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Rating: 
Summary: Includes Guided Meditations
Review: As well as the wonderful teachings mentioned in the previous review, two chapters of this book, which is a compilation of talks given in Denmark and Nepal in 1966, are Guided Meditations. The first one is on Refuge and Guru Yoga, and the other is the Vajrasattva Meditation. Both of them are the farthest thing from theory. I am just a beginner but because of the Tsoknyi Rinpoche's down-to-earth simplicity and clarity, I found it very easy to perform the meditations. These are immediate, very beautiful, and extremely powerful experiences, practical teaching direct from a recognized master. And you can perform them over and over! This was the most powerful part of the book for me so far. Also, almost every chapter ends with a few pages of questions and answers from those in the audience. These are very interesting and help to make the teachings even more real. The chapters are arranged in a wonderful sequence, where each one builds on the other. I read one chapter a day, and each day I was able to experience more and more of the teaching, so that the next chapter always seemed to be leading me to the next step. And it was always extremely relevant to the day's events. I consider it the most wonderful of blessings to have been given the chance to encounter this book.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, accessible book on Dzogchen
Review: I had the good fortune to see Tsoknyi Rinpoche teaching at Lerab Ling in France last year. When I first came across this book, I wondered how such an animated and provocative performance could be brought to the printed page. Thankfully, this compilation of his talks does succeed in conveying the vitality and humour that is his hallmark. He teaches in an experiential way, getting directly to the main point in a manner that is easy to relate to and to understand.By his use of uncomplicated language and examples from everyday life, you begin to see that there is indeed a way to be free. He shows how a simple shift in our understanding of mind, releases our entanglement in our desires and fears, in our imaginings. Rather than struggling with thoughts and emotions, we begin to understand mind's expression as a creative, ephemeral display. By becoming familiar with and applying this perspective, both in meditation sessions and during daily life, we un-knot those complex habitual patterns that entrap us, becoming simpler, more carefree. "Simply having the idea that smoking is bad doesn't make us stop smoking, because we have a deeply embedded habit. (...) What is necessary is to interrupt the habitual involvement in the act, again and again." I found that reading the book really deepened and improved my understanding of what meditation is. He spells out how we can practice freedom from moment to moment, remaining present, uncomplicated and carefree, even amidst the busyness of life. This carefree condition is not an indifferent dismissal of the hardships of living but an all-embracing openness, a deep and heart felt union with everything. "Carefree doesn't mean careless, that you are sloppy or that you don't care about others. " The talks cover meditation, distraction, refuge, ngondro, compassion, devotion, the bardos, confusion, enlightenment, emptiness; you name it, it's probably there! He explains these topics with such simple accuracy that the book is eminently readable by beginners as well as seasoned dharma veterans. My only grumble, (well this is samsara so I had to find some fault!) is that there are occasional misspellings. I found this to be the most useful and inspiring book I've read in ages. Get it!
Rating:
Summary: luminous wisdom
Review: Simply the best book I've read on Dzogchen, the effortless integration of space and awareness that is our natural unaffected state of being. Very down to earth and unadorned explanations with lots of humor and spontaeity-truly embodying the premise of Dzogchen (and the four Noble Truths) that our problems are rooted in the attempt to fixate and discriminate. Read it. Practice it. May all beings benefit!
Rating:
Summary: luminous wisdom
Review: Simply the best book I've read on Dzogchen, the effortless integration of space and awareness that is our natural unaffected state of being. Very down to earth and unadorned explanations with lots of humor and spontaeity-truly embodying the premise of Dzogchen (and the four Noble Truths) that our problems are rooted in the attempt to fixate and discriminate. Read it. Practice it. May all beings benefit!
Rating:
Summary: Down to Earth, yet dazzling
Review: This is a wonderful Dzogchen book written by one of the sons of Tulku Urgyen, the great, recently deceased Dzogchen Master. It is a companion volume to the author's "Fearless Simplicity." But, it's a very different book than that one. This book includes lectures and questions from students (with answers). Thus, it is virtually all about Dzogchen (primarily Trekcho and some Togal) without the inclusion of many preliminary practices and Tibetan-specific mythologies. The author is obviously well acclimated to Western culture-it includes lots of analogies and metaphors using common Western experiences. The chapters may seem a bit redundant to an expert practitioner, but the author has an uncanny way of using descriptive analogies to hone in on the meaning of difficult concepts and ideas. As he himself states on page 119, "Superficial examples cannot completely illustrate the real meaning, they can only hint at it." But his hints are very effective. I've studied Dzogchen for some time and have still been concerned about the use of certain English terms in the translations that don't seem to match the meaning of the speaker. Tsoknyi Rinpoche provides simple, meaningful explanations of many of these that have cleared up much of the confusion in my mind. Some examples are:
1. Concept-now appears to refer specifically to duality, not all concepts in general: on page 85: "Train in the state of naked awareness, free of concepts. `Concept' here means perceiver and perceived, subject and object. That's how it really is."
2. Clarity-now appears to be referring to the perception of Rigpa rather than the nature of Dharmakaya: on page 86: "The moment you recognize Rigpa, there's a sense of being wide open. Awake. Free of subject and object, free of thoughts, free of the future, with no dwelling on the present either. It's like pouring water in a crystal bowl - totally clear. With the cognizance comes some clarity, some brightness. Not the brightness from the electric bulb or daylight but an internal sense of being lucid."
3. Diligence-is more like a little push rather than forcing oneself: on page 87: "If you don't feel that glad about being diligent all the time, then push yourself, say, twenty percent. That much is okay. If it's a hundred percent pushing, you're forcing yourself, and it's like mental torture."
4. Habitual attachment-and its relation to who we think we are: on page 87: "...habit becomes your personality - and then one day it is you! Change that."
5. The Unity of Emptiness and Compassion-I could never understand why they should be unified, I thought the definitions of the two words was incorrect, but it turns out my understanding of the word "unity" was the problem: on page 151: "the indivisibility of emptiness and compassion means they should be a unity."
6. Compassion-relative vs. ultimate: on page 157: "Compassion free from concepts is an expression of self-existing wakefulness...There is a way also to be conceptually compassionate, which is different..."
7. Western vs. Eastern practice-relative difficulties: on page 166: "It may sound a little strange to say this, but when one practices in a place where there is no external support for Dharma practice - a place where people don't necessarily respect and praise the fact that you are a spiritual practitioner - maybe it is more possible to be really a genuine practitioner in such a place. In fact, maybe it is much easier."
8. Vajrayana Deities-are they real or only mental projections? Their relation to the oneness of subject and object: on page 177: "one shouldn't think that deities are totally non-existent and nothing other than one's projection. It is not like that either. The deity definitely exists, although not necessarily in a way that is separate from one's own perception...The blessing of Manjushri may involve giving yourself the answer."
I actually bought two copies of this book from Amazon-because I've already given one away.
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