Approaching Dzogchen (According to The Athri Cycle)

Six years have passed since Kyabje Merni Tridzin Lungtog Tenpai Nyima Rinpoche's visit to Shenten Dargye Ling Bonpo Centre in Blou, France, at the end of August 2010. During the visit, Rinpoche gave wonderfully detailed and lucid instructions on the Preliminary Practices and an Introduction to Dzogchen according to the Athri Dzogchen Cycle. After three days of teachings, he bestowed the empowerment of Sherab Jamma, The Wisdom Goddess of Loving-Kindness, a powerful finale for this auspicious occasion.

Carol and I were tasked with producing the edited transcript of these teachings. This, however, presented certain challenges since Kyabje Menri Tridzin Rinpoche taught in Tibetan. His discourse was simultaneously and ably interpreted by Dr. Stephan Arguillere with interjections and commentaries by Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung. The initial transcript was a patchwork of repetitions and double takes, requiring significant re-ordering and editing, all the more so since this was intended for public publication.

Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung, Carol and I set about checking the text the following month. It soon became apparent there was still much work to be done, and we had to go back to the original audio tapes to finalize several difficult passages. As we listened, Khenpo Tenpa Yungdrung retranslated them orally and we then rearranged the resulting material into a more concise order. Without Khenpo's input this book would never have come about, so we would like to thank him for his efforts, enthusiasm and dedication.

By the end of our work sessions in September 2010, the text was starting to take shape, but it still required extensive editing, both linguistic and structural, as well as additional references, footnotes and transliteration of Bonpo terms. Here I would like to thank Dr. Sangmo Yangri for sending me relevant Tibetan books from the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi, India, without which proper referencing would not have been possible.

Since Carol and I are extremely busy with producing a large number of transcripts, translations, public books and multi-media materials on Bon, often working on several projects at the same time, the process of bringing this publication to completion has taken several years. The final revision and editing was completed in August 2016 and we are both happy to present this volume to the readers.

Kyabje Menri Tridzin Rinpoche's unique teaching style combines scholastic brilliance and profound experiential instructions with humour and knowledge of realities of life. This book will be equally useful to all, from those who have just discovered the Yungdrung Bon tradition to academicians and scholars, students as well ., of course, practitioners.

We wish and pray that this book will bring benefit to all who meet with it!

**Contents and Sample Pages**