Three categories

Mañjushrimitra

Three categories or three classes (Tib. སྡེ་གསུམ་, 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'.
• Sogyal Rinpoche, Les Ages retreat, France, 16 August 1987

Further Reading

• Jamgön Kongtrul, The Treasury of Knowledge, Book Six, Part Four: Systems of Buddhist Tantra, translated by Elio Guarisco and Ingrid McLeod (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2005), pages 339-345.
• Tulku Thondup, The Practice of Dzogchen (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 1989), Part I, 'Three Divisions of Atiyoga', pages 47-88.