuting conceptual objects of negation—to the definitive path of Dzogchen.

In short, the Madhyamaka view primarily cuts through elaborations through the negation of emptiness, whereas the Dzogchen view holds as the ultimate reality a self-cognizing primordial wisdom in which primordial purity (emptiness) and spontaneous presence (self-luminous clarity) are inseparable.

Views on Abandonment and Refutation

The Yungdrung Bon tradition maintains a significant difference between the supreme Dzogchen view and the Madhyamaka view regarding how they approach the framework of objects of abandonment and the process of refutation.

According to the Dzogchen system, all phenomena encompassed by samsara and nirvana are spontaneously perfected as primordially arisen and primordially complete (ye-shar ye-dzog). Consequently, its approach to abandonment and elimination is exceptionally unique.

Because appearances just as they manifest right now do not cause harm, there is nothing that needs to be abandoned, nor is there anything new that needs to be accomplished elsewhere. Simply by leaving appearances in their natural state, they naturally and spontaneously self-liberate into the absolute nature of phenomena (bon-nyid).

While these appearances do not need to be rejected or abandoned, one is simultaneously freed from the extremes of permanence and annihilation. The basis is free from the extreme of permanence because it is not established as "me" or a "self," and it is free from the extreme of annihilation because it does not dissolve into absolute nothingness.

Recognizing all phenomena of samsara and nirvana as primordially possessing the nature of a single great sphere without any need for abandonment or attainment, one abides in a state where meditative equipoise and subsequent attainment are undifferentiated, requiring no deliberate conceptual focus on an object of meditation.

Conversely, the causal vehicle of the Madhyamaka primarily emphasizes identifying objects of abandonment and refutation through logical analysis. Taking manifest appearances and truly existent signs as objects of refutation, it employs reasonings such as the freedom from being single or multiple to completely sever all signs of elaboration, thereby actualizing the meaning of emptiness.

At that time, proponents of the "Illusion-like Madhyamaka" establish appearances as like illusions and cut through the falsity of appearances, while proponents of the "Madhyamaka Free from All Extremes" treat the combined reality of appearances and true existence as an object of refutation, asserting that from the perspective of ultimate analysis, appearances are empty of appearances.

In brief, while the Madhyamaka tradition holds that one must refute objects of negation and cut through elaborations in order to establish appearances as lacking true existence, the Dzogchen tradition holds that appearances do not need to be directly refuted but self-liberate in their own place. This is the primary distinction between their approaches to abandonment and refutation.

The Union of Clarity and Emptiness

When explaining the union of clarity and emptiness (sal-tong zung-jug) across various Yungdrung Bon scriptural commentaries, it is stated that there are significant differences between the Dzogchen view and the philosophical vehicle (Madhyamaka) regarding how the aspects of clarity (self-cognition) and emptiness (primordial purity) are experienced and held. These are as follows:

First: The key characteristic of the union of clarity and emptiness in the Dzogchen system is that clarity and emptiness are not separated into distinct entities to be newly accomplished; rather, they primordially abide in an inseparable state.

The mind-itself of Dzogchen is empty because even self-cognition is not established as a concrete entity; yet, this non-conceptual emptiness is not devoid of a quality of clarity—it is vividly clear as self-cognition, abiding without being restricted to any directional extreme by limiting factors.

At that very time, clarity is non-conceptually empty, and non-conceptuality is self-cognizing clarity. Thus, the aspect of clarity and the aspect of non-conceptuality exist non-dually as a single, ultimate union of the two.

This is experienced directly from one's own basic nature, without needing to be sought elsewhere.

Therefore, while the philosophical vehicles view clarity and emptiness as separated and thus prone to the flaw of limitation, the Dzogchen system holds that clarity itself is non-conceptual, and non-conceptuality is self-cognizing clarity. Because they abide primordially and self-arisingly as an inseparable, singular reality, they are forever free from the faults of falling into extremes or being limited.

Second: Various Yungdrung Bon commentaries (such as The Logical Measure: The Essential Pivot of Valid Cognition) analyze the experiential state of the philosophical vehicles and point out the flaw of the two aspects of clarity and emptiness pulling in opposite directions.

According to the philosophical vehicles, the compassionate spiritual warrior (sems-dpa) experiences the substantial nature of mind as vividly clear and cognizant, yet from that perspective, non-conceptuality is viewed as non-existent.

Alternatively, the Madhyamikas assert that all phenomena are empty, all elaborations are pacified, and the non-conceptual nature is free of self. From that perspective, self-cognizing clarity is deemed absent.

Clinging merely to clarity implies a lack of non-conceptuality, whereas clinging merely to emptiness implies a lack of self-cognizing clarity. Consequently, these two pull away from one another, resulting in the flaw of being separate and limited (falling into extremes).

Thus, while the philosophical vehicles separate clarity and non-conceptual emptiness—either asserting them as mutually exclusive or falling into the flaw where having one means lacking the other—the Dzogchen system holds that clarity is non-conceptual, and non-conceptuality is self-cognizing clarity. Because they abide without limitation, there is a profound difference.

In short, while the philosophical vehicles are considered to have the flaw of limitation because they treat clarity and emptiness (non-conceptuality) as separate, the Dzogchen system possesses the profound quintessential point of the inseparability of clarity and emptiness, spontaneously perfected within the state of self-cognizing primordial wisdom.

Conclusion

Despite the significant differences between the views of Dzogchen and Madhyamaka regarding the nature of the basis and the framework of abandonment and refutation, there are major points of agreement when viewed in summary:

Both systems agree that all phenomena of samsara and nirvana lack true existence, and they share a high degree of accord regarding the ultimate reality as being inexpressible and transcending the scope of the ordinary mind.

From this perspective, the Madhyamaka view—which abandons the elaborations of the eight extremes and frees one from the extremes of permanence and annihilation—is also taught as a gradual method suited to the mental capacities of individuals, ultimately leading them along the path of the definitive Great Perfection.

In short, in the Yungdrung Bon tradition, the Madhyamaka view is not only a profound path revealing ultimate reality, but the Dzogchen view is considered even more supreme, excelling in its realization of the self-luminous, spontaneously present qualities of the basis and the ultimate practice of self-cognizing primordial wisdom.