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374Pacific Worldpreliminary practices if one has no difficulty quieting the mind or if onesimply finds such practices too difficult (Germano, p. 225). Since fewpractitioners meet the first criteria at least, this did not significantly call intoquestion the importance of preliminary practices.170. Germano, p. 255.171. Ibid., p. 260.172. The practices below are described as “preliminaries” from the perspectiveof Dzogchen. Depending on the school or tradition, these preliminariesmay be viewed as the central and ultimate practice itself.173. Germano, p. 260.174. Ibid., p. 255; material in brackets my addition. See also p. 260.175. Precept 15 of Ngulchu Thogme’s Thirty-Seven Precepts of theBodhisattva. I have been unable to identify the translator. For othertranslations of the Thirty-Seven Precepts, see Geshe Sonam Rinchen, TheThirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas, trans. Ruth Sonam (Ithaca, NY:Snow Lion Publications, 1997), p. 47; Geshe Jampa Tegchok, Transformingthe Heart: The Buddhist Way to Joy and Courage (Ithaca, NY: Snow LionPublications, 1999), p. 211.176. Generally, Ωamathå is considered a prerequisite for vipåΩyana.177. Germano, p. 253.178. Ibid.179. Longchenpa lists tantric practices as calming techniques. Germano,pp. 252–253.180. In some presentations (particularly Gelugpa), this awareness is considereda more direct means of realizing emptiness.181. These include practices in which one visualizes energy flowing alongvarious channels (nadi) in the body as well as practices of breath retentionor alternate-nostril breathing.182. Germano, p. 253.183. Ibid., p. 254.184. Ibid.185. Ibid., p. 253.186. On Dzogchen’s shift from an early rejection of all formalized, structuredpractices to an increasingly structured (especially tantric) approach,see Germano, pp. 205–209, 216, 234, and 266.187. Germano, pp. 254 and 240.188. In the Prajñåpåramitå S¥tras, the concept of emptiness seems to havealso been an attempt to refer to or evoke an unconditioned approach to