THREE GREAT PHILOSOPHICAL and contemplative traditions are described by many Tibetan masters as the essential standpoints of their tradition: the Great Seal, or Mahamudra, most often associated with the Kagyu school; the Middle Way, or Madhyamaka, which is the philosophical stance claimed by most Tibetan Buddhists; and the Great Perfection, or Dzogchen, best known for its centrality to the Nyingma tradition.
Do practitioners of these different systems ultimately experience the same reality? The Third Karmapa of Tibet, Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339), provided this answer:
Free of mental activity, it is the Great Seal;
Free from extremes, it is the Great Middle Way;
Comprising everything, it is called the Great Perfection—
Be confident that by knowing one you realize the meaning of all.
The Karmapa’s assertion—echoed by lamas from all the great lineages—that these (and other) systems of thought and practice come down to the same thing suggests that beyond the differences apparent at the level of terminology and sectarian style there is a profound unity at the heart of Tibetan Buddhism.
All three systems plumb the nature of reality as deeply as possible—all three provide methods to realize it and attain spiritual freedom—but Dzogchen and Mahamudra are especially notable for their focus on uncovering the original nature of the mind. Both are what we might call gnostic traditions; that is, their main concern is the attainment of gnosis, or divine wisdom. The Greek word gnosis is etymologically related to the Sanskrit term jnana, which in Buddhism refers mainly to a direct, liberating realization of the nature of reality.
In certain traditions, particularly those influenced by the mind-centered Yogacara school of Mahayana, Buddhist gnosis is above all a matter of discovering the true nature of mind—which is and always has been pure, luminous, blissful, empty, and aware. By contrast, our delusions and defilements are just temporary occlusions, like clouds passing
