Essence of the Topics

Essence of the Topics

by Longchen Rabjam

oṃ āḥ hūṃ
To the guru and truly awakened, peaceful and wrathful,
The Dharma, essence of the nine yānas and seventeen tantras,
And the saṅgha, practitioners of Dharma who have realized its meaning,
I bow down with devoted body, speech and mind
Throughout the past, present and future.

For the sake of kusulu mendicants
Who favour the utterly unelaborate,
I shall write the Essence of Topics.[1]

All that might be said here, no matter how,
Is really nothing more than repetition.
Still, to summarise what is so profound:
The fundamental nature, though beyond imagining,
Corresponds to the three types of primordial wisdom.[2]
The basis of delusion has many explicable features
But is spontaneous presence and compassionate responsiveness.
Intrinsically present are the kāyas, awareness and wisdom.
Their location is compassion in the centre of citta—the heart.
The pathways are the four channels, what moves are the winds.
The gateways for arising are the eyes and so forth,
Leading to the domain of the immaculate sky.
The practices are Trekchö and Tögal.
The measure is the yoga of fourfold confidence.
The bardo is the union of mother and child.
The locus of liberation is the origin itself.

Herein is presented a summary of all the tantras.

This Essence of the Topics, composed by Natsok Rangdrol, a yogin of the supreme vehicle, at Gangri Tökar, is hereby complete. May it prove virtuous! Virtuous! Virtuous!

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Tsadra Foundation, 2026.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

klong chen rab 'byams. "tshig don snying po" In snying thig ya bzhi. 13 vols. Delhi: Sherab Gyaltsen Lama, 1975. Vol. 12: 467–468 (1 folio)

Secondary Sources

Khenpo Yeshi. "The Origins of the Dzogchen Eleven Words and Meanings: Comparing Nyima Bum, Longchenpa, and Rikzin Gödemchen" in Journal of Tibetan Literature. Vol. 2.2 (2023): 39–82

Longchen Rabjam. Precious Treasury of the Genuine Meaning. Translated by Lama Chönam and Sangye Khandro. Ashland, OR: Berotsana Publications, 2015.

Smith, Ācārya Malcolm. Buddhahood in This Life: The Great Commentary by Vimalamitra. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2016.

Version: 1.0-20260225