James Low - Dzogchen and Buddhist Teachings

October 2001. James Low teaches on "The Integration of Stillness and Movement: the approach of different buddhist paths" at Kamalashila Institute in the Eifel region of Germany.

"Most of us who have been involved with buddhism for some time will have reflected a lot on impermanence, but it is never something to treat lightly. It is the royal road to an understanding of stillness and movement." ~ James Low

Contents:

Stillness and movement

The Four Basic Reflections: back to basics

Precious human birth

Impermanence and death

Karma

Ice or water, depending on the conditions

Going it alone

Samsara: banging into things

Taking refuge

Resources:

Transcription on Dang-wa, Rol-Pa and Tsal

Transcription on the four basic reflections and refuge

Full transcript

Audio recording

Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5IOUHAwWvw

Chapters

00:00 Observing the mind and its movements

10:34 Precious human birth

18:27 Fragmentation of self and the creation of karma

29:13 Death and the continuation of awareness

34:16 Samsara and fluidity: ice and water as metaphor

43:22 Purification as preparation for death

59:20 Balancing energy through diet and daily habits

1:10:55 Betraying the Buddha nature in ordinary experience

1:17:16 Phenomenology of existence versus the stories we tell

1:23:34 The need to relax in practice

1:31:30 Space as the ground of all elements

1:37:09 Relaxing into space versus wind

1:44:23 Machig Labdrön practice: structure and purpose

1:51:02 The necessity of devotion in tantra

1:56:56 Recognizing awareness free of subject and object

2:29:45 Questions and housekeeping

2:34:58 Articulating the process of becoming caught in thought

2:41:31 Thought as ornament: the dharmakaya to sambhogakaya

2:49:53 The ego eats thought

3:02:56 Using deity practice to transform samsaric identity

3:09:13 Samaya: the commitment to maintain practice

3:23:19 The meaning of great happiness (dewa) in tantra

3:30:15 Pure vision and the recognition of fault in Dzogchen

3:39:53 Recognizing one's own nature (ngo rang drol)

3:49:09 The mind is not conditioned by human existence

3:55:45 Investigating how we create our own entanglement

4:09:25 Commitment in tantra versus flexibility in Dzogchen

4:15:30 Distinguishing sacred practice from superstition

4:20:10 The three statements of Garab Dorje

4:35:19 Chöd: the practice of cutting attachment

4:43:23 Cutting attachment to the body in meditation

4:49:37 The visualization of offering the body

4:55:44 The dharmakaya visualization in Chöd

5:01:58 Clarifying the view: beyond thought and expression

5:16:26 Working with fear in meditation

5:22:15 Walking meditation: mindfulness and presence

5:35:51 The Eight Consciousnesses and the Root of Ignorance

5:42:30 Practicing Purification Without Judging What Arises

5:51:46 Lhundrup and rangdrol: instant arising and self-liberation

5:59:47 Receiving Compliments and Insults Without Losing Awareness

6:04:48 Dang, Rolpa and Tsal: The Three Modes of Energy

6:11:52 Tsal: particularities of manifestation and the crystal

6:18:33 Spontaneous activity and leaving no trace

6:30:20 Practicing when tired as preparation for death

Teachings by James Low in Granada, Spain, on "Emptiness and Dzogchen," based on Vairocana's text "The Song of the Cuckoo" (31 October - 02 November 2014).

Original audio in English with consecutive Spanish translation by Juan B. García Lázaro.

"Dzogchen is concerned with knowing your own nature. There are many different paths in Buddhism and gradually they became organised into different styles or families. Some are gradual, others less so, but generally it is a matter of knowing what suits you best." ~ James Low

Full audio recordings available at: https://simplybeing.co.uk/audio-recordings/year/audio2014/emptiness-and-dzogchen-granada-2014/

Instagram of excerpts: https://instagram.com/SBSangha_JamesLow

Podcasts of some teachings: https://simplybeing.co.uk/news/podcasts/

Learn more about future events: https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/

Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMiuPdVZUsA

Chapters

00:00 Session 1 • October 31, 2014

1:25:00 Session 2 • October 31, 2014

2:23:40 Session 3 • November 1st, 2014

3:45:11 Session 4 • November 1st, 2014

5:14:35 Session 5 • November 1st, 2014

6:39:05 Session 6 • November 1nd, 2014

7:48:49 Session 7 • November 2nd, 2014

8:30:12 Session 8 • November 2nd, 2014

9:05:35 Session 9 • November 2nd, 2014

In this teaching from May 9th, 2026, James Low explores patience and non-duality as a means to avoid reactivity to provocations. This session was delivered via Zoom with Romanian translation by Viorica Constantinescu.

Note: The cuts in this video result from the removal of periods of silence during consecutive translation from German.

Versions in other languages:

English: youtu.be/DlLVFctvy4Y

English without silence cuts: youtu.be/mwy3vxTHU58

German: youtu.be/L0MxibNpB3o

Russian: youtu.be/99o7s9XPxUc

Spanish: youtu.be/-eAMBC9c_Ok

Portuguese: youtu.be/w9-JGF6xmuE

Amazonian World Sanctuary - Compassionate Call:

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Eskawata Kayawai - The Spirit of Transformation: youtu.be/muIExL2Qly0

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Resources:

Instagram excerpts: instagram.com/SBSangha_JamesLow

Podcasts: simplybeing.co.uk/news/podcasts

Future events: simplybeing.co.uk/events

Watch the original video on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=8Z7L6-L-ZGI

James Low teaches on patience and non-duality as a means to avoid reactivity to provocations. Recorded on Zoom, May 9th 2026.

This recording has been edited to remove periods of silence during consecutive translation from German. Portuguese translation by Madalena Pedroza.

Other language versions:

English: youtu.be/DlLVFctvy4Y

English (unedited): youtu.be/mwy3vxTHU58

German: youtu.be/L0MxibNpB3o

Russian: youtu.be/99o7s9XPxUc

Spanish: youtu.be/-eAMBC9c_Ok

Romanian: youtu.be/8Z7L6-L-ZGI

Resources:

Instagram excerpts: @SBSangha_JamesLow

Podcasts: simplybeing.co.uk/news/podcasts

Events: simplybeing.co.uk/events

Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=w9-JGF6xmuE

Chapters

00:00 Manifesting peaceful presence in a turbulent world

04:12 How ego creates enemies and friends

08:08 Living in our own world of projections

12:08 The fundamental prejudice of a separate self

17:56 The structure of duality: subject and object

22:59 The eight worldly concerns

27:51 Form is emptiness: applying the Heart Sutra

32:05 Relative truth and the power of beliefs

36:32 Belief as a poor substitute for seeing

39:11 Emptiness as corrective to delusion

43:17 We are not things but streams of experience

54:15 James as a mode of participation

1:05:01 All sound is sound emptiness

1:10:56 Co-emergence: born together with the situation

1:17:43 Working with circumstances through non-dual awareness

May 9th 2026. James Low's teachings on Zoom about "Patience and non-duality as a means to avoid reactivity to provocations".

Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator.

Spanish translation: Juan B. García Lázaro

Other language versions:

English: https://youtu.be/DlLVFctvy4Y

English without silence cuts: https://youtu.be/mwy3vxTHU58

German: https://youtu.be/L0MxibNpB3o

Russian: https://youtu.be/99o7s9XPxUc

Portuguese: https://youtu.be/w9-JGF6xmuE

Romanian: https://youtu.be/8Z7L6-L-ZGI

Resources:

Instagram: https://instagram.com/SBSangha_JamesLow

Podcasts: https://simplybeing.co.uk/news/podcasts/

Events: https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/

Watch the original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eAMBC9c_Ok