The logo consists of a central rotating gakyil surrounded by the three colors: the blue circle (mind) on the inside, the red circle (voice) in the middle and the yellow circle (body) on the outside in the octagonal figure. Below the gakil the inscription "ye shes mig gcig dri ma med " translated to the one eye of wisdom free of impurities (also rendered as "the one eye of wisdom is pure")
This short text is a nyengyud (snyan rgyud), a very short teaching transmitted from mouth to ear, through a few words that easily remain in the memory and act as a key that can instantly recall, in the mind of the hearer, a crucial point of the teaching, giving direct access to knowledge, even when all the texts that composed it have been dispersed or are hidden
The Master thus explained the history of the nyengyud:
"There have been many, many changes in the world. After thousands and thousands of years everything has changed and all the teachings disappeared. Even though most of the teachings disappeared, some kinds of the nyengyud remained. For example, in the tantra of Manjushri there is a word called ye shes mig gcig dri ma med. We use this word in the symbol of Shang Shung Editions. I chose this letter. But in a real sense, this is one of the nyengyud originally. Even though there is no book, even though it has disappeared, the tantra of Manjushri is the kind of nyengyud people can have in memory. Particularly practitioners. So some practitioners kept these concise teachings in memory during circumstances when it was not so easy to speak the teachings or give transmissions or explanations. It couldn't be done. Some people secretly knew something like a key. The nyengyud is some words like ye shes mig gcig dri ma med, ye shes means wisdom, mig means eye. mig gcig means unique eye, which means altogether that the unique eye of wisdom is pure. That means that the unique eye of wisdom is our consciousness, the nature of mind, our potentiality. Then we can go deeper. If some people are interested they talk secretly, and the teacher can give something like a key: "You remember these words ye shes mig gcig dri ma med, these words are something like a key, their meaning is like this. There is also something to do like a practice, or integrating, etc." These kinds of teachings that remained are called nyengyud." (From the Mirror transcript of the 1997 Easter retreat)
Shang Shung Publications is part of the Dzogchen Community created by Namkhai Norbu to support the evolution of the individual through different cultural and spiritual initiatives and to make available "favorable conditions to bring out the potentiality of human beings". Shang Shung Publications founders are: International Atiyoga Foundation (ATIF), International Dzogchen Community ( IDC) and Merigar West Dzogchen Community.
The Ka-Ter Translation Project of the Shang Shung Institute Austria, is a project dedicated to the funding of translations into Western languages of key Dzogchen texts as well as the translation of the complete works of Namkhai Norbu, and supporting Shang Shung Publications
- International Atiyoga Foundation: is a foundation that works not only with cultures and traditions - such as the Tibetan one, which contains the most ancient human knowledge - but also with the new frontiers of culture and science of the contemporary world, intending to build relationships and synergies with institutions such as universities, museums, schools and academies for the creation of courses, seminars, and cultural events. For this purpose, ATIF includes various departments operating under the umbrella of the foundation
- International Dzogchen Community: a non- bureaucratic organization with members and centers ( Gar) all over the world. For Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, the various Gars (places where students gather to receive teachings and practice together) make up one great mandala, a network that covers the various geographical areas of the world and to which practitioners can refer as places of study or practice and meditation.There are ten Gars in various places around the world.
- Merigar West Dzogchen Community: Merigar is a place immersed in nature, located in the municipality of Arcidosso, in the province of Grosseto. It is situated where the slopes of Mount Amiata meet those of Mount Labbro and its nature reserve. Here, since 1981, people interested in the study and practice of Dzogchen, one of the oldest teachings of the Tibetan spiritual tradition, gathered around Master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu
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