‘Cutting through Resistance’ and the direct introduction to awareness are the subject matter of Chapter 4 of the present work. The introduction to the intermediate state of reality, in Chapter 11 of our text, is illustrative of the esoteric instructions on ‘All-surpassing Realisation,’ which is the pinnacle of meditative practice according to the Nyingma school.” (p.XXIII - HHDL) In the preceding paragraph we saw Jung's two commentaries were on chapters 4 and 11 just mentioned. So, of all chapters on which he commented precisely on the key parts of Dzogchen although, according to John Reynolds, he really did not understand this. What's more, Dzogchen practitioners who have made some progress do not have to read the text at all:
Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche).
Dzogchen knows no generation and perfection stages as in the Mahāyoga tantra: “Great Perfection is a synonym for Atiyoga, the highest of the nine vehicles according to the Nyingma tradition. Atiyoga is known as the Great Perfection because both the generation and perfection stages of meditation are effortlessly present. 'Perfection' (rdzogs) implies that the enlightened attributes of the Three Buddha-bodies are effortlessly perfected in the stabilisation of the meditator's intrinsic awareness (rang-rig).” (p. 473 – Glossary) After the preliminary practices a ‘direct introduction’ to intrinsic awareness from a Vajra-master is required. From the Introduction of His Holiness the Dalai Lama: “Following the practices of the Dzogchen teachings of the Nyingma school the student is directly introduced by an authentic spiritual teacher to the very nature of his or her mind as pure awareness. This is the focus of the ‘Cutting through Resistance’ (khregs-chod) aspect of the Dzogchen path and this is complemented by the All-surpassing Realisation (thod-rgal) practices which focus on eliciting and recognising the radiances of pristine cognition.
“Those serious meditators who have meditated on [the practices of] the Great Perfection and the Great Seal will recognise the inner radiance that dawns during the intermediate state of the time of death and will attain the Buddha-body of Reality. For these meditators there is absolutely no need to read this Liberation by Hearing.” (Ch. 11, Part II, p. 257-258) What makes the Great Perfection path so special? The keyword is inner radiance and recognition of it. This keyword is singled out here from the excellent definitions in the Glossary because it plays a central role in the introduction of the Dalai Lama, where he mentioned it fifteen times: “Inner Radiance 'od-gsal Sometimes also translated as ‘clear light,’ the Tibetan term 'od-gsal, which has been rendered here as ‘inner radiance,’ refers in the context of the perfection stage of meditation to the subtlest level of mind, i.e. the fundamental, essential nature of all our cognitive events. Though ever present within all sentient beings, this inner radiance becomes manifest only when the gross mind has ceased to function. Such a dissolution is experienced by ordinary beings, naturally, at the time of death, but it can also be experientially cultivated through the practices of Unsurpassed Yogatantra.” (p. 478, part 1, Glossary) The shortest path to liberation is offered by the Highest Yoga Tantra (or Unsurpassed Yogatantra, or ‘Great Perfection’ or Dzogchen) you can then be liberated from the cycle of reincarnation in a
Preparing to Die
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