The Ancient Path of Joy
There is in the heart of every one of us a capacity to reconnect
with the luminous heart of all experience and be welcomed home.
What is Thogal ?
Thogal is a dynamic visionary process arising from your heart and the very basis of all manifestation. It is a relationship, a practice of the approach of grace. The visions of inner radiance are already within a luminous seed or sphere that abides in the heart of every being. Engagement with the visions is the ancient Path of Joy, also known as Thogal, a profound connection with the living essence manifest in its purest form, a natural unconfused practice free of the assumptions of language or culture.
​Where did the practice of Thogal originate?
​This visionary involvement is one with all life and the essence. It is not a coincidence that the four aspects of theThogal visions follow the natural seasonal cycles of the Earth. They arise from the same source, and the visions of Thogal become your the teacher just as the Earth has been your teacher since birth, through direct experience of the heart. The path of Tögal is very ancient. The practice of the heart essence arose out of direct experience in the wilderness long before it was known as Mahasandhi, Maha Ati, Dzogchen, or the Great Perfection. It has been introduced in the West as Dzogchen, and although primarily within a Buddhist context, its origins are not Buddhist. It was added on to Buddhism around the time one stream of this practice was brought to Tibet from India. The first noble truth of Buddhism, that this world is suffering, begins a very different journey than that of recognition of indwelling meditative experience called Rigpa, which is the starting point of Dzogchen. The complete path of the heart essence involves the union of recognition of Original Heart (Rigpa) and the visions of inner radiance; this union is the practice of Thogal. Without Thogal, there is no Dzogchen, yet Thogal is not widely taught or practiced in the West.
The Four Visions of Thogal
​The rainbow-colored visions of Thogal are primordial; they are the first and most radiant aspect of manifestation closest to essence. They are not random; they arise in the same way for everyone and in the same progression. They are not visualizations, not creations of the mind; they arise outside the domains of words and doctrine. They are very simple and organic. They are a doorway to direct perception of the luminous union of essence and radiance. In this practice you access a special channel of light that connects the heart and the eyes, which initiates the particular cycle of visionary transformation that is Thogal. The stages of the path of Thogal are spoken of as the Four Visions, but they are more clearly understood as four aspects of a single visionary process that is moving you toward the indivisible oneness of return to essence. The four visions are not separate events, or snapshots that slowly come into focus; they are a living visionary process that extends over a period of years of day and night practice. The cycle of the visions can be divided like a circle into four segments, four aspects of experience similar to the cycle of the seasons and the stages of growth in a plant or a human, but they are still part of a single circle of experience.
When can you begin the practice of Thogal?
​You need to be sure that you have prepared the ground and nurtured the soil of your heart before you proceed with this path.
To allow the visions to arise naturally, you need to embrace the Earth in your heart. You need to become Earth, receptive, accepting, humble and devoted, to join with the holy ones. It is crucial that you experience the state of original heart (Rigpa) in relation to the natural world, as an engaged openness from your heart, not as a construct of mind, for the visions to arise in an authentic way. The path of Thogal is not about holding to or generating an image. The visions of radiance are not mind experiences or visualizations; they are direct perception of the radiance of the essence. The process is not an experience base on fine points of doctrine, nor it is grasping at whatever comes up in the practice of your mind. You need to know the difference between mind and heart and to have taken responsibility for your spiritual path.
If you have a human guide who has completed the path of Thogal from a heart perspective, you can receive their view on whether it is time to proceed with this path.
Guidance on the path of Thogal
Without Thogal, there is no Dzogchen, yet Thogal is not widely taught by those who have actually completed the path. Rather Thogal has been presented by Lineage holders with little or no experience using Thogal texts and Manuals that are poorly written and translated by those who again have not accomplished the Path. This has led to an emphasis of intellectualizing Original Heart (Rigpa) and the practice of Thogal. This is why Rachel and I wrote Primordial Grace and Luminous Heart of Inner Radiance to clarify the teachings and bring them back to their original roots.
We offer individual teaching and guidance to those who wish to traverse the path of Primordial Grace (Dzogchen-Thogal).
A guide to the whole path of Dzogchen - Thogal with the complete instructions for the preliminaries and the actual practice
A unique book of drawings of the Thogal visions from our direct experience
Robert also offers individual teachings and guidance to those who wish to traverse the path of Primordial Grace and the practice of Dzogchen-Thogal. You can contact me here if you search for guidance on this path.
The Earth Refuge vision
The wonders and the truth are all around us in the natural world. They are here for us to find and emulate. The teachings are woven into the very fabric of being.
The Earth Refuge is a call to those who seek a place of solitude, within a circle of Earth People, to blend back into the embrace of our Earth Mother and follow the primordial teachings that surround us in the natural world.
It holds a seed for a new beginning. In that seed is a group of Earth people who are spiritually responsible for themselves, knitted together as a living consensus moving within the flow of our Earth Mother. A group dedicated to living without separation, no lesser or higher, an active call and response in the moment, a return to a living wholeness.
May All Beings Walk in the Beauty of Origin’s Heart
And Experience their Indwelling Heart of Light
The Essence Seed of Great Compassion and Love And Live in Harmony and Reverence
With Each Other and our Beloved Earth Mother Returning to the Circle of Life
To Be the Prayer for All Being