Yungdrung Bon Dzogchen

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · Tapihritsa · 700 · Zhang Zhung

What it is

What it is. Dzogchen ("Great Perfection") is the highest of Bon's three paths of liberation (Sutra, Tantra, Dzogchen). The Bon and Nyingma traditions both hold Dzogchen teachings. Bon tradition traces the written Zhang Zhung Nyengyud to the 8th-century master Tapihritsa. He gave his disciple…

Format

• Sevenfold Cycle of the Clear Light (Ödsal Dunkor): instructions for an extended dark retreat.
• Practical sequence for students at Ligmincha-type centres. This ordering is assembled from several published pages, so the sequence itself is partly: Calm abiding (zhiné) as "a foundational practice". Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche teaches that deep understanding of Dzogchen depends on a good experience…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• the therapist taking sides prematurely.
• premature reassurance in either direction.
• exact recitation becoming compulsive (see B8).
• minimisation, and the wish to prove readiness.
• reassurance loops with the therapist or the teacher.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.