Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro

Field of Merit from the Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro

Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro (Tib. ཀློང་ཆེན་སྙིང་ཐིག་སྔོན་འགྲོ།, Wyl. klong chen snying thig sngon 'gro) — the root verses of the Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro are mostly taken from the original terma of Longchen Nyingtik (‘the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse’) revealed by Jikmé Lingpa (1730-1798), and are therefore the vajra words of Guru Rinpoche himself. This profound and poetic revelation was then arranged and expanded by Jikmé Lingpa’s direct disciple, the First Dodrupchen, Jikmé Trinlé Özer (1745-1821), into its present form. Although we usually refer to this series of practices simply as the Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro, its full title is ‘The Preliminary Practice of the Dzogchen Longchen Nyingtik: The Excellent Path to Omniscience’.

Outline

The Common or Outer Preliminaries

• Blessing the Speech
• Invoking the Lama
• Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind from Samsara
  • Free and Well-Favoured Human Birth
  • Impermanence
  • Karma: Cause and Effect
  • The Suffering of Samsara
• Invoking the Lama's Compassion to Avoid Pitfalls on the Path

The Uncommon or Inner Preliminaries

• Taking Refuge
• Generation of Bodhichitta: the Heart of the Awakened Mind
• Vajrasattva Purification
• The Trikaya Mandala Offering
• The Accumulation of the Kusulu: Chö
• Guru Yoga
  • Visualization
  • Seven Line Prayer
  • Seven Branches of Devotional Practice
  • Maturing the Siddhi
  • Invoking the Blessing
  • The Lineage Prayer
  • Receiving the Four Empowerments
  • Dissolution
• Dedication
• Special Prayer of Aspiration

Translations of the Root Text

• Tulku Thondup, in The Dzogchen Innermost Essence Preliminary Practice (Dharamsala: LTWA, 1982)
• Rigpa Translations, in A Guide to the Practice of Ngöndro (Lodeve: The Tertön Sogyal Trust, 2007). The root text was translated mostly in 1981 by Sogyal Rinpoche and Patrick Gaffney.

The Excellent Path to Omniscience: The Dzogchen Preliminary Practice of Longchen Nyingtik

• Cortland Dahl, in Entrance to the Great Perfection: A Guide to the Dzogchen Preliminary Practices compiled, translated, and introduced by Cortland Dahl (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2009)
• Anne C. Klein, Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse: A Story of Transmission (Snow Lion Publications, 2009).

Commentaries

Major Tibetan Commentaries Translated in English

• The Words of My Perfect Teacher by Patrul Rinpoche
• A Brief Guide to the Stages of Visualization by Patrul Rinpoche
• Illuminating the Excellent Path to Omniscience by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo
• A Lamp Illuminating the Path of Liberation: A Commentary on the Preliminaries of the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse by Adzom Drukpa Drodul Pawo Dorje (klong chen snying thig gi sngon 'gro'i khrid yig thar lam gsal byed sgron me)
• A Guide to the Words of My Perfect Teacher by Khenpo Ngawang Palzang
• A Torch for the Path to Omniscience by Chökyi Drakpa
• Ngöndro Compendium by Yukhok Chatralwa Chöying Rangdrol
• A Continuous Stream of Blessing of the Incomparable Guru: A Commentary on the Preliminaries of the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse by Lopön Thekchok Yeshe Dorje (klong chen snying thig gi sngon 'gro'i rnam bshad mtshungs med bla ma'i byin rlabs char rgyun) (Gangtok, 2005)

Contemporary Commentaries

• Tulku Thondup, Enlightened Journey—Buddhist Practice as Daily Life, Boston & London, Shambhala, 1995.
• Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche, Tantric Practice in Nyingma, trans. & ed. by Jeffrey Hopkins, co-edited by Anne Klein, Snow Lion, 1986.
• Tulku Thondup, The Dzogchen Innermost Essence Preliminary Practice, LTWA, 1982.

Internal Links

• Lineage Prayer from the Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro Guru Yoga