The Oral Tradition of Zhang-zhung: Bönpo Dzogchen Teachings -- Part 1

Dr. John Reynolds presented this seminar on the origins of Tibetan Bon Dzogchen according to the Zhang-zhung Nyän-gyüd at Gyalshen Institute on December 7, 2014.
Unlike the other traditions of Dzogchen found within Bön, the Zhang-zhung Nyän-gyüd represents a continuous and unbroken transmission from earliest times of the precepts of Dzogchen coming down to our own time. These teachings and practices were transmitted by the enlightened master Tapihritsa to his disciple Gyerpung Nangzher Lödpo at the Darok Lake in the 8th century in Zhang-zhung, or Northwestern Tibet, at that time an independent kingdom with its own language and religious culture. But the ultimate source of the Dzogchen teachings are said to be far more ancient, extending back to the Primordial Buddha, Kuntu Zangpo himself. These represent upadeshas, or secret oral instructions, only put into writing much later. They speak of an unconditioned state of being and awareness beyond the Tantric process of transformation. This refers to the Natural State of the Nature of Mind, one’s own innate Buddha Nature that is beyond time, conditioning, and causality. This seminar will survey the teachings, literature, and practices found in this oral tradition from the land of Zhang-zhung.
John Reynolds is one of the foremost translators of Bön Dzogchen texts and has studied this meditation tradition extensively with many important lamas, particularly Yongdzin Rinpoche. His biography and books can be seen on his website at vajranatha.com/

[@misticacrista3717]

These masters of Zhang Zhung and their pith instructions are all that I was looking for... Eternal gratitude 🙏

[@pawelmjw]

Bonpo is truly very interesting and deep. Thank you very much for this lecture. Treasure!

[@majavanderdrift2148]

thank you for sharing your knowledge and understanding with everyone that has genuine intentions for studying and practising from the haert

[@abrahaofranklinmaluf4850]

“Above all, be at ease, be as natural and spacious as possible. Slip quietly out of the noose of your habitual anxious self, release all grasping, and relax into your true nature. Think of your ordinary emotional, thought-ridden self as a block of ice or a slab of butter left out in the sun. If you are feeling hard and cold, let this aggression melt away in the sunlight of your meditation. Let peace work on you and enable you to gather your scattered mind into the mindfulness of Calm Abiding, and awaken in you the awareness and insight of Clear Seeing. And you will find all your negativity disarmed, your aggression dissolved, and your confusion evaporating slowly like mist into the vast and stainless sky of your absolute nature.”

[@zyxmyk]

wow, thank you for your trouble. that is an awesome quote.

[@josev5539]

OM A HUMG. Barcelona. España.

[@SI-ln6tc]

Is there anything before Bon?

[@AirSandFire]

Kuntu Zangpo

[@eightness888]

I don't mean to be a damper on his good information but this is actually filled with a ton of wrong information. If any of you wish to know more about Tibet and it's origins, learn Tibetan.

[@Nattapong69]

Everything about Tibetan history is available in English lol. And can you name one thing in the video that's wrong?