Text by Dza Patrul, book by Tony Duff
| Title | A Practical Guide to the Great Vehicle View, the Two Truths Fully Clarified |
| Sub-Title | Teachings of Dza Patrul |
| Author | Translation and introduction by Tony Duff |
| Details | 86 pages, 5.5" X 8.5", US$20, available on paper and in PDF and Kindle e-book formats |
| ISBN | paper book 978-9937-572-76-7, e-book 978-9937-572-75-0 |
| Texts | Tibetan text in Tibetan script included |
This book contains practical instructions on the view of the two truths given according to the conventional or common Great Vehicle approach. The instructions are contained in a short text by a very well-known Tibetan teacher, Jigmey Chokyi Wangpo, also known as Dza Patrul [1808–1887].
A feature of this text is that, although it is about sutra, the profound Dzogchen perspective is obviously present. Some masters write compositions in which they keep within the immediate context of their subject. Yogins, and Dza Patrul was a great yogin, often teach a subject but within the context of their own realization. In the text here, Dza Patrul gives a presentation of the two truths that fits with the sutra presentation of the subject, but goes on to connect it to the practical wisdom teachings of the third turning of the wheel and the Quintessence Dzogchen teachings of which he was a master. For example, in a presentation of the two truths that adhered to the sutra context in which the two truths were originally taught, there would be no mention of the key Dzogchen terms “rigpa”, “crossing over into”, “appearances of the liveliness”, and so on, yet these terms appear later in the text. In fact, the final section of teaching in the text is a direct presentation of the Thorough Cut teaching of Quintessence Dzogchen which has been skilfully added to the rest of the compilation to show that, in the end, the practice of the two truths is none other than the practice of Thorough Cut.
Those two features of this text make it very interesting to practitioners in general and Dzogchen practitioners in particular. Rather than being another one of the very dry presentations on the two truths that have appeared in Tibetan literature—such as in the literature of the scholarly Gelugpa tradition—this text is a very practical presentation of the two truths and how to realize them. The text becomes an avenue through which we can connect directly to Dza Patrul and his mastery of the sutras and tantras as well as his profound connection to Quintessence Dzogchen.
The book contains a translation of the following text:
 | A Practical Guide to the Great Vehicle View, the Two Truths Clarified by Dza Patrul |
Download Tibetan text in TibetD format: not available yet.
Purchase: