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Lhündrub Tögal
Lhündrub Tögal is a Dzogchen term and practice meaning "leaping over" or
"direct crossing". The Menngagde or 'Instruction Class' of Dzogchen
teachings are, for instruction, divided into two indivisible aspects: Kadag
Trekchö and Tögal (thod rgal). The practise of Trekcho (belonging to the
Mahamudra system) is the basis for the practise of Tögal.
Tögal is the practise of "the six lamps" which constitute the preliminaries
and the main practice.
The preliminaries constitute the practise of separating samsara and nirvana,
"djungne-drosom".
The term 'lamp' connotes something that dispels darkness and refers to the
illuminating quality of ones basic nature. This lamp has six aspects:
1) the abiding lamp of the ground
2) the citta flesh lamp
3) the smooth white channel lamp
4) the distant lasso water lamp
5) the pure lamp of the expanse
6) the bardo lamp of time
Theoretical Basis
While the fundamentals of Tögal in both theory and practice are esoteric and
barely accessible outside of the oral traditions of Tibetan Buddhism --
there being very little written about it, except in the context of
translated practical manuals, e.g., by translator Erik Schmidt et. al. -- it
can, at least in theory, be understood through the formal analogies that are
easily drawn between Tögal and various theories of contemporary science and
(to a lesser extent) Western philosophy. These lines of analogy are drawn
throughout the works of H.V. Guenther, especially his From Reductionism to
Creativity and Matrix of Mystery. Of special interest for further discussion
along these lines would be superstring theory -- which describes
mathematically what is (strictly speaking) neither thinkable (along Kantian
lines) nor perceptible by the ordinary senses. Strictly speaking, what is
experienced in Tögal is neither thinkable (along Kantian lines) nor
perceptible (by ordinary human perception) -- and yet it is. The points for
comparison go much deeper than this, of course. In brief, what future
discussion of this topic might explore most fruitfully is the cosmological
dimension of the Dzogchen teaching -- which goes much further than standard
Buddhist or Hindu cosmology -- and which, in many respects, mirrors the
esoteric themes of the cutting-edge of physics and cosmology (though
admittedly, not in ways that the majority of cutting-edge physicists would
find meaningful or even sane).
References
* Schmidt, Marcia Binder (Ed.) (2002). The Dzogchen Primer: Embracing The
Spiritual Path According To The Great Perfection. London, Great Britain:
Shambhala Publications, Inc. ISBN 1-57062-829-7 (alk. paper)
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