The Great Perfection (rDzogs chen in Tibetan) is a philosophical and meditative teaching. Its inception is attributed to Vairocana, one of the first seven Tibetan Buddhist monks ordained at Samye in the eight century A.D. The doctrine is regarded among Buddhists as the core of the teachings adhered to by the Nyingmapa school whilst similarly it is held to be the fundamental teaching among the Bonpos, the non-Buddhist school in Tibet. After a historical introduction to Tibetan Buddhism and the Bon, the author deals with the legends of Vairocana (Part I), analysing early documents containing essential elements of the doctrine and comparing them with the Ch'an tradition. He goes on to explore in detail the development of the doctrine in the tenth and eleventh centuries A.D. (Part II). The Tantric doctrines that play an important role are dealt with, as are the rDzogs chen theories in relation to the other major Buddhist doctrines. Different trends in the rDzogs chen tradition are described in Part III. The author has drawn his sources mainly from early unpublished documents which throw light on the origins and development, at the same time also using a variety of sources which enabled him to explicate the crucial position which the doctrine occupies in Tibetan religions.

The Great Perfection (rDzogs chen in Tibetan) is a philosophical and meditative teaching. Its inception is attributed to Vairocana, one of the first seven Tibetan Buddhist monks ordained at Samye in the eight century A.D. The doctrine is regarded among Buddhists as the core of the teachings adhered to by the Nyingmapa school whilst similarly it is held to be the fundamental teaching among the Bonpos, the non-Buddhist school in Tibet. After a historical introduction to Tibetan Buddhism and the Bon, the author deals with the legends of Vairocana (Part I), analysing early documents containing essential elements of the doctrine and comparing them with the Ch'an tradition. He goes on to explore in detail the development of the doctrine in the tenth and eleventh centuries A.D. (Part II). The Tantric doctrines that play an important role are dealt with, as are the rDzogs chen theories in relation to the other major Buddhist doctrines. Different trends in the rDzogs chen tradition are described in Part III. The author has drawn his sources mainly from early unpublished documents which throw light on the origins and development, at the same time also using a variety of sources which enabled him to explicate the crucial position which the doctrine occupies in Tibetan religions.

Dzogchen, or the Great Perfection, is considered by both the Bonpos and the followers of the Nyigma school in Tibet to be the culmination of all spiritual teachings. The philosophical view of the Great Perfection introduces the individual to the knowledge of reality, which is one with the enlightened state of all beings. In this book the Dzogchen view is presented in two Bonpo texts belonging to the revered terma (treasure) and oral traditions, here for the first time translated and critically edited in their entirety.

The Great Perfection, also known as the Atiyoga or Dzogchen (rDzogs chen), is both a name for the realization of instantaneous enlightenment and a name for the literature that talks about this. Generally speaking, the Great Perfection is beyond both words and deeds, yet even though nothing may be said about it, there does exist a large body of literature that discusses it. This literature exists today within the canons of teachings that are preserved from the earliest period of Buddhism's beginnings in Tibet, around the Eighth Century of the Common Era. These collections are known as The Hundred Thousand Tantras of the Ancients (Nyingma Gyubum). The most famous of the early translators of Great Perfection literature were Vairochana, a Tibetan monk who went to India in search of the teachings on instantaneous enlightenment, and Vimalamitra, an Indian master who came to Tibet. The collected translations of Vairochana are retained in a collection called The Hundred Thousand Tantras of Vairochana (Vairo Gyubum). From out of the many hundreds of titles to be found in these great collections, I have selected ten works that I believe will be of great interest. The first five Tantras in this book are pointing out instructions, or upadesha, on the enlightened mind, or Bodhicitta. These five Tantras are a set, and include the Soaring of the Great Garuda, the Pounce of the Great Lion, the Motion of the Geese, the Song of the Cuckoo of the Awareness, and the Withdrawal of the Golden Turtle. These texts are presented in beautiful poetry, which I have done my best to bring through into English. Each contains unique insights into the practice and realization of the Great Perfection. This set is followed by two Tantras titled The Fish Lies in Wait. The first is a "drop" of the Bodhicitta, while the second is simply the Bodhicitta. These two works strike at the very core of Great Perfection thinking, and are considered secret. The practices of the Skull-Jump (Thod rgal) and the Solid Cut (Khregs gcod) are widely taught by many teachers these days. The Nyingma Gyubum and Vairo Gyubum contain only one text that has Thod rgal in its title: The Great Skull-Jump Tantra. They also contain only one text that has Khregs gcod in its title: The Seven Solid Cuts. These two texts will be of great interest to students who are interested in these practice traditions. The Single Grain of the Black Yangti contains a very concise and to-the-point description of the very core of the Great Perfection.

Buddhism is in many ways a visual tradition, with its well-known practices of visualization, its visual arts, its epistemological writings that discuss the act of seeing, and its literature filled with images and metaphors of light. Some Buddhist traditions are also visionary, advocating practices by which meditators seek visions that arise before their eyes. Naked Seeing investigates such practices in the context of two major esoteric traditions, the Wheel of Time (Kalacakra) and the Great Perfection (Dzogchen). Both of these experimented with sensory deprivation, and developed yogas involving long periods of dwelling in dark rooms or gazing at the open sky. These produced unusual experiences of seeing, which were used to pursue some of the classic Buddhist questions about appearances, emptiness, and the nature of reality. Along the way, these practices gave rise to provocative ideas and suggested that, rather than being apprehended through internal insight, religious truths might also be seen in the exterior world-realized through the gateway of the eyes. Christopher Hatchell presents the intellectual and literary histories of these practices, and also explores the meditative techniques and physiology that underlie their distinctive visionary experiences. The book also offers for the first time complete English translations of three major Tibetan texts on visionary practice: a Kalacakra treatise by Yumo Mikyo Dorj , The Lamp Illuminating Emptiness, a Nyingma Great Perfection work called The Tantra of the Blazing Lamps, and a B n Great Perfection work called Advice on the Six Lamps, along with a detailed commentary on this by Drugom Gyalwa Yungdrung.

Dzogchen, or the "Great Perfection," is considered by many to be the apex of Tibetan Buddhism, and Longchen Rabjam is the most celebrated of all the saints of this remarkable tradition. Natural Perfection presents the radical precepts of Dzogchen, pointing the way to absolute liberation from conceptual fetters and leading the practitioner to a state of pure, natural integration into one's true being. Transcending the Tibetan context or even the confines of Buddhist tradition, Longchen Rabjam delivers a manual full of practical wisdom. Natural Perfection is a shining example of why people have continued to turn to the traditions of Tibet for spiritual and personal transformation and realization. Keith Dowman's illuminating translation of this remarkable work of wisdom provides clear accessibility to the profound path of Dzogchen in the here-and-now.