{"id":12606,"date":"2000-10-10T19:11:57","date_gmt":"2000-10-10T17:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/altro\/?p=12606"},"modified":"2025-10-10T19:18:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T17:18:16","slug":"namkhai-norbu-total-integration-of-subject-and-object","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/altro\/?p=12606","title":{"rendered":"Namkhai Norbu: Total Integration of Subject and Object"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NAMKAI NORBU: As a result of my coming to live in the West I have travelled all over the world in response to requests that I teach Dzogchen<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Namkhai Norbu: Total Integration of Subject and Object <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo this is how the signs of the Path may develop for a practitioner, though they may not arise in any particular order. But now we come to a sixth capacity, a capacity of the Fruit, which is called Trodral, meaning `beyond concept’, or `like the sky’. This involves the complete re-integration of subject and object, and is a particular Dzogchen method of attaining Total Realization in one lifetime, through the mastery of one’s energy and the way that it manifests. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

All the methods of the various paths, those of the sutras and all the levels of tantra, as well as those of Dzogchen, lead to Total Realization-the Fruit. This is the surpassing of conditioned existence in the manifestation of the primordial state, which endows the individual with a perfect understanding of the functioning of reality and all its phenomena, and a perfect Wisdom with manifold capacities’. But the sutras explain that, by applying their particular methods, it will take several kalpa, or aeons to attain realization.’ And although the methods of the lower tantras are quicker, it will still require a very long time to accomplish the goal through them. The higher tantras and Dzogchen, on the other hand, both enable one to reach total realization in a single lifetime. The Visions of Longde and of the practice of Thodgal-the final and most secret teaching of Dzogchen-allow the practitioner to rapidly undo the knots of conditioned existence and attain the most absolute and total type of realization, which culminates in the complete dissolution of the physical body in the essence of its elements, which is light. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Internalying and externaly <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To accomplish this realization, Semnyid, which means the `nature of the mind’, also called the internal ying, is integrated with Chodnyid, which means the `condition of existence’, also called the `external ying’. That they are both called ying (meaning `space’; dhatu in Sanskrit) shows that from the beginning they are of the same nature. It’s not that existence is cancelled out in some way. The Dzogchen teachings are based on the knowledge that the essential nature of the microcosm – the individual-and that of the macrocosm-the universe-are the same and, therefore, when one fully discovers and manifests one’s own nature, one is discovering and manifesting the nature of the universe. The existence of duality is nothing but an illusion, and when this illusion is undone the primordial inseparability of the individual and the universe is fully discovered and the functions of that inseparability manifest; that is to say, through the integration of the internal and the external ying, the Body of Light manifests. If the other five Ngonshes are signs of development on the Path, this is the ultimate expression of the Fruit. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Body of Light <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Jalu (in Tibetan), or Body of Light, realized through the practice of Dzogchen is different from the Gyulu, or Illusory Body, realized through the practices of the Higher Tantras. The Gyulu is dependent on the subtle prana of the individual, and thus, since prana is always considered to be of the relative dimension in Dzogchen, this Gyula is not considered to be Total Realization. The Jalii, or Body of Light, itself, is a way of manifesting realization that is particular to the masters who have carried the practice of the Longde or of the Mennagde to their ultimate level, and with only very short breaks in the lineage, it has continued to be manifested right up to the present day. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The master of my master Changchub Dorje achieved this level of realization. Changchub Dorje was present at the time, so I know it is not a fable. My master told me how his master Nyagla Padma Duddul called all his disciples together-both those who were farther away and those who were close at hand-and told them he wanted to transmit some teachings that he had until then not given them in full. So he transmitted these teachings, and then they practiced a Gana Puja together for more than a week. Gana Puja is an excellent way of eliminating disturbances between master and disciple and between disciple and disciple. Then, at the end of that week, Nyagla Padma Duddul announced to them that it was time for him to die, and that he intended to do so on a certain mountain nearby. His disciples implored him not to die, but he said that it was time, and that there was nothing to be done about it. So they all accompanied him up the mountain, to a place where he set up a little tent. Then he had his disciples sew the tent up completely, sealing him inside it, and he asked to be left in peace for seven days. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The disciples went down the mountain, and waited, camped at the foot of it for seven days, during which time it rained a great deal and there were many rainbows. Then they went back up and opened the tent, which was sewn up just as they had left it. All that they found inside was the master’s clothes, his hair, and his fingernails and toenails. His clothes were the clothes of a lay person, and they remained there in a heap where he had been sitting, with the belt still wrapped around the middle. He had left them just like a snake sheds a skin. My master was present, and told me this story, so I know that it is true and that such realization is possible. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I know many other such stories, but there is a particularly interesting one that my uncle Togden told me. In 1952, in the area of Tibet that I come from there lived an old man who, when he was young, had been a kind of servant or assistant to a Dzogchen master for a few years, and who had thus naturally heard many teachings. But for the rest of his life he had just lived very simply, cutting mantras into stones for a living. He lived in this way for many years, and no one took much notice of him, or thought he was a practitioner. But then one day he announced that he was going to die in seven days’ time, and sent a message to his son, who was a monk, saying that he wanted to leave all his possessions as an offering to the monastery where his son lived. The monastery spread the news far and wide that this man had said that he wanted to be left closed up for seven days to die, and since everyone understood the significance of this, many people came and the whole thing became a public event. There were representatives of all the various Buddhist schools, from the great monasteries and even members of the Chinese administration, who at that time were all military personnel. Thus, when they opened the room inside which the man had been locked for seven days, there were many people present. And what they saw was that the man had left no body. Only his hair and nails, the impurities of the body, were left. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

My uncle, the yogi, came to see me at my father’s house just after he had witnessed this event, and his eyes were full of tears as he told me about it. He said it was a terrible tragedy that none of us had known enough to recognize that this seemingly ordinary person, living so close to us, had actually been a very great practitioner, from whom we could have received teaching. But this is how it is with practitioners of Dzogchen. There is nothing to be seen on the outside. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When I visited Nepal in the spring of 1984 to give teachings and to practice at Tolu Gompa, a mountain monastery close to the Tibetan border, near Mount Everest, where Padmasambhava practiced, and at the cave of Maratika where Padmasambhava and his consort Mandarava realized the practice of long life, I had news of what became of my uncle Togden. This news came from a Tibetan who had just arrived in Kathmandu from Tibet, where he had been a government official in the region where Togden lived. It seems that my uncle continued to live in his isolated cave in retreat for many years after I left Tibet, but eventually, like many other similar yogis, he was made to come out of retreat in the period of the Cultural Revolution, when it was decreed that such persons were exploiters of the workers because they were provided with food even though they themselves didn’t do any work. My uncle was more fortunate than many others and was only placed under house arrest, rather than having to face a public trial and possible serious punishment. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The man I met in Kathmandu had, among many other responsibilities, been responsible for the continuing custody of Togden, whom he allowed to live in a small, wooden house built on the flat roof of an ordinary town house in the provincial capital, a house which belonged to a Tibetan family who provided for my uncle’s needs, so that he was able to continue his retreat as before. Later, because this official vouched for him, my uncle was allowed to go and live in the country under less strict supervision. There he was allocated an isolated house which the official regularly visited to keep an eye on him. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But, one day, when the official arrived there, he found the house closed up. When he managed to get in to it, he found Togden’s body on his meditation couch; but the body had shrunk to the size of that of a small child. The official was very worried: how was he to explain such a thing to his Chinese superiors. He was afraid they would probably believe that he was aiding Togden’s escape in some way, and so he went at once to inform them of what had happened. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But when he returned to the isolated house a few days later with all the high-ranking officers of the regional government, Togden’s body had disappeared completely. Only the hair and the fingernails were left. The official’s Chinese superiors were completely bewildered and anxiously asked for an explanation, but the Tibetan official could only say that he had heard that ancient texts spoke about yogis realizing what was called a `Body of Light’, although he had never expected to see such a thing himself. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This event made such an impression on him that he developed a strong interest in spiritual matters, and as soon as he could, managed to escape on foot into Nepal where he felt he would be free to receive teachings and practice, and where I met him. I was deeply moved to hear of my uncle’s realization. Knowing how serious a problem he had had with various mental disturbances in his early life, I did not expect him to achieve so much in one lifetime. His example shows what is possible for every individual. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

To use the metaphor of the mirror once again, the realization of the Body of Light means that one is no longer in the condition of a person who is reflected in a mirror and who dualistically sees his or her own reflection in it, but one has become established in the essential condition of the mirror so that one’s energy as a whole now manifests in the same way that the energy of a mirror does. Knowing how one’s own energy manifests as Dang, Rolpa, and Tsal, one is able to integrate one’s energy completely right through to the level of actual material existence. This is accomplished either through the visions of the Longde that arise as a result of the practices of the four Da, or through the practice of the Four Lights that bring about the arising of the Four Visions of Thodgal, which develop in very much the same way as the visions of the Longde develop. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The first of these Four Visions of Thodgal is called the `Vision of Dharmata’ (or `nature of reality’), and the second vision is the further development of the first. The third is the maturation of it, and the fourth is the consummation of existence. If, while alive, one has entered the third level of these visions, and to say one has `entered’ means that there are certain signs that this is so, then, when one dies, one’s body slowly disappears into light. Instead of decomposing into its constituent elements in the usual way, it dissolves into the essence of its elements, which is light. The process may take longer than seven days to happen. All that remains of the physical body are the hair and fingernails, which are considered to be its impurities. The rest of the body has dissolved into the essence of its elements. This is the realization that garab Dorje, and, more recently, many other masters, a few of whom I have mentioned as examples, achieved. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Way of Light ~ The Great Transfer <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A practitioner who manifests this realization cannot really be said to have `died’, at all, in the ordinary sense of the word because he or she still remains spontaneously active as a principle of being in a Body of Light. The spontaneous activity of such an individual will be directed for the benefit of others, and he or she is actually visible to someone in a physical body who has sufficient clarity. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But a practitioner who perfects and completes the fourth level of the Thodgal visions does not manifest death at all, but while still living gradually becomes invisible to those who have normal karmic vision. This level of realization is called the `Great Transfer’, and this is the realization that Padmasambhava and Vimalamitra manifested. Essentially, the realizations of the Great Transfer and the Body of Light are one and the same; the only difference is that those who attain the Great Transfer do not have to go through death in the clinical sense in order to move from manifestation in the material plane to manifestation in the plane of the essence of elements. These two modes of realization are particular to the practice of Dzogchen <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Total Realization <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ordinary beings are reborn without choice, conditioned by their karma into taking a body according to the causes they have accumulated over countless past lives. A totally realized being, on the other hand, is free from the cycle of conditioned cause and effect. But such a being may manifest a body through which others can have the possibility of being helped. The Body of Light, or the Light Body of a being who has realized the Great Transfer, are both phenomena which can be actively maintained so that those having the visionary clarity necessary for perceiving them can communicate with the fully realized individuals whose bodies find themselves in a dimension of pure light. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But to help those who lack such capacity, a totally realized being may manifest in an actual physical body in the way that, for example, garab Dorje and the Buddha did. All these kinds of bodies are of the Nirmanakaya; kaya in Sanskrit, means `body’, or `dimension’, and nirmana means manifestation. So a totally realized individual may choose to manifest a Body of Light, or voluntarily take a rebirth in an ordinary physical body in the gross material dimension, but is not conditioned by such a body, or by the actions carried out in it. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Sambhogakaya, or `Body of Wealth’, is the dimension of the essence of the elements that make up the gross material world, a subtle dimension of light appearing in a wealth of forms which can only be perceived through the development of clarity of awareness and visionary capacity. A totally realized being may manifest a Sambhogakaya form, but in such a form is not active as is a being who manifests in a Body of Light. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Just as the rays of the sun are a manifestation of its inherent qualities, so too the wisdom of a totally realized individual is what that individual is. Each Sambhogakaya form is a personification of a principle of pure wisdom. But just as the sun does not intend to send its rays to any particular place, and it depends on the characteristics of the place as to whether it will receive the rays, it is the practitioner who must be active to perceive the dimension of the Sambhogakaya and gain access to the wisdom personified by a particular Sambhogakaya form, opening that dimension in him or herself. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Although the capacity to manifest either Sambhogakaya or Nirmanakaya forms is a facet of Total Realization, such realization means that one has gone beyond all limits and all forms. One has made manifest that state which always is, and was one’s true condition from the beginning, although, in samsara, it has been hidden from deluded mind by the experience of the illusion of dualism. Total realization means that one has realized one’s identity with the Dharmakaya, the `Body of Truth’, or `Dimension of Reality as it is’. It is the omnipresent void matrix, the Zhi, or Base of every individual that manifests in the infinitely interpenetrating dance of the energies of the universe as the Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya forms of a realized individual; or as the limited cage of karmic vision-the body, voice, and mind-of a being trapped in dualism who mistakes his or her own energy for a seemingly separate external world. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The three bodies: Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya, Dharmakaya <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Total Realization means the definitive end of illusion, the end of suffering, the cessation of the vicious cycle of conditioned rebirths; it is the dawning of complete freedom, perfect wisdom, supreme unending bliss. In Total Realization death is overthrown, all duality transcended, and the capacity to spontaneously benefit all beings is perfectly manifested in a multiplicity of modes. Of all the possible rebirths in any of the Six Realms, birth in a human body is the most favorable for working towards Total Realization; and to be truly human, to fulfil truly one’s humanity, such realization must be one’s goal. Otherwise, one lives one’s life, as the Buddha pointed out, like a preoccupied child playing with toys in a house that is burning to the ground. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For an ordinary human being death is real, and may come at any time, without warning. To waste one’s precious human rebirth in trivial concerns is a tragedy. Only practice leads to one’s own realization, and only through one’s own realization can one ultimately help others, manifesting the capacities to be able to guide them to attain that same state themselves; any material assistance one can offer can only ever be provisional. To be able to help others one must therefore begin by helping oneself, however contradictory that may sound. Just as in counting to a million one must begin counting at the number one, so to benefit society, one must begin by working on oneself. Each individual must truly take responsibility for him or herself, and this can only be done by working to increase one’s awareness, to become more fully conscious, more the master of oneself. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Change on a small scale can bring about change on a wider scale; the influence of one being who is progressing towards realization can be powerful both at the level of subtle spiritual influence and in the concrete terms of influencing society. My own master Changchub Dorje, for example, was not a person who was considered to be a master because he had been officially recognized as a reincarnation. He was an ordinary person who had followed several great Dzogchen masters, and who had put what they had taught him into practice. But through the power of his practice he manifested great clarity, and as a result of his qualities he came to be regarded as a master, and disciples then began to come to find him. He didn’t live in a monastery, but in an ordinary house, as I have already remarked in some of the stories I have told about him, and his disciples, who included both monks and lay people, as they arrived, gradually built more houses as the years went by, until a village of practitioners had grown up around him. The kind of village that developed is known as a gar, a term which has the sense of being the temporary or seasonal residence of nomads who may move on at any time-perhaps, for example, when all the grass in an area has been grazed. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With the passing of time, all kinds of people, young and old, rich and poor, lay and ordained, came to live together in Changchub Dorje’s gar. There was a daily provision of free soup and simple fare for those who had no resources of their own, and this was paid for by those who had more than sufficient for their needs. Inspired by the master everyone offered what contributions they could to the needs of the whole community. Those practitioners who lacked private means were thus enabled to live, receive teachings, and practice at the gar; but everyone who lived there worked every day participating in the hard physical labor of cultivating the fields, as well as collecting herbs and preparing medicines. In this way, as the influence of the master spread through this group of individuals drawn from all walks of life and all social strata, and as each individual’s awareness developed, a kind of cooperative that was unknown at that time in Tibet spontaneously arose. The master never decreed that this was the way things should be; he encouraged the development of the awareness of his disciples, and out of their awareness this response to their practical situation and everyday needs evolved. The pattern of the gar was quite different from the feudal system that still generally prevailed in Tibet. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

When Changchub Dorje arrived in the region where his gar gradually grew up around him, he was already an old man. People would ask him how old he was, and he would always reply that he was seventy. He was still saying that he was seventy when I met him in 1955-sixty years after his arrival in that region. I myself, out of curiosity, asked him several times how old he was, and he always told me that he was seventy. But the people of the area reckoned that he must at that time have been at least one hundred and thirty years old. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We walk, we work, we eat, and we sleep, and all of these activities must be permeated with our practice so that none of our time is wasted in our progress towards realization. Although Changchub Dorje was continually active for the benefit of others, and worked every day at his practice of medicine, his own progress towards realization was in no way impaired. Despite his ordinary lifestyle he was a thoroughly extraordinary man. He died at a remarkably old age, having brought his life’s work to conclusion, leaving an invaluable legacy both in the teachings he gave that were written down and in the hearts and minds of his students. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As a result of my coming to live in the West I have travelled all over the world in response to requests that I teach Dzogchen, and wherever I go it is always my hope that the inspiration of the life and teachings of Changchub Dorje will be a cause of awakening for all those who hear of them. May it be auspicious! <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This concludes the presentation here of the Base, the Path, and the Fruit of the Dzogchen teachings. While words and intellectual concepts can only ever be signposts pointing to the true nature of reality, which is quite beyond them, nevertheless the complex interlinked conceptual structure of the teachings is in itself brilliant and beautiful, like a many-faceted crystal whose every facet flawlessly reflects and refers to every other. But please remember that the only way to look into the heart of that crystal is to look into oneself. Dzogchen is not just something to be studied; the Way of Light is there to be travelled. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As a bee seeks nectar from all kinds of flowers, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

seek teachings everywhere. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Like a deer that finds a quiet place to graze, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

seek seclusion to digest all you have gathered. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Like a lion, live completely free of all fear. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

And, finally, like a madman, beyond all limits, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

go wherever you please.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

– A Tantra of Dzogchen\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

~ from The Crystal and the Way of Light: Sutra, Tantra, and Dzogchen (Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“In The Crystal and the Way of Light , Chogyal Namkhai Norbu examines the spiritual path from the viewpoint of Dzogchen. He discusses the base path and fruit of Dzogchen practice, and describes his education and how he met his principal master who showed him the real meaning of direct introduction to Dzogchen. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

By interweaving his life story with the teachings, he both sets Dzogchen in its traditional context and reveals its powerful contemporary relevance. The book is richly illustrated with photos of Buddhist masters, meditational deities, and Dzogchen symbols.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Namkhai Norbu: Total Integration of Subject and Object \u201cSo this is how the signs of the Path may develop for a practitioner, though they may not arise in any particular order. But now we come to a sixth capacity, a capacity of the Fruit, which is called Trodral, meaning `beyond concept’, or `like the sky’. Continue reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[124],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/altro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12606"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/altro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/altro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/altro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/altro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12606"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/altro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12609,"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/altro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12606\/revisions\/12609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/altro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/altro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sangye.it\/altro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}