John Hopkins....New Mexico......May, 2012

Email:.....shambhaladzogchen@gmail.com

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Heart Drops of Dharmakaya: Dzogchen Practice of the Bon Tradition (Excerpt)....Preliminary For The Practice of Trekcho....Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen (1859 - 1933)....An important Bonpo teacher in the Rime Tradition...realized the rainbow body when he died in 1933.....

External Practice

Go to a quiet place without any people and stay there.
First make offerings to the mountain gods or whoever is powerful and spiritual in the area so that they are not disturbed. Tell them where you are practicing so that you do not disturb them.
Then, thinking that you must stop desire for samsara, ask what is the purpose of so much attachment? You need to ask why you have this desire.
Imagine that you are naked and born in hell, screaming and suffering as if you are actually there. Then imagine that you are born in the realm of the hungry ghosts (pretas) with endless hunger and want. Imagine you are born in the animal realm, doing as animals do. Then think that you are born as a human with servants—imagine that life; then as a titan (asura) fighting with another—what is the purpose of that? Finally imagine that you are born as a god (deva) and spending life in leisure without thinking of the next life—what is the purpose of this?
Imagine that you are circulating from one realm to the next. Do whatever comes to your mind—in vision or imagination.
Then imagine what it is like to be a yidam (tutelary deity); or that you are in Shambhala and are teaching the bodhisattvas; or in the tantric realms with the siddhas as disciples; or in Sukhavati or Olmo Lungring teaching Dzogpachenpo.
Pretend that you are actually doing this.
Finally dissolve all visions into the natural state. What is left? Then dissolve even your thought itself into the natural state so there is nothing left. Then you will realise that everything is made by your thought—everything comes from there. You have to realise how things are created.
You must practice this seriously for at best three months, or at least one month.

The channel that goes from the heart to the eyes is called the "crystal kati channel".........this seems to be the key to the whole thing.........."Discovering drala is indeed to establish ties to your world, so that each perception becomes unique. It is to see with the heart, so that what is invisible to the eye becomes visible as the living magic of reality." (Trungpa: 1984..pg 105)......"Inner luminosity originates in the heart and passes through two channels that connect the empty space of the heart with the external empty space of the sky through the eyes." (Wangyal:1993..pg 119)..."The clear light has abided in the heart of the individual from the very beginning. The heart (tsit ta) may be compared to a magic lantern, an early type of cinema projector." (Reynolds:1996..pg 151)....srog: life force, heart, soul...yang zhun snying thig: refined heart essence...zhe: heart, mind...tsit ta: heart, mind...thugs ka: heart center...kun spyod mtshungs mo: sweetheart...."The white pure light of the space element gives rise to the mind and the heart channels. The life process begins from the heart." (Wangyal: 1993..pg 145)..."Basic Goodness is very closely connected to the idea of bodhicitta (awakened heart) in the Buddhist tradition. Awakened heart comes from being willing to face your state of mind...to connect with your heart, fully and totally." (Trungpa: 1984..pg 44)..."In the center of the precious palace of the spiritual heart there are five mystic juices. In their center is the 'Bon essence' a mass of light." (Hoffman: 1975..pg 111)....

LIGHT...('od)...."Rigpa is compared to the sun in the sky and ye-shes is compared to the rays of the sun which stream forth." (Reynolds:1996..pg 122)..."It is like a sunbeam meeting the sun, like light (ye-shes) merging into light ('od gsal). It is only by first looking at one's reflection in the mirror that one discovers the mirror." (Reynolds: 1996..pg 152)..."The worship of light can be confirmed throughout the Indo-Iranian sphere, from Vedic to late Buddhist times." (Eliade)..."It is the luminous mind who is the creator of the world, the world being nothing but its own illusory projection, the Primordial Basis existing in the form of variegated light." (Karmay: 1988..pg 203)..."When I saw these visions, they were not something appearing externally: they were the manifestations of my own mind in the form of light." (Wangyal: 1993..pg 12)..."In the Bon cosmology, the absolute realm may be symbolized as pure light, which is neither black nor white, but transparent." (Paul: 1982..pg 55)..."Sems then is not only mental energy, but also light, and light too is the breath (rlung) on which it rides, for the breath is made of five shining rays of light ('od zer)" (Tucci: 1980..pg 64)..."In the borderland between Ye (light) and Ngam (darkness) the Werma with magic power built a fortress: it had its entrance facing East." (Mipham text in Norbu: 1995..pg 59)...."At death, the adept achieves the light body or rainbow body." (Wangyal: 1993..pg 145)..."When we see the rainbow lights, deities, mandalas, thigles and colors, we will not follow after them but recognize them as mental projections...(Wangyal: 1993..pg 197)..."inner light (aloka, snang ba) increase of the inner light (alokabhasa, mched pa), and inner light approaching fullness (upalabdha, nyer thob)."..(Kongtrul: 1995..pg 276)..."In the Kabala, one of the basic doctrines involves the withdrawal (tzimtzum) of the divine light, therebye creating primordial space"...(Encyclopedia Britannica)...

Notes on the Shambhala Path

JAMGON KONGTRUL (Lodro Taye: 1813-1899)..."One may wonder why this description of the universe does not accord with that of other systems. The Enlightened Ones did not view any aspect of either the environment or the inhabitants of our world system as ultimately real. Therefore, the teachings are not one that, based on a belief in a single view, sets forth a particular system as the only valid one. Instead, they spoke in response to the various levels of capabilities, interests, and dispositions of those to be guided to enlightenment.".....he presented a range of Buddhist opinions on the nature of the universe according to the perspectives of the Individual Way (Hinayana), the Universal Way (Mahayana), the Wheel of Time Tantra (Kalacakra Tantra), and the Great perfection (Dzogchen).

"The teachings of Shambhala, as originally proclaimed by Chögyam Trungpa, state that "there is a natural source of radiance and brilliance in the world, which is the innate wakefulness of human beings. This is the basis, in myth and inspiration, of the Kingdom of Shambhala, an enlightened society of fearlessness, dignity and compassion." Furthermore, "Shambhala vision applies to people of any faith, not just people who believe in Buddhism... the Shambhala vision does not distinguish a Buddhist from a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew, a Moslem, a Hindu. That's why we call it the Shambhala kingdom. A kingdom should have lots of spiritual disciplines in it."

"In 1976, Trungpa Rinpoche began giving teachings, some of which were gathered and presented as Shambhala Training, inspired by his vision (see terma) of the legendary Kingdom of Shambhala. Shambhalian practices focus on using mindfulness/awareness meditation as a means of connecting with one's basic sanity and using that insight as inspiration for one's encounter with the world. The Shambhala of Chögyam Trungpa is essentially a secular approach to meditation, with roots in Buddhism as well as in other traditions, but accessible to individuals of any, or no religion. The greater social vision of Shambhala is that it is possible, moment by moment, for individuals to establish enlightened society. Trungpa's book Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior provides a concise collection of the Shambhala views."

"Trungpa Rinpoche incorporated other elements into Shambhala Buddhism that he thought would be beneficial to practitioners. From the Bön religion, the lhasang ceremony is performed; other elements of shamanism play a role. From Confucianism comes a framework of heaven, earth, and man for understanding the proper relationship between different elements of compositions of all kinds. From Taoism comes the use of feng shui and other incorporations. From the Shinto tradition comes the use of kami shrines to honor natural forces in specific locales.........especially important is the Shinto Shrine at Rocky Mountain Shambhala Center."

"In 1959, Chogyam Trungpa left Tibet, fleeing the invasion of the Chinese communists. It took him a long time to cross the Himalayas. On the way, he wrote a synthesis of the spiritual history of Shambala that was, unfortunately, lost during that eventful journey, then re-written in England....It is Known as "The Golden Dot"....There are two translations.... (one at Karme Choling in 1972 and the other in 1979)........it describes how Shiwa Okar and the Nine Lha (Gods) created existence out of non-existence...... .......In the Tibetan Bon tradition the legend is known as Shen Lha Okar and the Nine Brothers who created this world.......

"RIMAY TRADITION.... (Rime, Ris med) : "Jamgon Kongtrul The Great....(1813-1899) His background was Bonpo (his father was an illustrous lama of the Khyungpo, or Garuda clan..[Kongtrul: 1995..pg 15]) and both he and Jamyang Kyentse were particularly open to the Bon tradition. The most significant Bon teacher in the Rimay movement was Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen (1859-1935)..."HEART DROPS OF DHARMAKAYA.....Dzogchen Practice of the Bon Tradition". [Samuel:1993..p.542]....

"Until the eighth century, the country of Zhang-zhung had been an independent kingdom with its own language and culture. It lay in what is now Western and Northern Tibet and the center of the country was dominated by the majestic presence of the sacred mountain of Mount Kailas........ Just to the west of Zhang-zhung there once existed the vast Kushana empire..... an area in which Indian Buddhism interacted with various strands of Iranian religion-- Zoroastrian, Zurvanist, Mithraist, Manichean, as well as Indian Shaivism and Nestorian Christianity. ...... All this suggests that certain trends within Bon actually do go back to a kind of syncretistic Indo-Iranian Buddhism that once flourished in the independent kingdom of Zhang-zhung before it was forcibly incorporated into the expanding Tibetan empire in the eighth century. This "Buddhism", known as gyer in the Zhang-zhung language and as bon in the Tibetan, was not particularly monastic........"

"We are working with iconography as a journey, rather than as entertainment or excitement or cultural fascination. We are talking about personal experience, how we actually see this world. There is a basic iconographic pattern in the universe, like the existence of the seasons and the elements, but how we react to that is individual.""....(Trungpa: Dharma Art.:1996...pg 94)

BASIC GOODNESS....."Küntu Zangpo is one of the peacful Bonpo deities, his name means "The All-Good" and he is seen as the supreme deity of all knowledge and has strong links to Shenla Okar in the sense that both are hierophanies of the bönku or "The body of Bon", the ultimate Truth..... Küntu Zangpo is Künzang Akor which means "The All-Good cycle of A", "A" being the last letter in the Zhan Zhung-alphabet ....the White A......Important Dzogchen Practice in the Bonpo Tradition"

"The first lha, the primordial prince Peaceful White Light, rode on a divine white horse called, Ngul Ja Da O (Silver Bird Moon Light). That divine white horse was the steed, beyond the concept of animal, existing in the pinnacle of the first supreme time. Because of that he did not depart from being the manifestation of the power of the divine prince, Peaceful White LIght. He was very swift, contending with the wind's movement. He was unhindered, inseparable from the power of lightning. His tail and mane move like a white silk scarf in the sky, whistling in the wind. From each hair, many white lungta-colts, ornamented with the wings of white vultures, swirled about as if one had opened a beehive. There was the victorious sound "lungta yarkye" ("raising lungta") . The divine white horse, Ngul Ja Da O, having long ears, was uplifted. HIs forehead, of great fortune and authentic presence, was broad and expansive like the dancing ground of the warriors. The middle was adorned with the figure of a coil-of-joy, a self-existing mark, not drawn. From that came a white garuda, Single Ah, who soared and increased the masculinity of drala. From his nostril came the great cosmic wind emanating swift messengers -- greak white kinkara. His neigh possessed the eight kinds of laughter, which produced the strength of werma and increased the confidence of drala. It was lovely and unobstructed, resounding in the distance, transforming one's mind."

"Texts that we commonly call the Shambhala teachings stem from the visions that the Druk Sakyong, the Vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, had from an early age in Tibet......These visions came from the Rigden and from Shiwa Okar......the Vidyadhara often said that he was merely writing them down...." Sakyong Mipham.....January 23, 2005

..."Dzogchen is not something to be limited by any narrow-minded sectarianism, for it pertains directly to the Nature of Mind, which, in its own terms, is unbiased and transcends all cultural limitations and conditioning, not only among humanity, but among all sentient life-forms on this planet and elsewhere in the universe. Dzogchen belongs to all humanity and to all life."........John Myrdhin Reynolds....'The Oral Traditions From Zhang-Zhung'....Page xx.