Entry to the Dzogchen Mandala

The Dzogchen Mandala is entered through one of four doors or gates. These gates are distinguished by the nature of the individual’s spiritual engagement at the point of entry.

First, there are those who are grounded in some form of Dharma practice that is most often Vipassana, Zen, or the Vajrayana (the “Buddhist Gate”). Second, there are those who have been actively engaged in an “Eastern form” other than Buddhism – most often through the practice of Yoga, chanting and meditation in their various forms (the “Eastern Gate”). Third, there are those who have actively been pursuing the “Western forms” of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam whether in their more conventional or their mystical forms (the “Western Gate”). Fourth, there are those who have not engaged actively in any spiritual pursuit as a defining element of their adult life although quite possibly having engaged in substantial personal growth work such as psychotherapy, self-inquiry, and the like (the “Personal Gate”).

THE MEANS AND NATURE OF ENTERING THE DZOGCHEN MANDALA

Entry to the Mandala can result in a “transient” status, as in “just checking it out,” up to and including “permanent entry” as a result of finding “my teacher/my path,” – some combination of intention and result is a factor. Intention defines what one is seeking upon entry, but the experience one has within the Mandala in relation to those intentions will determine the result for each individual.

The vast majority of individuals limit their entry into the Mandala; in fact they remain invisible to others in the Mandala. Those who remain invisible are the visitors to the Dzogchen Center’s websites, the readers of the Awakening Trilogy and related publication efforts, the attendees at readings, lectures, and conferences, and others who engage in similar anonymous entries. Some individuals become “visible” but remain largely anonymous through attendance at the retreats sponsored by the Dzogchen Center and others, which are led by Lama Surya Das and his associate teachers. (Note: this approach involves using the Dzogchen Intensive Retreats as “introductory retreats” congruent with one’s level of practice and the gate by which one enters.) These entry mechanisms constitute the “means” of entry.

So for individuals engaged with the Mandala at its first level, “entering” is generally confined to gathering information and experience in a manner that requires no major commitment or declaration – these individuals are in a “transient” state as they come and go without notice. The vast majority of these “seekers” never become visible and when they do, they still tend to move on rather quickly. Some number of them, however, will remain in this largely invisible state for some time as they routinely engage the Mandala at some level without making an explicit commitment to move beyond this early stage of engagement. Depending on the individual circumstance, Seekers will gain some insight and experience of the most fundamental teachings and practices of Buddhism including the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path and similar teachings as well as well as some awareness of the necessity for and basic techniques of meditation.

This is the nature of entry and these are the “seekers.” A relatively small number of Seekers will move to a higher level of engagement, and thus a higher level of the Mandala, but all must enter here. Entry to the Mandala then consists of the four entry gates, the means and nature of entry, the individual paths of those who enter, the fundamental teachings and the basic techniques of meditation that are made available to the Seeker.

ILLUSTRATION ONE: THE GATES AND THE NATURE OF ENTRY TO THE MANDALA

Note: The magic of skillful means (Upaya) is that the Dharma teachings often appear to be the same when considered by subject matter or topic, but such teachings provide layers of information to the practitioner at a level appropriate to their interests and skills so that the same “topic” actually contains what in essence are many different teachings. Therefore, in discussing the Mandala it should be noted that the same teachings and practices are essentially presented at all of its levels. Therefore, they are discussed herein more at the point of their initial emphasis rather than in terms of their actual introduction since they are all introduced at the point of earliest opportunity. For example, Lama Surya Das teaches Dzogchen at retreats for those just stepping on to the path and continues to offer basic meditation instruction at all retreats, teaching at different levels at the same time.

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