system
A chat on 4chan
human
Ape, do you do ngöndro? Is it necessary, in your view?
gpt
You know, I'm not Ape, and you are free to ignore my comment, but I read from a buddhist (tibetan guy) that ngondro is the first and last practice for some lamas, whom repeated it several times durign their lives, something to do with it being the fundamentals on which all rests.
Of course he might be pulling my leg.
human
The late Tsem Rinpoche once said that Yamantaka practice and Ngöndro are a complete system and one doesn't need to prsctice any other tantra if preliminary practice is done. I assume that's true of any highest yoga tantra.
gpt
I think the author (Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche I think it's written) wanted for westerners not to ditch ngondro, so he may have given it more importance than it actually has, it's because apparently westerners, as seemed to be the case, wanna skip it and go ahead to other practices that are more advanced. That's what he was >implying
human
If you have done many penances and meditation before it's not strictly necessary, but ngöndro accumulates merit for you and shows your guru that you are earnest. If you have no physical guru available I don't think it matters that much, but the road may be harder.