Vajra Speech: A Commentary on The Quintessence of Spiritual Practice, The Direct Instructions of the Great Compassionate One [Paperback]

This is an unusual Dzogchen book. Essentially it is a book of quotations taken from Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's other works. Since I've read "Rainbow Painting" (my favorite one) and "As It Is" volumes I & II, though not "Repeating the Words of the Buddha," it seemed a bit redundant to me at first. But when viewed as a reference work, its value becomes apparent. It would be difficult for a reader to understand many of the entries in this book without a considerable background in Dzogchen (or at least Vajrayana) prior to reading it. On the other hand, one way to learn an esoteric subject is to immerse oneself in it-reading everything one can get one's hands on - and allowing what was read to coalesce in one's (unconscious as well as conscious) mind. Certainly, Urgyen Rinpoche was a great contemporary Dzogchen master. So there is much to like about his teachings, and this book is a great condensation of those. It could serve as an introduction to his larger works-inspiring readers to investigate the teachings more deeply. There are many things to learn: objects are merely appearances (p. 69), "Obstructing forces are one's own thoughts arising externally; they are also called harmful spirits. They are the forces that pull one back from attaining the state of enlightenment and they originate from one's own thoughts, from ignorance" (p. 105), The only way to acquire all the great qualities of enlightenment is to repeat many times the short moment of recognizing mind essence...by practicing many times, we get used to it (p. 126), you need to be able to dissolve dualistic mind in nondual awareness (p. 141), the training in recognizing mind essence is this: short moments repeated many times (p. 172), In Dzogchen, the ultimate view is to relax into nondual awareness (p. 180). Perhaps best of all are his specific quotes on Trekchö and Tögal on pages 140-1 and page 174 and on the View on page 180-2. Indeed, the more extensive entries (alphabetically listed titles) allow one to view what the author said on a particular subject at different times in different books. This throws considerable light on such subjects-when one can see them from several angles at once.

A wonderful book. Every quote you read is marked by Tulku Urgyen's direct pointing out the nature of mind. It brings you back over and over to the main point. Most highly recommended for practitioners who have received the pointing out instructions and wish to renew and deepen their understanding. If you haven't received them, perhaps reading this will inspire you to seek out an authentic Tibetan buddhist master who will give them to you. An amazing book.