Rating: 
Summary: Advanced Dzogchen study
Review: There are lots of introductory Dzogchen books (as there are for Mahamudra, Kabbalah, etc.). This is NOT one of them. There are also pure scholarly works with a small, fervent readership. I don't think this is that either, though scholars may certainly find it very valuable. The commentator/translator excerpts from many of Longchenpa's (Longchen Rabjam's) various texts which would be virtually impossible to access in English otherwise. Longchenpa is one of, if not THE, greatest Dzogchen masters of all time. Nevertheless, this is not an easy text to read. Furthermore, like the Sperling translation of the Zohar, it is very inconsistent in depth, style, etc. After all, people change as they age and their perspectives, examples, etc. change to match. As far as I can see, this is a definitive Dzogchen text--quite advanced, not for the beginner, challenging, and enlightening. It grows with you. Nevertheless, reading, re-reading... texts in an area of unfamiliarity can help one gain familiarity. That's how Carl Jung studied Alchemy. It works. This is a GREAT book, not to be underrated, but not every book is for every one.
Rating:
Summary: The best introduction to Dzogchen
Review: This is the most comprehensive general introduction to Dzogchen philosophy and practice, by one of the greatest living scholars and translators of this tradition. An unjustly neglected book that belongs on the shelf of every Dzogchen practitioner or scholar of Tibetan Buddhist religious traditions.
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