What do you think?
Rate this book
Dzogchen: The Heart Essence of the Great Perfection
This is the most informative and thorough book on Dzogchen available. These teachings are on Dzogchen, the heart essence of the ancient Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Exploring this esoteric subject in print for the first time, His Holiness offers the reader insights into one of Buddhism's most profound systems of meditation. He discusses both the philosophic foundations and the practices of this system—taking into account the approaches of various schools and teachers.
Paying tribute to the uniqueness of Dzogchen, His Holiness sets it within the wider spectrum of Tibetan Buddhism as a whole. He explains the essence of Dzogchen practice and addresses questions such as why Dzogchen is called "the pinnacle of all vehicles," what are its special features, and what are the crucial principles of the other Buddhist paths which a Dzogchen practitioner should know.
Paying tribute to the uniqueness of Dzogchen, His Holiness sets it within the wider spectrum of Tibetan Buddhism as a whole. He explains the essence of Dzogchen practice and addresses questions such as why Dzogchen is called "the pinnacle of all vehicles," what are its special features, and what are the crucial principles of the other Buddhist paths which a Dzogchen practitioner should know.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
57 people are currently reading
336 people want to read
About the author
Dalai Lama XIV
1,554 books6,194 followersJetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (born Lhamo Döndrub), the 14th Dalai Lama, is a practicing member of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism and is influential as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the world's most famous Buddhist monk, and the leader of the exiled Tibetan government in India.
Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.
On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.
After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.
Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.
Tenzin Gyatso was the fifth of sixteen children born to a farming family. He was proclaimed the tulku (an Enlightened lama who has consciously decided to take rebirth) of the 13th Dalai Lama at the age of two.
On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, he was enthroned as Tibet's ruler. Thus he became Tibet's most important political ruler just one month after the People's Republic of China's invasion of Tibet on 7 October 1950. In 1954, he went to Beijing to attempt peace talks with Mao Zedong and other leaders of the PRC. These talks ultimately failed.
After a failed uprising and the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, the Dalai Lama left for India, where he was active in establishing the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan Government in Exile) and in seeking to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.
Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, honorary Canadian citizenship in 2006, and the United States Congressional Gold Medal on 17 October 2007.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 10, 2015
This is a gem, a treasure that provides quite a holistic transmission of understanding from a truly brilliant mind that HH Dalai Lama is. It is to read and re-read. Profound and well-spoken/written.
April 2, 2022
O lectură încântătoare chiar dacă, la inceput, ai impresia că nu vei înțelege prea mult. E doar o impresie! Conținutul se dezvăluie încet cu răbdare.
March 28, 2021
The Dzogchen teachings are often shrouded in secrecy. Since this book is by the Dalai Lama, I assumed the "real" teachings would be kept secret and there wouldn't be much in it. I was wrong. It's an enjoyable read with a lot of useful content for those of us interested in Dzogchen. I am not an expert, so maybe there are better books out there. But I'd recommend this one.
September 12, 2023
It was a great introduction to Dzogchen, lots of instruction and teaching. Though some may be a bit convoluted it stays true to the original teachings . It started with a lot of talk on compassion but didn't quite follow through in my eyes, didn't tie it in with rigpa and such at least as thoroughly as I would have liked.
October 5, 2019
I was there when he taught part of it at San Jose. Didn't understand it but he sounded very wrathful. About a week later they had a major earthquake. I have decided to try to read the book. It would be cool to make an earthquake.
August 6, 2022
One of the best books available about Dzogchen; brilliant, in the Dalai Lama's usual readable style.
Read
February 3, 2025Could not get into the writing style
October 23, 2007
Very technical, requires dedication to gain insight. Awesome and well worth the effort to find the rigpa
March 4, 2009
been there at the teaching. good thing Tsogyel and his people made the book, maybe i'll be able to understand what he was talking about... quite an advance reading.
December 21, 2011
In "Dzogchen: the Heart of Essence," HH Dalai Lama displays incredible humity and honesty. His scholarship is suburb.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews