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Dzogchen: Khorde Rushen
The Khordé Rushen is a crucial element of Dzogchen praxis as both a preliminary and an inclusive supportive practice. The practice is described in three formal, unstructured and social. It includes a psychological appraisal of the method, detailed instruction for practice, and relevant instruction from the Tibetan masters Jigme Lingpa and Jamgon Kongtrul excerpted from their meditation manuals. This book is a manual for the Dzogchen retreatant and holds little other value. It belongs to Keith Dowman's Dzogchen Teaching Series.
73 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 28, 2020
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December 22, 2022
'Dreaming Yourself Awake'
There are many forms of preliminary practices required of a Dzogchen yogin/yogini. Perhaps the most fundamental are the two aspects of; complete turning away from samsara (renunciation), and compassionate concern for all beings in it (bodhicitta), which are universal for all Buddhists in some form (the 3rd principle aspect of the path - sunyata – is the main practice in Dzogchen). The particular, extra-ordinary and unique, Dzogchen form of preliminaries is called Khorde Rushen – the separation of samsara and nirvana, and as a foundational practice it’s essential, the same way as in a house the foundation is both the first phase of construction and supportive throughout the useful functioning of the structure (roofs and walls are necessary to make a house complete, but aren’t much good without a foundation).
In Dzogchen I’d go so far as to say that without rushen one’s experience of the main practice (simply resting in the nature of mind with immediate awareness) will be just a hollow shell, real (as really there is always nothing but rigpa) but limited, the same way that swimming in a man-made pool is really swimming, but nowhere near the same experience as swimming in the wild, untamed ocean. Rushen practice introduces us to the wild untamed ocean of our mind/imagination, and within this dream-like re-creation anything goes and everything is welcomed.
This booklet by Keith Dowman is very good at explaining what rushen is, how to do it, and what attitude to approach it with. He brings a vivid sense of lots of playful experiential knowledge. I’m reminded of Chogyam Trungpa at times in how Keith’s teachings combine Buddhist wisdom/concepts with Western idiom, utilizing the depth psychology of archetypes, shadow work and modern existential experience to make these ancient practices come to life for us here and now, and so giving us license to find our own way. The difference is Dowman is much better at doing this than Trungpa was.
The beauty of these practices is they are accessible to anyone with memory and imagination (and a little time and privacy to explore), and that they provide us with the most direct portal to Great Compassion (Bodhicitta - the 360 degree view of Dzogchen). From them, perhaps in equal measure to the effort we give, the effortless state of primordial nature/awareness will naturally, spontaneously unfold.
From the introduction;
“We may know already that any separation is impossible, that the unity of samsara and nirvana is realized in initiatory experience, that the enlightened mind of rigpa implies a unitary state of being. To know this in our bone, to realize it experientially, is the purpose of the khorde rushen. But to begin the practice that is to give us absolute certainty in the unitary great perfection of Dzogchen we assume the separation of samsara and nirvana that the dualizing intellect insists upon. Assuming that the natural state of being has been undone, we seek to clarify the duality of samsara and nirvana by acting it out.”
Needless to say this is all quite a trip, as intense as it can possibly be, the trip of a wheel-of-life time, but it is also an enlightening trip, literally, figuratively, and all points in between… In a word, rushen is the essence of freedom.
(PS. a note to address the inevitable Dharma-Karens who'll complain that Dowman shouldn't be writing books about such topics. It should be remembered that such topics where written and taught about in old Tibet within the constraints of their limited technology and mindset, and that they are being done so today within ours. The teachings Dowman presents are exactly in line with those he has received from the traditional Tibetan sources (literary and oral), as is the secret nature of how he presents to do them (in the context of retreat). The difference is he is teaching for the next generation of Radical Dzogchenpas who will take Dzogchen into a future without the need for Tibet or Buddhism. One could argue that the teachings then will become diluted and polluted, but that would be missing the fact that that is exactly what happened when they first became assimilated into Tibetan culture thirteen hundred years ago, and that if anything the Radical approach is a return to its roots.)
There are many forms of preliminary practices required of a Dzogchen yogin/yogini. Perhaps the most fundamental are the two aspects of; complete turning away from samsara (renunciation), and compassionate concern for all beings in it (bodhicitta), which are universal for all Buddhists in some form (the 3rd principle aspect of the path - sunyata – is the main practice in Dzogchen). The particular, extra-ordinary and unique, Dzogchen form of preliminaries is called Khorde Rushen – the separation of samsara and nirvana, and as a foundational practice it’s essential, the same way as in a house the foundation is both the first phase of construction and supportive throughout the useful functioning of the structure (roofs and walls are necessary to make a house complete, but aren’t much good without a foundation).
In Dzogchen I’d go so far as to say that without rushen one’s experience of the main practice (simply resting in the nature of mind with immediate awareness) will be just a hollow shell, real (as really there is always nothing but rigpa) but limited, the same way that swimming in a man-made pool is really swimming, but nowhere near the same experience as swimming in the wild, untamed ocean. Rushen practice introduces us to the wild untamed ocean of our mind/imagination, and within this dream-like re-creation anything goes and everything is welcomed.
This booklet by Keith Dowman is very good at explaining what rushen is, how to do it, and what attitude to approach it with. He brings a vivid sense of lots of playful experiential knowledge. I’m reminded of Chogyam Trungpa at times in how Keith’s teachings combine Buddhist wisdom/concepts with Western idiom, utilizing the depth psychology of archetypes, shadow work and modern existential experience to make these ancient practices come to life for us here and now, and so giving us license to find our own way. The difference is Dowman is much better at doing this than Trungpa was.
The beauty of these practices is they are accessible to anyone with memory and imagination (and a little time and privacy to explore), and that they provide us with the most direct portal to Great Compassion (Bodhicitta - the 360 degree view of Dzogchen). From them, perhaps in equal measure to the effort we give, the effortless state of primordial nature/awareness will naturally, spontaneously unfold.
From the introduction;
“We may know already that any separation is impossible, that the unity of samsara and nirvana is realized in initiatory experience, that the enlightened mind of rigpa implies a unitary state of being. To know this in our bone, to realize it experientially, is the purpose of the khorde rushen. But to begin the practice that is to give us absolute certainty in the unitary great perfection of Dzogchen we assume the separation of samsara and nirvana that the dualizing intellect insists upon. Assuming that the natural state of being has been undone, we seek to clarify the duality of samsara and nirvana by acting it out.”
Needless to say this is all quite a trip, as intense as it can possibly be, the trip of a wheel-of-life time, but it is also an enlightening trip, literally, figuratively, and all points in between… In a word, rushen is the essence of freedom.
(PS. a note to address the inevitable Dharma-Karens who'll complain that Dowman shouldn't be writing books about such topics. It should be remembered that such topics where written and taught about in old Tibet within the constraints of their limited technology and mindset, and that they are being done so today within ours. The teachings Dowman presents are exactly in line with those he has received from the traditional Tibetan sources (literary and oral), as is the secret nature of how he presents to do them (in the context of retreat). The difference is he is teaching for the next generation of Radical Dzogchenpas who will take Dzogchen into a future without the need for Tibet or Buddhism. One could argue that the teachings then will become diluted and polluted, but that would be missing the fact that that is exactly what happened when they first became assimilated into Tibetan culture thirteen hundred years ago, and that if anything the Radical approach is a return to its roots.)
May 12, 2024
From Goodreads: 'The Khordé Rushen is a crucial element of Dzogchen praxis as both a preliminary and an inclusive supportive practice. The practice is described in three formal, unstructured and social. It includes a psychological appraisal of the method, detailed instruction for practice, and relevant instruction from the Tibetan masters Jigme Lingpa and Jamgon Kongtrul excerpted from their meditation manuals. This book is a manual for the Dzogchen retreatant and holds little other value. It belongs to Keith Dowman's Dzogchen Teaching Series.'
For the experienced in Dzogchen this is a 5 star book. For those thinking of exploring Dzogchen this is a 1 star or a 2 start book. Most people fall into the latter category. This is a detailed description of a Dzogchen practice that makes little sense to someone on the outside who is looking for a book about Dzogchen meditation. Such a person can still enjoy and be inspired by the book, if, as they are reading it, they remind themselves that they are in the first year of the secondary school and this is a text for students in the final year.
For the experienced in Dzogchen this is a 5 star book. For those thinking of exploring Dzogchen this is a 1 star or a 2 start book. Most people fall into the latter category. This is a detailed description of a Dzogchen practice that makes little sense to someone on the outside who is looking for a book about Dzogchen meditation. Such a person can still enjoy and be inspired by the book, if, as they are reading it, they remind themselves that they are in the first year of the secondary school and this is a text for students in the final year.
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