Transmission

The starting point of the practice of Dzogchen is the direct introduction received from a qualified teacher. A qualified teacher (‘guru’ in Sanskrit) has the knowledge of the real condition of the individual, and the capacity to transmit this knowledge.

Once a student has gained this knowledge, his or her most important practice is to time and time again to return to this knowledge. As the the knowledge was transmitted by the teacher, this practice is called ‘guru yoga’, where ‘yoga’ refers to having knowledge. ‘Yoga’, a Sanskrit word often translated as ‘union’, is rendered ‘naljor’ in Tibetan, where ‘nal’ means natural condition and ‘jor’ having knowledge.