Ngöndro

Ngöndro ( Wylie sngon 'gro ) - are preparatory and basic practices in the Vajrayana. The Ngöndro practices are profound and powerful means ( skillful means ) to effect regardless of one's own spiritual realization stage, a profound healing and cleansing of one's mind. These practices prepare practitioners not only on the path of Vajrayana and the teachings of Dzogchen, they introduce practitioners also gradually to the experience of enlightenment.

The stages of practice

The external preparations

The external preparations begin with life-changing contemplations that turn the mind from samsara and in practice texts " The Four Thoughts " are included as. The outer preliminaries are:

• The preciousness of human life
• The ubiquity and profound meaning of impermanence
• The inescapable principle of cause and effect with respect to the consequences of our intentions and actions of body, speech and mind (karma)

• The futility of the cycle of delusions and suffering ( samsara ).

The inner preliminaries

These contemplations inspired very much our renunciation, to escape an urgent desire samsara and to follow the path of liberation and redemption. They are the basics for any special practices. The internal arrangements are:

• Refuge in the Buddha as teacher, recognizing the truth of his teachings ( Dharma ) as the path, the example of the practitioners ( the Sangha ) as friends on the path, the awakening of confidence and trust in our own Buddha nature ( emptiness / wisdom and clarity / compassion of one's mind / consciousness continuum );

• The awakening unconditional equanimity, unconditional love, unconditional sympathetic joy and unconditional compassion ( Bodhichitta ); the heart of the enlightened mind and a workout of your own mind as to itself, others and all the difficulties, problems and suffering and compassionate deal;

• Healing and cleansing of the four veneers by Vajrasattva practice;

• Accumulation of merit and wisdom through the development of universal generosity and spawning auspicious conditions / circumstances through the mandala offering;

• Finally, in the Guru Yoga practice, which is the most important, most moving and powerful practice, the union of one's mind with his own wisdom (wisdom of all the Buddhas ) and as the awakening of the wisdom of realization in itself

Healing and cleansing of the four veneers

It is taught that:

• Prostrations purify the veneers, which are connected with the body;
• The recitation of the hundred -syllable mantra of Vajrasattva purifies the delusions associated with the language;
• A mandala offering purifies the delusions that are in contact with the Spirit; and
• Guru Yoga purifies the delusions of body, speech and mind.

Ngöndro versions

There are different traditions within the different Ngöndro versions, which are the oldest and most well-known within the Nyingma tradition:

The short Dudjom Tersar Ngöndro: it is a brief recitation of the preliminaries according to the new estimate of Dudjom and maybe even the shortest and most precise. It was written by Guru Rinpoche in the 9th century for the degenerate era and hidden. Düdjom Lingpa (1835 - 1904) revealed this treasure ( terma ), his reincarnation Dudjom Yeshe Dorje Jigdral (1904 - 1987) - known as Düdjom Rinpoche - taught and explained this text.

The Longchen Nyingtik Ngöndro, even the preliminary practice of Dzogchen Longchen Nyingtik called, is for the most part from the Terma of Longchen Nyingtik " Heart Essence of the vast expansion ", which are the words of Guru Rinpoche himself and of Jikme Lingpa (1730 - 1798) discovered have been.