Tsik Sum Né Dek

Garab Dorje

Tsik Sum Né Dek (Tib. tshig gsum gnad brdegs) - 'Hitting the Essence in Three Words', the final testament of the first human Dzogchen master Garab Dorje (Skt. Prahevajra):

Introducing directly the face of rigpa in itself.

Decide upon one thing, and one thing only.

Confidence directly in the liberation of rising thoughts.

Background

Histories of the Dzogchen lineage tell how, as Garab Dorje attained nirvana, his body dissolved into space in the midst of a great cloud of rainbow light; the earth shuddered and miraculous sounds were heard. His disciple Mañjushrimitra, who had studied the Nyingtik teachings with him for seventy-five years, saw him in the sky, surrounded by light, and cried out “Alas, alas! O vast expanse! If the light that is our teacher is extinguished, who will there be to dispel the darkness of the world?“ It is said that, at this, Garab Dorje’s right hand and forearm appeared holding a golden casket, the size of a thumbnail, which circled round Mañjushrimitra three times, and descended into the palm of his hand. Inside it he found the Hitting the Essence in Three Words, Garab Dorje’s final testament, written in ink of liquid lapis lazuli on a leaf of five precious substances. Simply seeing it, Mañjushrimitra attained the same realization as his master. In fact, all four of the first vidyadharas of the Dzogchen lineage — Garab Dorje, Mañjushrimitra, Shri Singha and Jñanasutra — bequeathed a testament in a similar way to their disciples, whereupon the minds of the disciples and wisdom minds of the masters became inseparable. Hitting the Essence in Three Words has been revered by masters and practitioners throughout the centuries as embodying in its key points the very essence of the path of Dzogchen.

Commentary

Patrul Rinpoche’s Special Teaching of the Wise and Glorious King, an elaboration, with its own commentary, on Hitting the Essence in Three Words, is treasured as the most crucial instruction for the practice of Dzogchen. Brief yet exceedingly profound, it captures the understanding of the trekchö practice, and is “the infallible key point of the path of primordial purity in the natural Dzogpachenpo”.

Teachings on Tsik Sum Né Dek

• Sogyal Rinpoche, Gib Torr Farm, Buxton, UK, 17-20 October, 1980
• Sogyal Rinpoche, Connelles, Normandy, 28-30 November 1980
• His Holiness the Dalai Lama, London, 7 July 1984
• Sogyal Rinpoche, Val Louron, 1985
• Kyabjé Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, London, June 1987
• Sogyal Rinpoche, Lerab Ling, August 2004
• Sogyal Rinpoche, Clear Lake Retreat, USA, 4-7 December 2004