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Esler Dylan, Effortless Spontaneity. The Dzogchen Commentaries by Nubchen Sangye Yeshe

Leiden/Boston, Brill, Brill’s Tibetan Studies Library 54, 2023, 264 pages, ISBN 978-90-04-53422-3
Jean-Luc Achard
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Esler Dylan, Effortless Spontaneity. The Dzogchen Commentaries by Nubchen Sangye Yeshe, Leiden/Boston, Brill, Brill’s Tibetan Studies Library 54, 2023

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  • 1 Despite being presented (p. 5) as having three parts.
  • 2 rDzogs chen, which means Great Perfection, is often also known as Atiyoga (shin tu rnal ‘byor). It (...)

1Dylan Esler’s new book, Effortless Spontaneity, is a fascinating composite work divided into two main parts1 centred around exegetical treatises authored by Nubchen Sangye Yeshe (gNubs chen Sangs rgyas ye shes, 844-?), an important Nyingma lineage holder who somehow stands as a link between the tradition connected to the dynastic period and the nascent Nyingmapa school starting to emerge as a more or less coherent system around the early 10th century. Esler’s contribution to Dzogchen studies2 therefore appears as a much welcome addition to our growing understanding of the “early days of the Great Perfection” itself.

  • 3 The visionary notion of rtsal and all the related notions unfolding in the Man ngag sde instruction (...)

2The first part of the book is presented as an essay on the notion of Effortlessness (rtsol med or rtsol bral) which is a central theme in the teachings of Dzogchen. In fact, the author’s analysis of this crucial notion expands into further investigations of key concepts shared between other tantric categories (essentially Mahāyoga and, to a lesser extent, Anuyoga) and Dzogchen. These explorations are dispatched over the ten short chapters that make up the first part of the book. The approach adopted in these chapters is essentially focalised upon the rhetoric of absence (med pa) which, although evidently used in the Atiyoga texts, is, in my opinion, not central to the Path of the Great Perfection3. However, the line followed by D. Esler is indeed inspiring in that it introduces the readers to the most complex conceptions that form the basic contents of the texts discussed in Part 2.

3In particular, chapter 8 discusses the issue of methods since it could appear as an obvious paradox to affirm a Path without effort and imply the use of specific methods to experience its Fruit. Esler demonstrates that the contradiction is only apparent, insofar as methods are mere expedients enabling the practitioner to access the primordial state of his own Awareness (rang rig): these methods are not conditioning that state in any way whatsoever. Such an access is directly co-related to correctly understanding and applying the principle of non-action (bya bral), another key concept in Dzogchen which is often misunderstood by polemicists not familiar with the arcana of the Great Perfection.

4On this topic, connected with that of “non-meditation” (bsgom med), the author refers to Nubchen Sangye Yeshe exhorting his readers to understand that Dzogchen should be approached “in its own terms as an autonomous vehicle with a distinct form of meditation” (p. 45). This is a crucial issue that has often been misunderstood. In the Precept Series (Man ngag sde), this is explained as referring to meditation sessions that do not rely on the two Stages (rim gnyis), namely the Generation Stage (bskyed rim) and the Perfection Stage (rdzogs rim). However, one should, following Nubchen, definitely extend that to any form of conceptual meditation relying on the mind, and even to “non-meditation” as a dead-end concept leading to a negation of the Path. Therefore, the actual perspective that all Atiyoga practitioners ought to cultivate is that of directly accessing the state of Awareness and “not to advocate abandoning formal sessions of practice altogether” (ibid.).

  • 4 As mentioned in the previous note, these texts all belong to the Mind Series (Sems sde) of Dzogchen

5It is true that the early Dzogchen texts that are the centre of this book4 are not famous for their yogic devices and that actual step-by-step meditative instructions are to be found elsewhere. However, this does not entail that such instructions are later adjunctions: rather, this means that these original texts were often accompanied by an oral transmission which contains actual meditative precepts aimed at enabling the practitioner to experience the real contents described in these texts. The author refers to Longchenpa’s manual on “The all-creating king” (Kun byed rgyal po) which is a very good example of that. In the same collection that hosts the present texts, one finds quite a number of “technical” works related to the Mind Series (Sems sde) and some are associated with later figures of both the Nyingma and Kagyü traditions, but this does not mean that these late authors have innovated by “inventing” techniques that were supposedly lacking: it would appear that they have put into written form instructions that their own masters conveyed to them orally. Therefore, it is crucial to never lose sight of the fact that the oral transmission (snyan brgyud) of actual whispered instructions is crucial for understanding these root-texts correctly in order to avoid deviations (gol sa) into nihilistic pitfalls. The classic error in this context is to have the View fall into Conduct (spyod pa’i phyogs su lta ba ‘chor ba). This importance of the oral transmission is clearly put forward by the author (pp. 45-46), something which is rarely taken into account in academic works discussing the literature of the Great Perfection.

6Part 2 which makes up the bulk of the volume contains the critical edition and the translation of commentaries of four root-tantras of the Mind Series, namely the rJe btsan dam pa (pp. 74-85), the bDe ba ‘phra bkod (p. 86-117), the Nam mkha’i rgyal po (p. 118-149), and the rTse mo byung rgyal (pp. 150-231). The original root-texts belong to a set of works collectively known as “The thirteen later translations” (Phyi ‘gyur bcu gsum), to be distinguished from another set known as “The five earlier translations” (sNga ‘gyur lnga) attributed to Vairocana. The thirteen texts are said to have been translated by Vimalamitra with the assistance of gNyags Jñānakumāra and g.Yu sgra snying po (himself an 8th-century disciple of Vairocana). The commentaries themselves are attributed to Nubchen Sangye Yeshe (late 9th-10th century).

7In this second part of the volume, the translator has patiently edited and annotated the various original versions of these commentaries. Thus, the Tibetan texts are given on even pages while the translations appear on odd pages. In this way, the reader can directly check in Tibetan the actual wording of the original texts, thus greatly stimulating the understanding of the contents. Whenever the texts enable it, the translator has highlighted the root-verses of the original works in red ink.

  • 5 He, however, goes into some superficial structural details in the fourth commentary (p. 151).

8From a purely literary perspective, these commentaries are intriguing in that they are not heavily structured, as those familiar with the traditional exegetical Tibetan literature will notice from the get-go. Basically, Nubchen quotes a line and explains it without being concerned in any way whatsoever with highlighting the internal structure of the root text5. It is true that he distinguishes between the interpretation of the title (and homage) on the one hand and the body of the text on the other, but there is no particular structural analysis put forward to enable us to appreciate the themes addressed by the texts in order to penetrate more deeply into their meaning. However, Nubchen’s comments are not paraphrastic: they are aimed at actually expanding the meaning of the original texts which are so often cryptic.

9From the perspective of the actual contents that are explained by Nubchen, one must admit that the reading of the commentaries is a bit puzzling. Most of Nubchen’s exegesis would itself deserve comments and doctrinal justifications that are actually lacking in the book itself. Of course, Part 1 is devoted to the elucidation of some of the crucial theoretical concepts expressed in these texts; however, the correct understanding of numerous passages within these commentaries would definitely deserve a more copious annotated apparatus than is actually provided. Evidently, commentaries of commentaries (‘grel pa’i ṭi ka) are not necessarily the best avenue for such clarifications but a paraphrastic attempt to clarify the specific meaning (bye brag don gyi gsal ‘debs) would certainly have satisfied the less casual, demanding reader. Be that as it may, we must definitely thank the author for dedicating his time and impressive knowledge to the study and translation of these difficult early works, often overshadowed by the Man ngag sde literature.

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Notes

1 Despite being presented (p. 5) as having three parts.

2 rDzogs chen, which means Great Perfection, is often also known as Atiyoga (shin tu rnal ‘byor). It is the highest of the Nine Vehicles (theg pa rim dgu), as they are explained in the Nyingma tradition.

3 The visionary notion of rtsal and all the related notions unfolding in the Man ngag sde instructions appears more iconic and emblematic of what Dzogchen is in an explicit mode. Of course, this is not as evident in the Sems sde literature (to which the material discussed in Esler’s book belongs) but it is clear that some peculiar statements in the Tantras of this category can most certainly be interpreted in a perspective that would owe nothing to the Man ngag sde itself.

4 As mentioned in the previous note, these texts all belong to the Mind Series (Sems sde) of Dzogchen.

5 He, however, goes into some superficial structural details in the fourth commentary (p. 151).

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References

Electronic reference

Jean-Luc Achard, Esler Dylan, Effortless Spontaneity. The Dzogchen Commentaries by Nubchen Sangye YesheÉtudes mongoles et sibériennes, centrasiatiques et tibétaines [Online], 55 | 2024, Online since 19 August 2024, connection on 10 November 2024. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/emscat/6613; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/126m4

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About the author

Jean-Luc Achard

CNRS, CRCAO

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The text and other elements (illustrations, imported files) are “All rights reserved”, unless otherwise stated.

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