09-26-2010, 12:00 AM
Dzogchenpa samaya: a practiceless practice of abiding or contemplation
Chögyal Namkhai Norbu relates that once someone asked the famous Dzogchen Master, Yungtön Dorje Pel, what his practice consisted of, and he replied with the negative “mepa” or “there isn’t.” Then his startled questioner asked again, “Then you don’t meditate?,” to which the Master replied, “And when am I ever distracted?” This is the essence of samaya in Dzogchen teaching: not to meditate or to practice something with the mind and yet never to be distracted, for one remains uninterruptedly in the self-perfection of the single state of rigpa or Truth.
I post this here for discussion's sake. I read this on Wiki under Dzogchen. Now it may appear that this is exactly what Zen does as well, much akin to chopping firewood and fetching water. That's why I think a discussion on how its not the same would be good.
Chögyal Namkhai Norbu relates that once someone asked the famous Dzogchen Master, Yungtön Dorje Pel, what his practice consisted of, and he replied with the negative “mepa” or “there isn’t.” Then his startled questioner asked again, “Then you don’t meditate?,” to which the Master replied, “And when am I ever distracted?” This is the essence of samaya in Dzogchen teaching: not to meditate or to practice something with the mind and yet never to be distracted, for one remains uninterruptedly in the self-perfection of the single state of rigpa or Truth.
I post this here for discussion's sake. I read this on Wiki under Dzogchen. Now it may appear that this is exactly what Zen does as well, much akin to chopping firewood and fetching water. That's why I think a discussion on how its not the same would be good.