2026.08.01

What Is Dzogchen? The Highest Teaching of the Nyingma School and the Master's Pointing-Out Instructions

Dzogchen (Tibetan: "the Great Perfection") is the highest teaching of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, whose ultimate point is to directly reveal the nature of mind and liberation in the moment. This article explains what Dzogchen is and, drawing on Urgyen Topden Rinpoche's "Heart-to-Heart Talks," shows how the master guides us, in down-to-earth ways, to realize the nature of mind and emptiness.

What Is Dzogchen?

Dzogchen is the highest teaching of the Nyingma school. Its point is not to seek the Dharma outwardly, but to "point directly at the nature of mind" — recognizing the awareness that is primordially pure and perfect.

Dzogchen takes Guru Yoga as its root: one must rely on a qualified guru to receive the oral transmission and empowerment in order to enter it authentically. Fahsilin carries the lineage of Dudjom Rinpoche and Urgyen Tenzin Rinpoche, with the Nyingma Dzogchen teachings at its core.

The Master's Teaching: First See That "This Is a Dream"

The master teaches: "The buddhas see the human world as a dream." Ordinary beings are veiled by the six consciousnesses — eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind — mistaking fleeting sensation for something permanent. Raise the mind to the higher dimension of the buddhas, and you see that the human world is only a dream of arising and ceasing. Practice is not escape, but "learning to stay awake within the dream of life."

The Master's Teaching: Seeing the Five Aggregates as Empty — "So That's How It Is; Nothing to Make a Fuss About"

The master points to the heart of prajñā in two homely phrases: the Diamond Sūtra is "nothing to make a fuss about," and the Heart Sūtra is "so that's how it is." Understand that "all conditioned things are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble," and you know nothing can be grasped forever; see the five aggregates as empty, and you can say "so that's how it is," leaving behind distorted dreams.

The Master's Teaching: Awakening the Pure Nature from the Seventh Consciousness

The master teaches that our worldly roles merely spin at the surface of the "first six consciousnesses"; true practice must "begin from the seventh consciousness, cutting into the pure buddha-nature," rising to the eighth and ninth. Seen from the height of the universe, the eight worldly sufferings that once felt unbearable are "as trivial as a child's game." Strip away worldly labels, and the pure nature that remains is the truest origin of life.

Mind Abiding Nowhere Is the Door into the Nature of Mind

The master teaches the Diamond Sūtra's "let the mind abide nowhere": do not let the mind rest on anything. Suffering arises from clinging — "staring and refusing to let go only brings torment"; willing to loosen the tight grip and see through arising and ceasing, afflictions lose their weight. This "non-abiding" mind is the very basis for entering the nature of mind of Dzogchen.

How to Approach Dzogchen

The main practice of Dzogchen requires the oral transmission and empowerment of a qualified guru; it is not suited to self-study from words alone. One may begin by reading the master's "Heart-to-Heart Talks" and attending pujas and courses, then consult the guru and receive transmission as conditions allow.

What is Dzogchen?

Dzogchen is the highest teaching of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, whose ultimate point is to point directly at the nature of mind and liberation in the moment, recognizing the primordially pure and perfect awareness; it requires the oral transmission and empowerment of a qualified guru.

Can Dzogchen be self-taught?

The main practice of Dzogchen traditionally requires the oral transmission and empowerment of a qualified guru and is not suited to self-study from words alone. Begin by drawing near through the master's teachings, pujas and courses, then consult the guru as conditions allow.

Does Fahsilin practise Dzogchen?

Yes. Our centre takes the Nyingma teachings as its core, carrying the lineage of Dudjom Rinpoche and Urgyen Tenzin Rinpoche, with Dzogchen as its highest teaching and Guru Yoga as its root.

Can I understand Dzogchen without a foundation?

You may begin with the master's down-to-earth teachings on emptiness and the nature of mind — seeing through "life as a dream" and "so that's how it is; nothing to make a fuss about" is itself the first step into the nature of mind.