Dzogchen: The Essential Points of Practice: A Manual of Basic Instructions on Thorough Cut by Zhechen Gyaltsab

Zhechen Gyaltshab was one of the principal masters of Zhechen Monastery in East Tibet, the monastery where Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche made his home before leaving Tibet. The Zhechen Gyal-tsab's have always been regarded as highly learned and accomplished and this comes through in the clarity of the instructions in his text.

The text is a short but very clear presentation of the essential points of practice of Thorough Cut (Tregcho) of extra-secret Great Completion (Dzogpa Chenpo). We provide many texts of the Thorough Cut practice and each one adds something to the understanding of that practice. Zhechen Gyaltsab's text transmits the same meaning as Patrul's Feature of the Expert, Glorious King which is also available from us. However, and just as the title suggests, Zhechen Gyaltshab writes in a very practical way and in doing so, makes a number of points that other authors do not. His text is well-known in the Tibetan tradition as one of several texts that are particularly useful to anyone who is practising Thorough Cut.

An introduction explains the place of the text and extensive notes to the text form a commentary to the text. An extensive glossary is provided to help clarify the meaning of the unique terminology of this system. The book is ideal for anyone who is practising Thorough Cut. As with our other books on innermost Dzogchen, we strongly advise that you not purchase the book unless you have had the necessary instructions.

Tony Duff has spent a lifetime pursuing the Buddha's teaching and transmitting it to others. In the early 1970's, during his post-graduate studies in molecular biology, he went to Asia and met the Buddhist teachings of various South-east Asian countries. He met Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal and has followed it since. After his trip he abandoned worldly life and was the first Tibetan Buddhist monk ordained in his home country of Australia. Together with several others, he founded the monastery called Chenrezig Institute for Wisdom Culture where he studied and practised the Gelugpa teachings for several years under the guidance of Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa, Geshe Lodan, and Zasep Tulku. After that, he offered back his ordination and left for the USA to study the Kagyu teachings with the incomparable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Tony was very active in the community and went through all possible levels of training that were available during his twelve year stay. He was also a core member of the Nalanda Translation Committee. After Chogyam Trungpa died, Tony went to live in Nepal where he worked as the personal translator for Tsoknyi Rinpoche and also translated for several other well-known teachers. He also founded and directed the largest Tibetan text preservation project in Asia, the Drukpa Kagyu Heritage Project, which he oversaw for eight years. He also established the Padma Karpo Translation Committee which has produced many fine translations and made many resources for translators such as the highly acclaimed Illuminator Tibetan-English Dictionary. After the year 2000, Tony focussed primarily on obtaining Dzogchen teachings from the best teachers available, especially within Tibet, and translating and teaching them. He has received much approval from many teachers and has been given the titles "lotsawa" and "lama" and been strongly encouraged by them to teach Westerners. One way he does that is by producing these fine translations.