BUDDHIST CONTEMPLATION: A FORMER LIFE?

I was recently researching Ati Yoga for a Yoga website that I write for, and became quite interested with the results of my research.

Ati Yoga is a topic that I had already heard about due to my online Buddhism interest. I already knew it was connected with Dzogchen Buddhism, although not entirely certain in what way. It appears to be a label for Dzogchen practice, which in Sanskrit is called Mahasandhi, and is also known as the Great Perfection.

It is the third of the inner tantras of Dzogchen, which are Mind Section, Space Section and Instruction Section. The word Ati stands for supreme. It comprises the highest teachings within the Nyingma School of Buddhism. These Ati Yoga teachings were first given to Garab Dorje in Uddiyana, Western India. Well known masters include Garab Dorje, Manjushrimitra, and Padmasambhava.

Following previous initiations, the fourth or Word Initiation is an empowerment allowing the recipient to receive and understand this Highest Yoga Tantra. It refers to entering the depths of Samadhi, using natural insight and primordial enlightenment, and a centering to the core from sideward emotional movements - such as like/dislike or hope/fear. It uses the core realization to liberate one within a short time span.

It appears that I have been practicing something very similar on my own. This leads me to wonder if perhaps I might have been drawn to reading the Dzogchen teachings from having practiced them in a former life - because I have not had a Dzogchen initiation in my current life, yet seem to relate well to the respective books that I have read, and be practicing something similar without further instruction.