Into the sphere of Vajrayana

If you push any skill far enough‚ it takes you into the sphere of Vajrayana. It has to – because although Vajrayana is a religion‚ it’s also natural.

p268, Warp and Weft of Wonderment, Ngakma Mé-tsal, Aro Books Worldwide, 2024, ISBN 9781898185680

Attraction to Vajrayana

The most receptive audience for Vajrayana should be Artists – but unfortunately Artists don't often seem attracted to Vajrayana because they see it as ‘religion’ and ‘religion’ tends to have a reputation for repression of individuality.  Whilst this tends to be true for institutionalised religion – it bears no similarity to essential Vajrayana.

p219, Tracts of the Sun : An Earth Orbit of Vajrayana Expressions.  Ngakpa Chögyam and Khandro Déchen, Aro Books, 2022, ISBN 978-1-898185-28-4

Discovering the nature of reality

“ ... I made the distinction between Truth and reality.  I don’t see Buddhism as owning ‘truth’ – because Buddhism isn't a religion of ‘truth’.  It’s a religion of ‘method’ – and, its methods are ways of discovering the nature of reality.”

p177, Goodbye Forever Vol. II, Ngakpa Chögyam, Aro Books Worldwide, 2021, ISBN 978-1-898185-60-4

Something bigger than 'me and my process'

   Those who attempt to practise Dzogchen out of context with the religious tradition that gave rise to it, often find themselves lacking the impetus to maintain regular practice.

Lacking the background of a religious context, people often find that the basic enthusiasm for the discipline of meditation dissipates.  Certainly, without the richness and support of a religious tradition, it proves difficult to persevere through times when practice seems ‘unrewarding’.  From our experience, one has to belong somewhere.  One has to be part of something which is sufficiently larger than oneself.  To find support in a higher, deeper, broader context, one requires a context which goes beyond the isolated island of ‘me and my process’.  

p6, Shock Amazement  : The four naljors and four ting-ngé’dzin from the Dzogchen series of the nature of Mind.
Khandro Déchen and Ngakpa Chögyam,  Aro Books Worldwide, 2018, ISBN 978-1-898185-45-1

Truth & Method

"Buddhism is not a religion of truth-it is a religion of method. Its teachings are not overly concerned with expressing truth-but with methods of practice. In a sense, one could actually say that there is only one 'truth' in Buddhism, that form and emptiness are nondual."

p.3, Illusory Advice, Ngakma Nor'dzin and Ngakpa 'ö-Dzin