schools. Seven centuries later, Dudjom Rinpoche quotes Jigten Sumgön on something else he emphasized, the significance of the preliminary practices (ngöndro): "Other teachings consider the main practice profound, but here it is the preliminary practices that we consider profound." The usefulness of philosophy Regarding Buddhist philosophical tenets, Jigten Sumgön and his followers generally held a dismissive attitude towards their usefulness. Jigten Sumgön states in Gongchik (4.13): "The truth is veiled by all [philosophical] tenets whatsoever." He also wrote: May those who mistake the system of tenets, which is a knot of the mind, as the Buddha’s intention, realize true reality and may their mindfulness be purified in itself. Moreover, echoing the mahāsiddha Saraha, he says: All the views starting from the Non-Buddhists’ view of permanence and nihilism and up to the Madhyamikas’ [view] are something that is a mind-made duality. Since I have not studied these views of the various tenets, I do not know them. Instead of establishing a specific philosophical view as unrefutable or attempting to conceptually express the truth intellectually, Jigten Sumgön held we should strive to attain direct realization of the nature of the mind. References Bibliography Cuevas, Bryan J. (2006). The Hidden History of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Oxford University Press US. , Dorji, Sangay (Dasho); Kinga, Sonam (translator) (2008). The Biography of Zhabdrung Nga wang Namgyal: Pal Drukpa Rinpoche. Thimphu, Bhutan: KMT Publications. pp. 146–7. . Gyaltsen, Khenpo Konchog (2006). The Great Kagyu Masters. Snow Lion Publications; 2nd edition. pp. 226–255. Stewart, Jampa Mackenzie. The Life of Gampopa, Second Edition. Snow Lion Publications (July 25, 2004). External links Drikung Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism A Brief History of Drigungtil Monastery Travel Diary to Alchi Monastery 1143 births 1217 deaths Drikung Kagyu lamas