dzogchungpa wrote:Matt J wrote:He also interestingly does not rule out a correspondence with Kashmir Shaivism.
FWIW I recently heard Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, whose Deer Park Institute regularly holds courses and seminars on Kashmir Shaivism, say that it is "very, very identical" with Vajrayana Buddhism
I've been reading Part III of John Reynolds' The Golden Letters, which addresses the historical origins of Dzogchen. As you know, the tradition's founding myth (Garab Dorje, Uddiyana, etc.) has been the subject of much skepticism, and not only from Western scholars. Eighteenth-century Tibetan historian Sumpa Khanpo asserted that, contrary to what the tradition claims about its own origins, Dzogchen actually began when a Hindu sadhu came to Tibet pretending to be Padmasambhava and teaching Vedanta, claiming all the while that it was a form of Buddhism. Earlier on, in the thirteenth century, Sakya Pandita claimed that Dzogchen had been influenced by Chan, the view that would be repeated in our own time by Giuseppe Tucci. For what it's worth, Reynolds rejects all such criticism on the grounds that it is never supported by any evidence, though he does not admit that the traditional history is equally lacking in evidence. For myself, I do find intriguing hints that Dzogchen may have some relationship with Kashmir Shaivism. Here I believe there is documented evidence to make such a hypothesis at least seem plausible.
1. Time period. If we rely on verifiable sources (rather than on unverifiable assertions), both Kashmir Shaivism and Dzogchen arose in the closing centuries of the first millennium A.D. This is a better fit chronologically than the idea that Dzogchen was influenced by Chan.
2. Literary form. In both traditions, the founding texts take the literary form of a dialogue. In Kashmir Shaivism: "The Tantras are usually in the form of a dialogue between Shiva and Shakti. Shakti asks questions and Shiva gives the answers" (Swami Shankarananda, Consciousness is Everything: The Yoga of Kashmir Shaivism). In Dzogchen: The fundamental tantra consists of "a dialogue between Sattvavajra, who poses the questions, and Buddha Kunjed Gyalpo, synonymous with Samantabhadra, who answers them" (Chogyal Namkhai Norbu and Adriano Clemente, The Supreme Source, translated by Andrew Lukianowicz).
3. The mirror analogy. Both Kashmir Shaivism and Dzogchen make repeated use of the analogy of a mirror. From Kashmir Shaivism: "In the same way as the mirror underlies everything in the reflection, so God as Consciousness pervades everything reflected in it" (Abhinavagupta, quoted in Swami Shankarananda, Consciousness is Everything: The Yoga of Kashmir Shaivism). From Dzogchen: "A master may show the disciple a mirror and explain how the mirror does not judge the reflections arising in it to be either beautiful or ugly: the mirror is not changed by whatever kind of reflection may arise, nor is its capacity to reflect impaired" (Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, The Crystal and the Way of Light).
4. Initiatory experience. Both traditions stress the importance of the master's transmission to the disciple. In Kashmir Shaivism, the master initiates the disciple with Shaktipat. In Dzogchen, the master initiates the disciple with Direct Introduction.
5. Consciousness. In both traditions, the central focus is on consciousness, and in particular on pure consciousness.