PACIFIC WORLD - The Institute of Buddhist Studies

A Cybernetic Approach to DzogchenRandall StudstillSan José State UniversityDZOGCHEN (Tib. rdzogs-chen)—usually translated “Great Perfection”—is a philosophical and meditative tradition of Tibet. Many Tibetan Buddhistsconsider it to be the most advanced form of Buddhist practice. 1Dzogchen is distinguished from other forms of Tibetan Buddhism by itsunique doctrines and meditative approach. For example, Dzogchen positsinnate and natural perfection as the individual’s “ever-present” and permanentcondition and maintains that the simplicity of immediate awareness,unconditioned by any concept, symbol, practice, etc. constitutes adirect path to realizing this perfection. 2 From a Dzogchen perspective,“Everything is naturally perfect just as it is, completely pure and undefiled….With no effort or practice whatsoever, enlightenment and Buddhahoodare already fully developed and perfected.” 3Though the meaning of these doctrines is apparently straightforward,their significance as part of a lived religious path is less clear. Among otherthings, there is no necessary or obvious correlation between a doctrine’smeaning and its function in the psychological life of a practitioner: what adoctrine means and how that doctrine affects the practitioner’s consciousness—aredifferent issues. Since familiarity with doctrinal formulationsdoes not necessarily entail understanding their cognitive effects, an adequateapproach to Dzogchen must address both areas—it must combinea descriptive account of doctrines and practices with an analysis of howboth affect the consciousness of the practitioner and potentially generatethe mystical 4 states valorized by the tradition. It must also include a thirdelement: an explicitly formulated theory or model of mind or consciousness.In order to investigate Dzogchen’s cognitive and experiential effects,one first needs a model of what is being affected, i.e., consciousness itself.This model functions as the indispensable interpretive framework foraddressing the specifically psychological processes at stake.This article is an interpretation of Dzogchen using the approachoutlined above. Accordingly, it addresses the cognitive and experientialeffects of Dzogchen doctrine and practice based on a specific model ofconsciousness. The article is divided into three major parts. The firstpresents a cybernetic theory of mind or consciousness—the interpretiveframework for a psychological analysis of Dzogchen. Part two is a descrip-321