The Cuckoo of Instant Presence

This book is based on a teaching retreat on The Six Vajra Verses, an original Dzogchen text also known as Rigpai Khujug: The Cuckoo of Instant Presence, held at Merigar in Arcidosso, Italy, from December 23, 1985, to January 5, 1986, the first complete oral commentary he had given on this important text in the West.
The Six Vajra Verses is divided into three equal parts of two verses each, each explaining the base, the path, and the fruit of the Dzogchen teaching. Ultimately it becomes clear that all three are facets of the primordial state, our real condition as it is and always has been. The Rigpai Khujug teaching is presented here first in a concise explanation followed by a detailed one. An appendix titled A Brief Guide to the Methods and Traditions of Tibetan Buddhism follows, a teaching given by Rinpoche during a weekend retreat in London in the late 1980s. Our hope is that the Dzogchen teaching can thus be more clearly understood in the context of other Buddhist traditions.