The Distinctive Mindfulness of Dzogchen

Jigme Lingpa's Advice on Meta-Awareness and Nondual Meditation

Bibliographic Data

ID3688152
AuthorsMarc-Henri Deroche (0000-0002-2390-9642, Kyoto University, corresponding author), Michael R Sheehy (0000-0001-6543-6954, University of Virginia)
Year2022
Volume13
Issue7
Pages573
Publication date2022-06-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel13070573
OpenAlexW4283364438
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited19

For Indian Buddhists and their Tibetan successors, the faculty of "mindfulness" (Skt. smṛti, Tib. dran pa) has been interpreted as the foundation of the threefold development of wisdom (study, reflection, cultivation). Such a model was, in Tibet, the hallmark of the gradual approach to awakening, whereas in the simultaneous approach, the state beyond ordinary mindfulness was emphasized. The complementarity of both approaches has been an essential issue, especially for the Nyingma tradition, which holds the direct teaching of Dzogchen to be the penultimate. To elucidate the operations of mindfulness in this context, this paper analyzes two guidance texts on mindfulness by Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa (1730-1798), Ocean of Qualities: Advice on Mindfulness and Cudgel to Discern the Real: Advice that Shines from Mindfulness and Meta-Awareness, the latter translated into English for the first time in this paper. As this study shows, Jigme Lingpa articulates a twofold typology of mindfulness, first a mindfulness that is effortful and conditioned, and secondarily the distinctive mindfulness of Dzogchen that is inseparable from pure awareness or rigpa (rig pa). Jigme Lingpa thus applies mindfulness to integrate Buddhist teachings and make sense of alternative modes of practice along the Dzogchen path

Buddhism · Meditation · Mindfulness · Psychotherapist · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions · Philosophy · Psychology

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