An Overview of the Dzogchen Path

If you want to play music, you don’t start with improvisation. You begin by tuning your instrument. You practice scales, not because they are music itself, but because they make the music possible. Then, when the time is right, music flows freely.

Dzogchen is sometimes called “the path of no meditation.” But the masters never spoke of it as a shortcut or an escape. They outlined a path with clear stages that prepare us, introduce us to awareness, and help us integrate it into every breath of life. Without direction, we wander. Without steps, we stall. The path shows us both direction and steps, not as something to add, but as a way of uncovering what is already here.

It’s tempting to ask: “If our nature is already perfect as it is, why follow stages at all?” The answer is simple. The stages aren’t for awareness, awareness is already complete. They are for us. Our habits, distractions, and confusions are strong. Without training, we may glimpse our true nature for a moment, only to lose it again. The path is how we clear the clouds so the open sky can reveal itself.

The essence of the Dzogchen path was summed up by Garab Dorje, the first teacher of the tradition, in three simple instructions:

Direct introduction to one’s own nature.
Decisive certainty in that view.
Continue with confidence in liberation.

Everything in Dzogchen flows from these three crucial points.

Phase One: Becoming a Proper Vessel

Before the direct introduction can take hold, we must become a vessel that can actually recognize what is being pointed out. Buddhism often uses three analogies to describe the obstacles:

A pot turned upside down: You may hear many teachings, but nothing enters your experience.

A pot with poison inside: You may practice, but with impure motives–seeking temporary bliss, power, or validation–and everything is tainted.

A pot with holes: You may study and practice, but without depth or continuity, what is received gradually leaks away.

The preliminaries are designed to correct these flaws. They turn the pot upright, clean it, and seal the cracks so that it can hold the nectar of the teachings.

This preparation is not an abstract exercise. It means cultivating stability through shamatha, insight through vipashyana, compassion and bodhicitta through reflection and action. It means working with the mind so that when the teacher offers pointing-out instruction, there is a readiness to actually receive it.

Younge Khachab Rinpoche’s book Secret Path of the Siddhas presents these preliminaries in an essential way. They are not about ritual accumulation for its own sake. They are about becoming deeply familiar with the mind and its nature, and with the view of Dzogchen itself.

Without this grounding, no matter how skilled the teacher, the introduction will not land. With it, we become proper vessels.

Kongtrul, in Heart Essence of Mother and Child, describes the preliminaries in five areas:

1. Preparing the session itself.
2. The seven mind trainings of the Vima Nyingtik.
3. The four uncommon preliminaries.
4. Training with winds and drops.
5. Dissolving the elements and cutting the stream of thoughts.

Different people are drawn to different entry points. Those who need signs and inspiration may begin with practices on the elements. Disciples who lack effort in practice may rely on a more contemplative approach. 

All of these are ways of becoming a proper vessel.

Phase Two: Recognizing Awareness

Once the vessel is prepared, we can enter the heart of Dzogchen. This is the phase of Garab Dorje’s direct introduction, recognition of awareness itself, or rigpa in Tibetan.

Here we meet the two great Dzogchen practices:

Trekchö (Cutting Through): Allowing ordinary mind to relax into its primordial purity.

Tögal (Direct Crossing): Recognizing the spontaneous presence and expressive display of that awareness.

Longchenpa, in A Great Guide for the Supreme Secret Path, writes:

“First, through the introduction to primordial purity, the disciples are brought into the experience of it (dharmakaya) in this present moment. Second, the introduction to spontaneous presence, the state of luminosity, brings freedom in the bardo.”

Between trekchö and tögal is Korde Rushen, the practice of “separating samsara and nirvana.” These methods create a sharp distinction between ordinary mind and awareness, allowing us to see directly what is awareness and what is not. In the right environment, these rushen practices are extraordinarily effective, though it is not necessary that you have to do every practice.

Longchenpa, in The Excellent Path to Enlightenment, lays out a gradual unfolding of trekchö leading into tögal. Step by step, certainty in the view deepens. Trekchö reveals the ground of purity, tögal reveals the path of luminosity.

The early Dzogchen masters emphasized this sequence. Trekchö can bring freedom without effort, while Tögal involves effort. As the texts say:

“Those who have not already practiced trekchö in the proper way should on no account be given the teachings on togal alone.”

This is Garab Dorje’s second point, the decisive phase, where recognition deepens into certainty.

Phase Three: Constant Practice

The third phase is Garab Dorje’s final instruction: Continue with confidence in liberation.

Practice here is no longer confined to the cushion. It becomes constant, “like a flowing river.” Day and night, in waking and dreaming, we sustain the recognition that appearances are like reflections in water or castles in the clouds.

Kongtrul explains:

“How to work with appearances during the day, and how to strike the key points of primordial awareness at night.”

This is not an intellectual exercise but a lived experience. Whatever arises is met with confidence: appearances are free in their own place, thoughts self-liberate, emotions are liberated upon arising. We begin to meet life itself as the wheel of dharmata, the natural display of awareness.

Everyday Practice of Dzogchen

Though the stages are spoken of in order, they are not separate. Preparation, recognition, and integration weave together in daily life.

When you pause before reacting, you are preparing the vessel.

When you sit on a bench in the park with open presence, you are tasting recognition.

When you see joy and sorrow alike as dreamlike, you are practicing integration.

Each moment contains the whole path. The whole path is present in every step we take.

As Younge Khachab Rinpoche summarizes in Secret Path of the Siddhas: the stages are “working with the mind, entering the path of self-liberation, and integrating your experience.”

Where We Are in the Journey

With this understanding, we’ve sketched the map of the Dzogchen path as it is lived in everyday practice: first becoming a proper vessel, then recognizing awareness, and finally continuing with confidence in liberation.

So far in this series, we’ve explored the living lineage that carries these teachings and the ground, the nature of mind as already complete. With this overview of the path, we now turn to what comes next: a closer look at the preliminaries and the main practices of Dzogchen.

An Invitation

These writings are not meant to be read as abstract philosophy. They are doorways into lived practice. If you have questions about how these teachings apply to your own life, I encourage you to reach out.

And if you feel called to walk this path more closely, you’re invited to join us in the YDL Circle community app, where students and practitioners come together to share questions, reflections, and support along the way.

Dzogchen is not just a teaching to understand, it is a practice to live. Let’s walk it together.