Stages of Practice
The Outer Preliminaries (the Four Thoughts)
The foundation practices begin with a series of four life-changing contemplations—the outer preliminaries—embracing:
(1) The uniqueness and opportunity of human life.
(2) The ever-presence and deeper meaning of impermanence and death.
(3) The infallibility of the cause and effect of our actions, karma.
(4) The repetitive cycle of frustration and suffering that is samsara.
These contemplations are known as the “four thoughts”.
The Inner Preliminaries
The Four Thoughts inspire a strong sense of renunciation, an urgent desire to emerge from samsara and follow the path to liberation. This forms the foundation for the specific practices—the inner preliminaries—of:
(1) Taking refuge in the Buddha as the guide, the truth of his teaching (the Dharma) as the path, and the example of his practitioners (the Sangha) as companions on the path, so awakening a confidence and trust in our own inner buddha nature.
(2) Giving birth to love and compassion—bodhichitta, the heart of the enlightened mind—and training the mind to work with ourselves, with others, and with the difficulties of life.
(3) Removing obscurations of all kinds through the purification and healing practice of meditating on Vajrasattva and reciting his mantra.
(4) Accumulating merit and wisdom by developing universal generosity and creating auspicious circumstances, through the mandala offering.
(5) Finally, in the practice of guru yoga, which is the most crucial, moving and powerful practice of all, we unite our mind with the wisdom mind of all the buddhas and so awaken the wisdom of realization.
Source: https://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Ngöndro
Overview of the Stages of Practice
Practice of the outer and the extraordinary preliminaries provides a strong foundation for spiritual development.
The teachings on the four thoughts give rise to the renunciation of ordinary attachments and guide us toward what is beneficial.
Refuge creates a sense of protection and blessing.
Bodhicitta clarifies our motivation and arouses our compassion—we acknowledge our highest spiritual aspirations.
Mandala offerings generate the accumulation of merit and the revelation of pristine awareness that we will need to fulfill our aspirations.
Vajrasattva provides a method by which we can purify the obstacles to enlightenment—the mind’s poisons, habitual patterns, negative karma, and intellectual obscurations.
Guru yoga enables us to receive the pure qualities of the lama’s realization.
Transference of consciousness allows us to continue our path uninterrupted after this lifetime by finding rebirth in the Pureland.
Source: Based on Ngondro Commentary: Instructions for the Concise Preliminary Practices of the New Treasure of Dudjom. Compiled from the Teachings of His Eminence Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche by Jane Tromge. Junction City, CA: Padma Publishing, 1995.
The Meaning of Ngondro
The term, Ngöndro [consisting of both the outer and inner preliminaries], which concludes with the Guru Yoga practice, means “preliminary practice” — that which goes before the main training.
Although its main focus is the foundation of the training, Ngöndro includes the highest practice of unifying oneself with Buddhahood through dissolving into ultimate nature.
In other words, Ngöndro starts with the trainings on turning the mind toward Dharma [the Four Thoughts], but it ends with the unification of one’s mind with the enlightened wisdom of the Buddha, Guru Rinpoche.
Therefore, I am translating Ngöndro as “the essential practice.” If Ngöndro is practiced properly and earnestly, it includes a complete path that leads to the highest goal—enlightenment. So the result is up to us; it depends on how we can understand, assimilate, and practice. If we have the capacity, Guru Yoga will lead us from the beginning to the highest Buddha realization.
Source: Based on Tulku Thondup. Edited by Harold Talbot. Enlightened Journey: Buddhist Practice as Daily Life. Boston and London: Shambhala Publications, 2001.
