Highest Wisdom A GUIDEBOOK TO THE STAGES OF THE PATH OF THE PRIME GUARDIAN ACCORDING TO LONGCHEN NYINGTIG GREAT COMPLETION BY TONY DUFF PADMA KARPO TRANSLATION COMMITTEE Highest Wisdom A GUIDEBOOK TO THE STAGES OF THE PATH OF THE PRIME GUARDIAN ACCORDING TO LONGCHEN NYINGTIG GREAT COMPLETION BY TONY DUFF PADMA KARPO TRANSLATION COMMITTEE This text is secret and should not be shown to those who have not had the necessary introduction and instructions of the Nyingthig system of Dzogchen meditation. If you have not had the necessary instructions, reading this text can be harmful to your spiritual health! Seal. Seal. Seal. Copyright © 2010 Tony Duff. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system or technologies now known or later developed, without permission in writing from the publisher. First edition, October 10th 2010 ISBN: 978-9937-8386-0-3 Janson typeface with diacritical marks and Tibetan Classic typeface Designed and created by Tony Duff Tibetan Computer Company http://www.tibet.dk/tcc Produced, Printed, and Published by Padma Karpo Translation Committee P.O. Box 4957 Kathmandu NEPAL Web-site and e-mail contact through: http://www.tibet.dk/pktc or search Padma Karpo Translation Committee on the web. CONTENTS Introduction ..................................... v Topic Headings of the Text ..................... xxxix “Highest Wisdom”, A Guidebook to The Stages of Path of the Prime Guardian According to Longchen Nyingtig Great Completion by Jigmey Lingpa Preface ..................................... 3 Part I ...................................... 11 Part II .................................... 127 Part III ................................... 177 List of Texts Cited .............................. 191 Glossary ........................................ 195 Supports for Study .............................. 221 Tibetan Text .................................... 225 Index ........................................... 309 iii INTRODUCTION This book is a translation of one of the key texts of the Longchen Nyingthig system of Great Completion dharma. GREAT COMPLETION The Great Completion system of dharma came from a land called Uççiyåïa, which is thought to have been in the Swat region of Pakistan. The name of the system of dharma in the language of Uççiyåïa was “mahåsaðdhi”. The name mahåsaðdhi means exactly “the great juncture” and refers to the one all-encompassing space in which all that there could be—whether enlightened or unenlight- ened, whether belonging to nirvåïa or saîsåra—is present. The Tibetans translated this name as “rdzogs pa chen po”. The term “chen po” is the exact equivalent of “mahå” and means “great” in English. The term “rdzogs pa” is not exactly equivalent to “saðdhi” because its literal meaning is “a state of completion” rather than “a juncture”. However, it was chosen in this case because one of its meanings, “a situation in which everything is present”, does match the meaning of “saðdhi”. In the terminology of the original Tibetan translators, “chen po” is a literal translation and “rdzogs pa” is a meaning translation. v vi THE GUIDEBOOK TO HIGHEST WISDOM When this name is translated into English from the Uddiyanian term, it comes out to “Great Juncture” in both literal and meaning styles of translation. However, when translated from the Tibetan term, it comes out to “Great Completion” in literal translation and “Great Juncture” in meaning translation. Although the English translation “Great Completion” is used these days because of following the Tibetan wording literally, I think we should start using “Great Juncture” because it both translates the term literally and conveys the meaning intended. Nonetheless, for this book I have continued to use “Great Completion” in order to avoid confusion. This exercise in arriving at a correct translation of the name is not done merely as an exercise in translation. It is done to bring out the great meaning embodied in the name. Great Completion refers to an all-inclusive space that beings, including humans, could realize. It is also used to refer to the system of instruction designed to bring them to an all-inclusive realization of that space. When a being does realize it, there is nothing more to be realized or done because all is complete within that being’s space of realization and the work of spiritual practice is complete. In a Buddhist way of talking, Great Completion is the final realization in which that being has mani- fested true and complete buddhahood. Great Completion is often called “Great Perfection” in English but that presents an incorrect understanding of the name. The final space of realization is not a state of perfection but one that contains both perfection and imperfection. The name should not connect us to the idea of perfection but to the idea of the juncture of all things perfect and imperfect, to the idea of a state of realization in which all things are complete. There is also the problem that “Great Perfection” feeds into the theistic habits of the West. It easily misleads people into thinking of a godly state of perfection. INTRODUCTION vii I had the fortune to work for many years under the incomparable vidyådhara Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche as a member of his trans- lation committee. He was very alert to problems of translation and the effects of theism, and did not accept “Great Perfection” for the reasons given above. As a matter of interest, he preferred to use another name for Great Completion, “mahåti”1, which is derived from the practice aspect of the teaching. By doing so, he empha- sized the practical aspect of the teaching while avoiding the various problems that come with calling it “Great Perfection”. You might ask what the “great” in the name means. It does not mean that this is a “fantastic” or “wonderful” state of completion, a meaning that comes to many people based on the slang use of “great”. In the Buddhist tantras, this term is used to distinguish something known by wisdom in direct perception from the same thing known by dualistic mind as a concept. In other words, Great Completion does not refer to the lesser state of completion under- stood through the use of concept but to the great version of that, the actual state of completion known through wisdom. NYINGTHIG GREAT COMPLETION The Great Completion teaching is the ultimate of all Buddhist teachings. It has within it several, increasingly profound levels of teaching, the most profound of which has an Indian name which literally says “heart’s drop” but means “quintessential”. It was translated into Tibetan as “nyingthig”2 which also literally says 1 Tib. shin tu rnal ’byor. Meaning, “the ultimate of yogic practices”. In this book it is sometimes written as “maha ati” to make the pronuncia- tion more obvious to Westerners. 2 Tib. snying gi thig le. The word “thig le” is also written in Tibetan as “tig le” with no difference in meaning.