"dZogchen" or "the great perfection" refers to the "self-perfected" state of mind which is the mind`s natural state. In teaching dZogchen, Chogyal Namkhai Norbu says, "the master is trying to transmit a state of knowledge....to awaken the student, opening that individual`s consciousness....The master will not say: `Follow my rules and obey my precepts?`, but will say: `Open your inner eye and observe yourself. Stop seeking an external lamp to enlighten you from outside, but light your own inner lamp. Thus the teachings will come to live in you, and you in the teachings.` " Neither a school of thought nor a religion, dZogchen is the name give to a state of mind untroubled by the interference of either concepts or categories. and is therefore difficult to convey in words. Norbu does an admirably lucid job in this small but powerful volume which is routinely cited by students of Buddhism as a most helpful work..

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