Dzogchen (, "Great Perfection" or "Great Completion"), also known as atiyoga (utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. The primordial ground (gzhi, "basis") is said to have the qualities of purity (i.e. emptiness), spontaneity (lhun grub, associated with luminous clarity) and compassion (thugs rje). The goal of Dzogchen is knowledge of this basis, this knowledge is called rigpa (Skt. vidyā). There are numerous spiritual practices taught in the various Dzogchen systems for recognizing rigpa.
Dzogchen developed in the Tibetan Empire period and the Era of Fragmentation (9th-11th centuries) and continues to be practiced today both in Tibet and around the world. It is a central teaching of the Yundrung Bon tradition as well as in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. In these traditions, Dzogchen is the highest and most definitive path of the nine vehicles to liberation. Dzogchen is also practiced (to a lesser extent) in other Tibetan Buddhist schools, such as the Kagyu, Sakya and the Gelug schools.
Traditional histories Nyingma tradition
According to the traditional Nyingma account of the origin of Dzogchen, Dzogchen ultimately originates with the awakened mind of the first Buddha Samantabhadra, the first Buddha to reach awakening and simultaneously a symbol for our own awakened nature, the Dharmakāya. This event happened countless eons ago, before our own universe formed. The millions of manifestations of Samantabhadra teach throughout trillions of world systems, including in ours.
Samantabhadra manifests as the Sambhoghakaya Buddha (called Vajrasattva, or sometimes Vairocana Jñanasaghara) in the Sambhoghakaya Buddhafield of Ghanavyūhakaniṣṭha, which is the supreme buddhafield out of which all Buddhas and buddhafields emanate and where Vairocana teaches Dzogchen to bodhisattvas. Traditional Dzogchen sources add that Dzogchen is taught by the nirmanakayas, i.e. the emanations of the Sambhoghakaya Buddha. They mention that Dzogchen is taught in thirteen world systems as well as on our own world system.
Twelve Buddhas The teaching of Dzogchen in our universe is attributed to 12 nirmāṇakāya buddhas (emanations of Vajradhara) which took various forms in different realms. Each appeared at specific times and to specific gatherings of beings and revealed particular Dzogchen teachings to them. These 12 Dzogchen Buddhas are as follows:
Khyeu Nangwa Dampa (Acintyaprabhasa, Wyl. ston pa khye'u snang ba dam pa, "Supreme Child Inconceivable Vision"). This Buddha appeared as a young child during a time when the lifespan of beings was incalculable and beings had bodies of light. He taught the root tantra of the seventeen tantras, the sGra thal ‘gyur tantra. Khyeu Ö Mitrukpa (Aksobhyaprabha, Wyl. ston pa khye'u 'od mi 'khrugs pa, "Child Imperturbable Light"), appeared at the time when the lifespan of beings was ten million years and taught Dzogchen to dakinis Jikpa Kyob (Wyl. ston pa 'jigs pa skyob, "Mind that Protects from Fear") appeared during the time that the lifespan of beings was one hundred thousand years and taught several tantras to bodhisattvas Shyönnu Rolpa Nampar Tsewa (Wyl. ston pa gzhon nu rol pa rnam par brtse ba, "Young Manifestation of Compassion"), appeared during the time that the lifespan of beings was eighty thousand years. He taught eleven tantras to a retinue of yaksas. Dorje Chang (Wyl. ston pa rdo rje 'chang, "Vajra Holder") also known as "Vajradhara, the Six", appeared as a bodhisattva in the realm of the Thirty-Three Gods, during the time that the lifespan of beings was seventy thousand years. He taught Dzogchen to the next seven Buddhas. Shyönnu Pawo Tobden (Kumaravirabalin, Wyl. ston pa gzhon nu dpa' bo, "Young Powerful Hero"), appeared when the average life span had diminished to sixty thousand years. He was a reincarnation of Dorje Chang and was born from a yaksa and a dakini in the Cemetery of the Secret Manifestation. He appeared as a dwarf with three faces and six hands. He taught the Rig pa rang shar tantra and other tantras to seven bodhisattvas and to countless, who dakinis, devas and nagas. Drangsong Tröpé Gyalpo (Wyl. ston pa drang srong khros pa'i rgyal po, "Wise Wrathful King"), during the time of a ten thousand year average lifespan, this Buddha was born in the realm of the raksas and taught Dzogchen to ten million raksasas. Ser Ö Dampa (Survarnaprabhasa, Wyl. ston pa gser 'od dam pa, "Supreme Golden Light"), during the time of a five thousand year average lifespan, this Buddha was born on Vulture Peak. He taught innumerable sravakas. Tsewé Rolpé Lodrö (Wyl. ston pa brtse bas rol pa'i blo gros, "Intelligence Manifestation of Compassion") during the time of a one thousand year average lifespan, this Buddha was born in northern Mongolia. He taught the All-creating King (Kun byed rgyal po) and Total Space (Nam mkha’ che) to countless bodhisattvas. Ösung Drepo (Kasyapa the Elder, Wyl. ston pa 'od srung bgres po) during the time of a five hundred year average lifespan, this Buddha was born in the human realm. Ngöndzok Gyalpo (Wyl. ston pa mngon rdzogs rgyal po, "Perfected King"), during the time of a three hundred year average lifespan, this Buddha was born in Vajrasana (Bodhgaya). Shakyamuni Buddha (Wyl. ston pa shAkya thub pa), the Buddha of our current era.
Garab Dorje's lineage in India and Tibet
According to the Nyingma tradition, the first human lineage holder of the Dzogchen teachings was Garab Dorje (Skt. Prahevajra or Vajraprahe). The Nyingma tradition considers Garab Dorje to have been an awakened being who received teachings from Vajrapani in the deva realms and then willingly incarnated on earth to teach Dzogchen.
According to Dudjom Rinpoche, Garab Dorje was a great Buddhist adept from Oddiyana who taught the Dzogchen teaching to the dakinis. Oddiyana may have been located in Pakistan's Swat Valley region. Given that Garab Dorje is said to have taught Mañjuśrīmitra, who was a scholar at Nalanda University, Garab Dorje's date cannot be much earlier than the 4th or 5th centuries CE. Garab Dorje taught Dzogchen to numerous disciples, some of which are discussed in the Dzogchen literature, including: King Dhahenatalo, his son Prince Thuwo Rajahati, Princess Barani, and Lui Gvalpo Gawo.
Garab Dorje also taught Dzogchen to the master Mañjuśrīmitra, who is said to have divided the Dzogchen doctrine into three series (Mind, Space and Esoteric Instruction; sem-de, long-de, and men-ngak-de). Mañjuśrīmitra's main students were Buddhajñanapada and Śrī Siṃha (according to Dudjom, it is also possible that they were the same person).
Śrī Siṃha was an important figure in the transmission of Dzogchen to Tibet. Śrī Siṃha's students were Jñanasutra, Vimalamitra, Vairotsana and Padmasambhava. The three series of Dzogchen teachings were brought to Tibet by the students of Śrī Siṃha in the late 8th and early 9th centuries. According to the Nyingma tradition, these teachings were concealed or hidden away as termas ("treasure texts" meant for future times) by figures like Padmasambhava, his consort Yeshe Tsogyel and Vimalamitra, during the 9th century, when the Tibetan empire disintegrated. These figures also considered to have emanated in later eras as various Dzogchen teachers and tertons (treasure revealers). For example, Rigdzin Kumārāja (1266-1343) is considered to be an emanation of Vimalamitra.
From the 10th century forward, innovations in the Nyingma tradition were largely introduced historically as revelations of these concealed scriptures, known as terma.
Bon tradition According to the Bön Tradition, Dzogchen originated with the founder of Bön, the Buddha Tonpa Shenrab Miwoche, who lived 18,000 years ago, ruling the kingdom of Tazik, which supposedly lay west of Tibet. Tonpa Shenrab transmitted these teachings to the region of Zhang-zhung, the far western part of the Tibetan cultural world.
History in the Nyingma school
Origins (7th–10th century) The terms "Atiyoga" (as a higher practice than Tantra) and "Dzogchen" do appear in 8th and 9th century Indian tantric texts (such as the Guhyagarbha Tantra), though they do not refer to a separate vehicle (yana) in these texts.
According to David Germano, there is no independent attestation of the existence of any separate traditions or lineages under the name of "Dzogchen" or "Atiyoga" outside of Tibet. Dzogchen proper may therefore be a unique Tibetan Buddhist teaching, drawing on multiple influences, including both native Tibetan non-Buddhist beliefs and Chinese and Indian Buddhist teachings. However, Germano also notes that "there is no question" that the characteristic apophatic language found in Dzogchen can also be found in some Indian tantras.
In Tibetan Sky-Gazing Meditation and the Pre-History of Great Perfection Buddhism, Flavio Geisshuesler notes that many of the key motifs pervading this religious tradition are actually invoking a pre-Buddhist heritage rather than Mahāyoga teachings of Indian Buddhist origins. He provides a long list of idiosyncratic motifs of the Great Perfection tradition, which centers primarily on the prioritization the sky as a source of enlightened energy typical of sky gazing meditation. Based on a close reading of the Seventeen Tantras, he shows that this energy is described as sheep that are chained together, and the yogi interacts with them by imitating their behavior and attempting to capture them in fence-like structures. The luminous pathways inside the meditator's body are described as animalistic vitality, such as deer-hearts, silk-channels, buffalo-horns, or far-reaching lassos. The accompanying techniques involve the use of contemplative paraphernalia associated with such animals and their most characteristic traits, like silk. The culmination of the practice is when the practitioner's body turns into a rainbow body, dissolving into the sky by transforming into light. The author argues that these traits point to the Great Perfection's true identity as a tradition centered on the "quest for vitality" that is not suffused by a Buddhist or Indian ethos of freedom and liberation, but rather by indigenous Tibetan priorities.
Francis V. Tiso notes that in the 7th century there were "anthologies of sutra quotations in circulation suggestive of the dzogchen approach." During the reign of the Tibetan King Trisong Detsen (742-797) various Indian teachers which are associated with Dzogchen according to traditional Tibetan accounts (such as Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra and Vairotsana). However, from a strictly historical perspective, little is known about Dzogchen in the time of the Tibetan Empire (7th-9th centuries).
The earliest sources on Dzogchen are from the Dunhuang caves and include texts such as The Cuckoo of Awareness (Rig pa'i khu byug), The Small Hidden Grain (gSangs rgyas sbas pa) attributed to Buddhagupta, Questions and Answers of Vajrasattva and Gold Refined from Ore (rdo la gser zhun).
There are two main interpretations of the relationship between Dzogchen and Tantric Practices among modern academics (and thus of how Dzogchen originated as an independent tradition):
that early Dzogchen represented a distinct tradition separate from tantric Mahāyoga (Germano) that early Dzogchen was not a separate tradition and always developed within tantric Mahāyoga (van Schaik)
Distinct movement The idea that Dzogchen was a distinct movement was proposed by Samten Karmay in his study The Great Perfection. Samten proposed that Dzogchen was a "new philosophy" based on the doctrines of "primal spontaneity" (ye nas lhun gyis grub pa) and "primeval purity" (kadag) that developed between the 9th and 10th centuries. He notes that Chan Buddhism played a part in the development of early Dzogchen literature. He also explains how early Dzogchen had a close connection to tantric Mahāyoga practices and doctrines, but saw itself as outside of it.