Yoga of the Natural State

“Yoga of the Natural State is a precious gift that will bring great benefit to the growing community of Great Perfection practitioners in the West. As a formidable force among Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist translators, Malcolm maintains the integrity of the lineage tradition and at the same time is extremely qualified to deliver the translated information to the English reader. All Dzogchen practitioners owe this accomplished lotsawa deep appreciation for his dedication to bringing these sacred Dharma writings into the English language.”–Sangye Khandro“The true essence of aural transmission lies in the direct teaching received from an enlightened Dzogchen master–a sacred exchange that ensures the continuity of realization from one generation to the next. Acarya Malcolm Smith, a translator of exceptional skill, has made these texts available in book form. I urge you to treasure them deeply and honor them as sacred objects upon your shrine.”–Erik Pema Kunsang, author of Wellsprings of the Great Perfection

Malcolm Smith was born in 1962 and raised in Western Massachusetts. Captivated by the sound of Tibetan ritual music in 1984, he began his study of the Dharma. He met his first formal teacher, H. H. Sakya Trizin, in 1989. He studied Buddhist philosophy and Tibetan language under the guidance of Khenpo Migmar Tseten for the next five years at Sakya Institute for Buddhist Studies in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1990 Malcolm travelled to Nepal to receive lamdré from the late H. H. Sakya Dagchen.

He received his first Dzogchen teachings from Chögyal Namkhai Norbu in 1992. In 1993 he met his second Dzogchen teacher, Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok, receiving important transmissions. During this year he entered a three-year solitary retreat. In 1998 he met H. H. Penor Rinpoche and received the complete empowerments of the mahayoga section of the Nyingma Kama as well as teachings on the Namchö preliminary practices. In 2001, he met his third Dzogchen teacher, the late Kunzang Dechen Lingpa, from whom he received the Nyinthig Yazhi in its entirety, as well as the formal Ngakpa empowerment in 2004. He met his fourth Dzogchen teacher, H. H. Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche, in 2001, from whom he received the entire transmission of the Gongpa Zangthal in 2010, as well other transmissions. He received the transmission of the Seventeen Tantras from Khenpo Tenzin Thinley in 2012 and again from Tulku Dakpa Rinpoche in 2022. Since 2018, he has been studying under Khenchen Namdrol Tsering of Namdrol Ling MonasteryIn addition, Malcolm has received Sakya, Kagyü, and Nyingma teaching cycles from many other lamas.

Malcolm Smith was awarded the title of acarya by Khenpo Migmar Tseten of Sakya Institute in 2004. In 2008 Malcolm was granted the title of lama by Lama Ngawang Tsultrim, abbot of Dhongag Tharling. In 2009 Malcolm graduated from Shang Shung Institute of America as a doctor of Tibetan medicine, completing an internship in Xining, in the Amdo province of northeast Tibet.

Since 1992 Malcolm Smith has worked on a wide variety of texts for Sakya, Drikung Kagyü, and Nyingma groups, as well as medical and astrological texts.