Three categories

Mañjushrimitra

Three categories or three classes (Tib. dé sum; Wyl. sde gsum) — the three categories into which Mañjushrimitra divided the Dzogchen teachings he received from Garab Dorje:

1. the outer category of mind (semdé),
2. the inner category of space (longdé), and
3. the category of pith instructions (mengak dé).

Alternative Translations

• Three sections

Oral Teachings Given to the Rigpa Sangha

• Sogyal Rinpoche, Paris, 26-27 June 1982, the 'Seven Stages of the Categories of Mind: Semdé, Longdé and Mengakdé'.

Further Reading

• Tulku Thondup, The Practice of Dzogchen (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1989), Part I, 'Three Divisions of Atiyoga', pages 47-88.