Aro West Coast Book Club

The Citadel of Awareness is a commentary on the Dzogchen Aspiration Prayer of Jigmed Lingpa, written by Anam Thubten. In his preface to the book, Anam Thubten says that although the text is a prayer of aspiration to the Dzogchen teachings, it is also a doha, or song of realization. Writing in the winter of 2020, he comments, "It feels that we are living in an intense time when there is so much confusion as well as so much potential. I believe that many people are ready to wake up. There is a hunger for inner freedom that comes when one sees that the wheel of delusion, confusion and neurosis is exhausting."

Like the text itself, this book is an introduction to the scope of Dzogchen. It is at the same time simply and directly stated and yet complex in terms of the depth Anam Thubten indicates in the text. He often says that the Dzogchen teachings are "ineffable," which the dictionary says means "incapable of being expressed." But he comments on them anyway, without ever talking down to the audience or diluting the philosophical aspects of Dzogchen that are part of its tradition. The book includes the original Tibetan text as well as the English translation.

Meeting every Wednesday evening from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., Pacific Time. Open to the public.