3 Statements That Strikes Essential Points (棰擊三要)

The teachings of Dzongchen (大圓滿) were first taught by Garab Dorje (勝喜金剛) in Uddiyana. The essence of Garab Dorje’s teaching is found in “The 3 Statements That Strikes Essential Points” (棰擊三要):

 

知自心相：見，

Understands one’s nature: View,

 

決定信之：定，

Believe with confident: Stability,

 

堅固定之：行。

Meditate with firmness: Action.

 

Understands one’s nature: View

 

Our thoughts are faulty and poisonous. These thoughts forms endless karmic seeds and they haunt us as memories: good and bad. It is not too much to say that we, the human are formed by our thought forms.

 

Believe with confident: Stability

 

Once we understand the nature of our illusive thoughts, our thoughts are able to be purified with reciting OM AH HUM or a single shout of PHAT! Once we have stabilized our wandering mind; we will be able to achieve the stable state of Dharmakaya.

 

Meditate with firmness: Action

 

If we continue to meditate with confident and firmness; our thoughts diminished and we will continue to stay in Dharmakaya.

 

The above instructions are practised together with Yangtik (仰的), where the practitioner meditates upon the emptiness of space. Dzongchen instructions are typically short and to the point; this type of meditative practices are not everyone’s cup of tea however.