The Cuckoo of Rigpa

The Cuckoo of Rigpa (Rig pa’i khu byug), or Six Vajra Verses, is known to be one of the first five translations through which the great Tibetan translator Vairocana (eighth century) introduced the Dzogchen scriptures from Oḍḍiyāna. Although its essence is contained in only six lines, it unmistakably expresses the principles of the base, path, and fruit of Dzogchen in their entirety. In the Dunhuang manuscript the six verses are followed by a commentary, possibly the work of Vairocana himself, that explains the meaning of each verse with utmost clarity, including in relation to specific points of the view and practice of the Vajrayāna path of transformation.                                                          
In this book, the Dunhuang commentary is followed by the Author’s annotational commentary elucidating the most important points. In the detailed introduction, which makes up the largest part of the book, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu first undertakes to identify the location of the ancient kingdom of Oḍḍiyāna, the birthplace of the Dzogchen teachings, by relying on historical sources such as the travelogue of Ugyenpa Rinchen Pal (1230–1309), a Tibetan siddha who visited Oḍḍiyāna in the thirteenth century. He then proceeds to show the connection between Oḍḍiyāna and the ancient kingdom of Shang Shung by means of six reasons, on the basis of several Bönpo historical accounts such as from the Dzogchen Oral Transmission of Shang Shung, and concludes with short biographies of the first human master of Dzogchen, Garab Dorje of Oḍḍiyāna, of the great Guru Padmasambhava (eighth century), also from Oḍḍiyāna, and of the Tibetan translator Vairocana.

This book has been published with the generous support of the Ka-Ter Translation Project

Here are links to the short and long versions of the book presentation videos click here