Dzogchen View, Tantric Method: Why Tantra Still Matters Today

When people first encounter Buddhist tantra, it often looks overwhelming. The elaborate rituals, the fierce or beautiful deities, the endless mantras. It can seem like a world of symbols and secret codes. It’s easy to miss the essence of practice amidst its vivid appearance.

But if we look closely, tantra isn’t about rituals or esoteric symbolism. At its heart, tantra is a set of methods. And like any method, it only makes sense when we know what it’s for.

To see the essence clearly, we begin with Dzogchen.

Starting with the View

Dzogchen begins with the recognition of the ground, the nature of your own mind. Pure from the very beginning, it is awareness itself: empty, clear, and awake. There is nothing to add, nothing to take away. If you recognize this ground, you already sit in the essence of the path.

But recognition alone isn’t always enough. Our habits and obscurations pull us back into distraction, grasping, and confusion. This is where method becomes important.

Tantra as Method

Tantra is the path of skillful means. Its genius is that it doesn’t leave anything out. Body, speech, mind, perception, even desire and delusion–all of it can be harnessed as fuel for awakening.

Visualizing a deity isn’t about worshiping something outside of you. It’s about bringing forward the awakened qualities already latent in your own awareness. Mantra recitation and ritual activity aren't a magic performance, they're about aligning your body, speech, and mind with the reality of who you are–a buddha.

Dzogchen gives the view. Tantra gives the method. Together, they work as one.

A Foundation for the Path

Without the correct view, tantra can become a hollow shell of exotic rituals recited without meaning. Without tantric methods, the Dzogchen view can remain abstract—clear in principle, but difficult to live and embody in the flow of ordinary life.

As we carry the ancient practice traditions into modern life, the point is not to preserve old cultural forms just for their own sake. The point is to carry forward the wisdom of the practice into today's world.

If you understand the Three Continuums—ground, path, and result—as the foundation of tantra, you'll understand the purpose of every tantric practice.

The view is already present. The methods are at hand. Our task is simply to bring them together, so the recognition of awareness doesn’t remain a glimpse, but becomes the living ground of our life.

That begins now, wherever you are.