Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro (Tib. ཀློང་ཆེན་སྙིང་ཐིག་སྔོན་འགྲོ།, Wyl. klong chen snying thig sngon 'gro) — the root verses of the Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro are mostly taken from the original terma of Longchen Nyingtik (‘the Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse’) revealed by Jikmé Lingpa (1730-1798), and are therefore the vajra words of Guru Rinpoche himself. This profound and poetic revelation was then arranged and expanded by Jikmé Lingpa’s direct disciple, the First Dodrupchen, Jikmé Trinlé Özer (1745-1821), into its present form. Although we usually refer to this series of practices simply as the Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro, its full title is ‘The Preliminary Practice of the Dzogchen Longchen Nyingtik: The Excellent Path to Omniscience’.[1]

Outline

The Common or Outer Preliminaries

Blessing the Speech

Invoking the Lama

Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind from Samsara Free and Well-Favoured Human Birth Impermanence Karma: Cause and Effect The Suffering of Samsara

Invoking the Lama's Compassion to Avoid Pitfalls on the Path

The Uncommon or Inner Preliminaries

Translations of the Root Text

Tulku Thondup, in The Dzogchen Innermost Essence Preliminary Practice (Dharamsala: LTWA, 1982)

(Dharamsala: LTWA, 1982) Rigpa Translations, in A Guide to the Practice of Ngöndro (Lodeve: The Tertön Sogyal Trust, 2007). The root text was translated mostly in 1981 by Sogyal Rinpoche and Patrick Gaffney.

Cortland Dahl, in Entrance to the Great Perfection: A Guide to the Dzogchen Preliminary Practices compiled, translated, and introduced by Cortland Dahl (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2009)

compiled, translated, and introduced by Cortland Dahl (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2009) Anne C. Klein, Heart Essence of the Vast Expanse: A Story of Transmission (Snow Lion Publications, 2009).

Tulku Thondup, Enlightened Journey—Buddhist Practice as Daily Life , Boston & London, Shambhala, 1995.

, Boston & London, Shambhala, 1995. Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche, Tantric Practice in Nyingma , trans. & ed. by Jeffrey Hopkins, co-edited by Anne Klein, Snow Lion, 1986.

, trans. & ed. by Jeffrey Hopkins, co-edited by Anne Klein, Snow Lion, 1986. Tulku Thondup, The Dzogchen Innermost Essence Preliminary Practice, LTWA, 1982.

Notes