creation stage

What is Ngondro?

~ DudjomTersarNgondro
-His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche

We have been wandering in delusion in samsara since beginningless time, like being trapped in a dream. The dharma is the method that the Buddha taught to wake us up from this dream. For that purpose he taught the 84,000 teachings of the dharma for beings of lesser and medium capacities, and the 6,400,000 tantras for disciples of the highest faculties. They all have one purpose, to tame the five passions of desire, anger, ignorance, jealousy, and pride in each individual being’s mindstream. The teachings are extremely vast, but the condensed essence of all of them, the pith instruction that encompasses all spiritual traditions, is Ngondro. ~ HH Dudjom Rinpoche

All Buddhist and non-Buddhist spiritual traditions see samsara as not a good place to remain and seek to end suffering according to their own capacities and methods. The outer preliminary practices are the four ways to turn the mind to dharma and away from samsara (four thoughts).

The inner preliminary practices begin with going for refuge, the foundation of the path of liberation from Hinayana through Vajrayana. The essence of the path from Mahayana through Vajrayana is to arouse in the mind the thought of supreme enlightenment, Bodhicitta.

In order to attain enlightenment we need to perfect the two accumulations, and mandala offering is the method to quickly accomplish this. The outer mandala offering is the billionfold universe, the inner mandala offering is one’s own body, enjoyable possessions, and accumulations of virtue, and the secret mandala offering is the Dharmadhatu Clear Light Vajra Essence Buddhafield. Actually, everybody needs to accumulate merit, it is not just for those who want to attain Buddhahood. It is the foundation of all worldly happiness, and it gathers the favorable circumstances for attaining enlightenment.

In order to purify unfavorable circumstances we do Vajrasattva meditation. It is a complete tantric practice that includes shamatha and vipassana according to the Vajrayana tradition of the two stages of creation and completion.

Guru yoga is the heart of all practices in the Great Perfection tradition which is the essence of all dharmas and spiritual paths.

Ngondro also includes Phowa, a Great Perfection teaching for swiftly transforming consciousness at the moment of death, even if one dies before being able to accomplish the creation and completion stage practices.

Chod is the practice of severing all types of clinging such as the four maras which create obstacles to samadhi, wisdom, accomplishing meditation practice in this life, and attaining Buddhahood.

As Dudjom Rinpoche said,

This profound revealed treasure, this preliminary practice arra nged here, is the noble path which leads swiftly and easily to the level of the union of the Four Kayas;
It is a chariot, perfectly clear and easily entered, that is brought up here;
All fortunate ones, enter now with joy!

Written by Lama Sonam Tsering Rinpoche
and Translated by Cyril Kassoff

 

Two levels of practice, four types of phowa

~ DudjomTersarNgondro

          The two levels of practice, the creation stage and the perfection stage, are actually a preparation for the moment of death. If you are an accomplished practitioner, when you die, you will recognize the Clear Light state of the first bardo.  This results in the attainment of dharmakaya buddhahood. If you miss this opportunity, then due to the dissolution of the constituents of your body, the deities begin to appear in the bardo. If you are accomplished in the creation stage practice, you will recognize the deities as they arise to be the very display of your own mind. You will then attain sambhogakaya buddhahood. For a practitioner who has not completed these two levels of practice, phowa is the third opportunity to be liberated in the bardo. The practice of phowa at the moment of death is the cause for a practitioner to be reborn into a pureland where there is the opportunity to complete the dharma path. If someone has not completed the two stages of the path, then phowa can carry them to liberation.

There are four different types of phowa. The first is the perfection stage practice. In this phowa, there is no need to wait for death to be liberated since you are already enlightened. The second phowa is the realization of the inseparability of the creation and perfection states. With this realization, you can be liberated in the bardo. The third phowa is the transference of consciousness into a pureland at the moment of death. With the phowa of the transference, three reference points are used. The first is the pureland of Amitabha called Dewachen, the second is our own consciousness as the traveler, and the third is the central channel as the path. Normally when you die, you exit through any of the nine doors leading to various types of rebirth into the lower realms. The exit through the central channel is the entrance into a pureland. Phowa seals the other doors which lead to rebirth in samsara. To accomplish the phowa practice, you must complete a seven-day retreat to receive the signs. Phowa is considered the quick path since even without the experience of meditation, you can still be liberated. In the phowa section of Ngondro Practice, visualize Amitabha above your head. Amitabha, red in color, is a dharmakaya buddha of the Lotus Family. Pray that when this life is finished, you will immediately be reborn in Dewachen, Amitabha’s pure realm. The fourth phowa is “the hook of compassion” to liberate others. When you have accomplished the phowa for yourself, you can help liberate others at their moment of death. …

The Commentary on the Dudjom Tersar Ngondro
The Preliminary Practice of the New Teasure of Dudjom
by Lama Tharchin Rinpoche

Photo source: Vajrayana Foundation Archive
Photographer: unknown

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