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TENThe Innermost EssenceNO ONE CAN DIE FEARLESSLY and in complete securityuntil they have truly realized the nature of mind. For onlythis realization, deepened over years of sustained practice, cankeep the mind stable during the molten chaos of the processof death. Of all the ways I know of helping people to realizethe nature of mind, that of the practice of Dzogchen, the mostancient and direct stream of wisdom within the teachings ofBuddhism, and the source of the bardo teachings themselves,is the clearest, most effective, and most relevant to the environmentand needs of today.The origins of Dzogchen are traced to the Primordial Buddha,Samantabhadra, from whom it has been handed down inan unbroken line of great masters to the present. Hundreds ofthousands of individuals in India, the Himalayas, and Tibethave attained realization and enlightenment through its practice.There is a wonderful prophecy that "in this dark age, theheart essence of Samantabhadra will blaze like fire." My life,my teachings, and this book are dedicated to lighting this firein the hearts and minds of the world.My constant support and inspiration and guide in this is thesupreme master Padmasambhava. He is the essential spirit ofDzogchen, its greatest exponent and its human embodiment,with his glorious qualities of magnanimity, miraculous power,prophetic vision, awakened energy, and boundless compassion.Dzogchen was not widely taught in Tibet, and for a whilemany of the greatest masters did not teach it in the modernworld. Why then am I teaching it now? Some of my mastershave told me that this is the time for Dzogchen to spread, thetime alluded to in the prophecy. I feel too that it would beuncompassionate not to share with people the existence ofsuch an extraordinary wisdom. Human beings have come to acritical place in their evolution, and this age of extreme confu-154