As a Buddhist study center, we’re committed to ongoing inquiry and reflection. Each newsletter includes a Dharma Resource to support continued study and practice. We hope these offerings are meaningful and helpful to you.
Liberation from Sutra to Dzogchen: Anne C. Klein on a Path from Effort to Ease
Anne C. Klein (Rigzin Drolma) joined Joseph Goldstein, Dhammadīpā, John Dunne, Guo Gu, and William Edelglass for Liberation: A Dialogue Across Buddhist Traditions, an exploration of how different Buddhist traditions understand liberation and freedom from suffering.
Examining themes such as impermanence, non-self, compassion, emptiness, and non-duality, the retreat invited participants to explore both the shared ground and distinct perspectives of different Buddhist paths, reflecting on how awakening transforms the way we live and respond to the world.
This month’s Dharma Resource features Anne C. Klein’s dharma talk with guided meditation, a separate recording of the meditation, and the Q&A session that followed.
Dharma Talk with Guided Meditation
Anne explores liberation through the perspectives of sutra, tantra, and Dzogchen, presenting them not as competing systems but as stages within a larger path.
Drawing from Tibetan Buddhist teachings and her own experience, she reflects on the movement from effort to ease, from the conceptual to the non-conceptual, and from the contrived to the uncontrived. She also considers Buddha nature, pure perception, and the Dzogchen invitation to rest in openness.
The talk includes a guided “story meditation” from Jigme Lingpa that moves through impermanence, mortality, refuge, transformation, and stillness.
Guided Meditation Excerpt
In this guided meditation, Anne leads listeners through a vivid contemplative journey adapted from Jigme Lingpa.
The practice begins with danger, uncertainty, and the immediacy of mortality. At the moment of greatest fear, the practitioner encounters the luminous presence of their teacher and dissolves into light.
Anne then invites listeners to release the story, let go of thoughts of past, present, and future, rest at ease, and observe movement and stillness.
Q&A Session
Following the talk, Anne joins fellow teachers in a cross-traditional conversation about emptiness, imagination, Buddha nature, and the dharmadhātu.
The discussion explores resonances between Dzogchen and East Asian Buddhist teachings, including the relationship between emptiness and “wondrous existence,” and the inseparability of luminosity, vastness, intimacy, and compassion.
Explore More Audio from the Retreat
Interested in going deeper? Explore the full collection of audio recordings from Liberation: A Dialogue Across Buddhist Traditions, including dharma talks, guided meditations, and conversations with Joseph Goldstein, Dhammadīpā, John Dunne, Guo Gu, Anne C. Klein, and William Edelglass.
