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Fearless Simplicity: The Dzogchen Way of Living Freely in a Complex World
Fearless Simplicity is about training in the awakened state of mind, the atmosphere within which all difficulties naturally dissolve. Here, the gifted Tibetan meditation master and author of Carefree Dignity, Drubwang Tsoknyi Rinpoche, in his exceptional and skillful teaching style, guides us through the methods to be at ease with our surroundings and ourselves. He shows us how to de¬velop confidence and be in harmony with every situation as the basis for true compassion and intelligence.
As confidence grows stronger, you find yourself turning into a real warrior — a compassionate bodhisattva warrior. The true bodhi¬sattva spirit grows out of this personal sense of freedom. With this sense of security and freedom, you begin to direct your attention to the needs of others. The compassion expands. This is my point about inner simplicity as the basis for living fearlessly in a complex world. We are now open and spacious and from within that sense of fearless simplicity, you can accommodate all phenomena. You can naturally care for others unpretentiously; no one is a threat any longer.
— Drubwang Tsoknyi Rinpoche
As confidence grows stronger, you find yourself turning into a real warrior — a compassionate bodhisattva warrior. The true bodhi¬sattva spirit grows out of this personal sense of freedom. With this sense of security and freedom, you begin to direct your attention to the needs of others. The compassion expands. This is my point about inner simplicity as the basis for living fearlessly in a complex world. We are now open and spacious and from within that sense of fearless simplicity, you can accommodate all phenomena. You can naturally care for others unpretentiously; no one is a threat any longer.
— Drubwang Tsoknyi Rinpoche
305 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 10, 2003
33 people are currently reading
256 people want to read
About the author
Tsoknyi Rinpoche
30 books92 followersBorn in 1966 in Nubri, Nepal, TSOKNYI RINPOCHE is one of the most renowned teachers of Tibetan Buddhism trained outside of Tibet. Deeply versed in both the practical and philosophical disciplines of Tibetan Buddhism, he is beloved by students around the world for his accessible style, his generous and self-deprecating humor, and his deeply personal, compassionate insight into human nature. The married father of two daughters, Rinpoche nevertheless manages to balance family life with a demanding schedule of teaching around the world, and overseeing two nunneries in Nepal, one of the largest nunneries in Tibet, and more than 50 practice centers and hermitages in the eastern region of Tibet.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 10, 2021
"We have created a cage for ourselves out of our own emotions and our sense of duality and here we sit, day in and day out". The goal of dzogchen meditation is to break out of this cage so that we can liberate ourselves and help others. This isn't something we attain from the outside. But by dropping all of our conceptual attitudes we can realize our inherent buddha nature, or our original wakefulness. According to Tsonkyi Rinpoche, this motivation is critical to progressing in this spiritual practice. The essence of the teachings is the indivisibility of emptiness and compassion. Emptiness as the absence of an individual identity and compassion is bodhichitta -- The Bodhisattva compassion towards all beings. Like Yoga, he agrees that compassion will inevitably develop from emptiness, but until then we may as well pretend we are Bodhisattvas. Even if it's artificial, this will help to soften our hearts and make ourselves more gentle, peaceful and flexible -- essential for all progress, like salad dressing to a salad.
The dharma is the path and method to liberate us from delusion and be free of the three negative emotions of attachment, aggression and close mindedness. All of these negative emotions stem from what he calls the "granddad concept" -- the first concept of believing thoughts as true. One unique aspect of the Vajrayana path is the place of emotions. Teachers of this path believe that strong emotions are tied to our natural purity. Thus, instead of rejecting these emotions, using them as fuel can help light the fire of enlightenment. This is the diamond path of Vajrayana -- courageously facing emotions head on and using the dharma teachings to see through them. His preferred practice for dealing with these emotions is just letting them be, or jo-gom practice. By dropping all conceptual involvement in the emotion, over time it will naturally dissipate. Some of the other practices he touches on are taking refuge, shamatha meditation and ritual deity practice (such as the meditation and recitation on Vajrasattva). None of these practices are intended just to make us feel a bit better. They're all to help us wake up to our true nature in this very lifetime.
The second half of fearless simplicity focuses on awakening to mind essence -- the natural state of our mind where all issues naturally dissolve. Complete and total freedom from attachment, anger, closed mindedness and all negative emotions -- products of the deluded, dualistic, conceptual mind mind. This mind clings onto "I" and the ego as a concrete entity, chases after the magical "dream world" of samsara, and thrashes about caught up in all the shiny objects of the world. The natural state of mind essence, on the other hand, is free of this clinging. Instead it is empty, cognizant and intelligence. The practice of Dzogchen is releasing the concepts and limitations we've enveloped ourselves in and allowing this emptiness to naturally and gently permeate all.
The Vajrayana path is especially suitable for people with strong emotions. In a way, freeing strong emotions and using them to recognize your true nature is the essence of the path. Suppressing emotions is not the answer, as it will just perpetuate them further. Instead, the way to truly liberate emotions is to acknowledge their real, empty nature. The best way is to allow them to dissolve immediately upon arising. But more realistic is dropping all clinging, giving it some love and room, and letting it dissolve back into its essence. Ultimately, recognizing the true essence of emotions results in complete self confidence and fearlessness, as fear and anxiety was really of these emotions all along. Out of this new sense of ease, devotion to the path of dharma emerges and finally compassion and intelligence. It is a feeling of fearless simplicity. The fruits of this path are very different than the shiny objects of wealth and fame, but ultimately something even better: the end of samsara and all negative emotions.
Tsonkyi Rinpoche is a very clear & inspirational teacher. The more you trod this path, the simpler and brighter life will become. So unlike what many are persuaded to believe, the path of enlightenment isn't some painful trek up a mountain with an unknown height and near impossible goal. It's more like traveling a path that gets easier, more beautiful and more rewarding as you walk it with some nice reward at the end too. This book is a great sigh of relief, but also booster fuel for the practice. Stop taking yourself seriously, but also recognize the mind concocted suffering. The two are not in conflict.
The dharma is the path and method to liberate us from delusion and be free of the three negative emotions of attachment, aggression and close mindedness. All of these negative emotions stem from what he calls the "granddad concept" -- the first concept of believing thoughts as true. One unique aspect of the Vajrayana path is the place of emotions. Teachers of this path believe that strong emotions are tied to our natural purity. Thus, instead of rejecting these emotions, using them as fuel can help light the fire of enlightenment. This is the diamond path of Vajrayana -- courageously facing emotions head on and using the dharma teachings to see through them. His preferred practice for dealing with these emotions is just letting them be, or jo-gom practice. By dropping all conceptual involvement in the emotion, over time it will naturally dissipate. Some of the other practices he touches on are taking refuge, shamatha meditation and ritual deity practice (such as the meditation and recitation on Vajrasattva). None of these practices are intended just to make us feel a bit better. They're all to help us wake up to our true nature in this very lifetime.
The second half of fearless simplicity focuses on awakening to mind essence -- the natural state of our mind where all issues naturally dissolve. Complete and total freedom from attachment, anger, closed mindedness and all negative emotions -- products of the deluded, dualistic, conceptual mind mind. This mind clings onto "I" and the ego as a concrete entity, chases after the magical "dream world" of samsara, and thrashes about caught up in all the shiny objects of the world. The natural state of mind essence, on the other hand, is free of this clinging. Instead it is empty, cognizant and intelligence. The practice of Dzogchen is releasing the concepts and limitations we've enveloped ourselves in and allowing this emptiness to naturally and gently permeate all.
The Vajrayana path is especially suitable for people with strong emotions. In a way, freeing strong emotions and using them to recognize your true nature is the essence of the path. Suppressing emotions is not the answer, as it will just perpetuate them further. Instead, the way to truly liberate emotions is to acknowledge their real, empty nature. The best way is to allow them to dissolve immediately upon arising. But more realistic is dropping all clinging, giving it some love and room, and letting it dissolve back into its essence. Ultimately, recognizing the true essence of emotions results in complete self confidence and fearlessness, as fear and anxiety was really of these emotions all along. Out of this new sense of ease, devotion to the path of dharma emerges and finally compassion and intelligence. It is a feeling of fearless simplicity. The fruits of this path are very different than the shiny objects of wealth and fame, but ultimately something even better: the end of samsara and all negative emotions.
Tsonkyi Rinpoche is a very clear & inspirational teacher. The more you trod this path, the simpler and brighter life will become. So unlike what many are persuaded to believe, the path of enlightenment isn't some painful trek up a mountain with an unknown height and near impossible goal. It's more like traveling a path that gets easier, more beautiful and more rewarding as you walk it with some nice reward at the end too. This book is a great sigh of relief, but also booster fuel for the practice. Stop taking yourself seriously, but also recognize the mind concocted suffering. The two are not in conflict.
March 15, 2021
This was an impressive book.
I tend to always rate books on Buddhism high since I think that the sincerity of it goes way beyond the words written. But this book was of a different calibre.
It focuses mainly on the 'openness state of mind' and Dzogchen-branch of Buddhism which is being shown from many points of view. One could boil the book down in to a few pages but the talent of the author is of such that it makes you stay, read, come back to it, re-read it and be impressed by the writing and message.
I tend to always rate books on Buddhism high since I think that the sincerity of it goes way beyond the words written. But this book was of a different calibre.
It focuses mainly on the 'openness state of mind' and Dzogchen-branch of Buddhism which is being shown from many points of view. One could boil the book down in to a few pages but the talent of the author is of such that it makes you stay, read, come back to it, re-read it and be impressed by the writing and message.
November 24, 2023
Gentle, precise, comprehensive, and expert intro into Dzogchen by one of the brilliant gurus of our times who talks to beginners and seasoned practitioners alike.
July 19, 2013
I read this book a second time over a long period of time because we were using it as a discussion book and the the gaps grew longer and longer then finally simply petered out and I finally picked it up to finish on my own. Reading it a second time, having done a lot of retreat with Tsoknyi Rinpoche and also having recently read and re-read his newest book "Open Heart, Open Mind" continually reminded me about how clearly he teaches the Dzogchen teachings passed on by his father. He has made them more and more his own and they are remarkable.
July 27, 2025
Very sharp lectures on Dzogchen practice, but it should be read as a follow-up that builds on the excellent intro Carefree Dignity: Discourses on Training in the Nature of Mind rather than a stand-alone work
October 30, 2019
One of the best books I red. It is really clear and easy to reed.
There is a really good explanation of samatha and vipassana. If you look for a book with clear tips to understand and calm your mind this book is great
There is a really good explanation of samatha and vipassana. If you look for a book with clear tips to understand and calm your mind this book is great
October 16, 2023
Anyone wishing to pursue the most important and profound path of Dzogchen needs to read this book. (And the Waking Up app by Sam Harris)
It makes more sense the further into the practise you get (dont expect it to make perfect sense the first time).
It makes more sense the further into the practise you get (dont expect it to make perfect sense the first time).
March 6, 2013
A practical and clear (and often funny!) explanation of the practice of contemplation according to Dzogchen...can be applied to Mahamudra, as well, I think.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews