Tibetan Buddhism Books

Book SynopsisFor inspiration, Buddhists turn to the life stories of how the great masters of their lineage struggled with their circumstances and achieved enlightenment. This important and very readable volume tells the extraordinary tales of the greatest teachers of the Kagyu the lineage with the widest following in the U.S.

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Book SynopsisIn Chöd in the Ganden Tradition, we encounter not only the life and teachings of one of the greatest Tibetan masters in modern times, but also instructions in one of the most interesting Tibetan techniques for working with basic fears, applicable to Chöd practitioners from all lineages. The instructions are offered with the engaging directness, wit, and stories for which Rinpoche was legendary. He tells miraculous accounts of the Ganden Oral Lineage masters and then gives detailed explanations of the actual practice, including such topics as the degree of fear necessary for Chöd practice, and how to remember dream and death morning, noon, and night. Also provided are the Chöd sadhanas for chanting in English.

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Book SynopsisLuminous Essence is a complete introduction to the world of tantric thought and practice. Composed by the renowned Tibetan master Jamgön Mipham (1846–1912), the text provides an overview of the theory and experiential assimilation of a seminal tantric scripture, the Tantra of the Secret Essence (Guhyagarbha Tantra). Embodying the essence of tantric practice, this text has been a central scripture in Tibetan Buddhism for well over a thousand years. Mipham''s explanation of this text, here translated for the first time, is one of the most celebrated commentaries on the Tantra of the Secret Essence, which today occupies an important place in the tantric curriculum of Tibetan monastic colleges. Luminous Essence is a specialized guide meant for initiated tantric practitioners. To fully appreciate and assimilate its message, it should be studied under the guidance of a qualified teacher by those who have received the appropriate empowerments, reading transmissions, and oral instructions.

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Book SynopsisThis book offers simple meditation techniques to awaken healing energies in the body and mind. Using Buddhist principles as a basis, Tulku Thondup has created a universal guide that anyone can use. It will benefit those who want to preserve good health as well as those who need comfort and relief from illness or mental distress. Boundless Healing offers:    •  Ways to employ the four healing powers: positive images, positive words, positive feelings, and positive belief    •  Detailed healing exercises that can be done individually or as part of a twelve-stage program    •  Exercises for dispelling anxiety    •  Healing prayers for the dying and the deceased, plus advice for helpers and survivors These meditations draw on our innate capacity for imagination and memory, our natural enjoyment of beauty, and our deep-seated longing for a state of quiet calm. For all those who wish to become healthier, happier, and more peaceful in everyday life.

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Book SynopsisThis book is based on two historic seminars of the 1970s, in which Chögyam Trungpa introduced the tantric teachings of Tibetan Buddhism to his Western students for the first time. Each seminar bore the title 'The Nine Yanas.' Yana, a Sanskrit word meaning 'vehicle,' refers to a body of doctrine and practical instruction that enables students to advance spiritually on the path of Buddha-dharma. Nine vehicles, arranged in successive levels, make up the whole path of Buddhist practice. Teaching all nine means giving a total picture of the spiritual journey. The author''s nontheoretical, experiential approach opens up a world of fundamental psychological insights and subtleties. He speaks directly to a contemporary Western audience, using earthly analogies that place the ancient teachings in the midst of ordinary life.

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Book SynopsisOffering a translation of a key text written by Manjusrimitra, an Indian disciple of the first Ati Yoga teacher, this book presents the Tibetan teachings of rDzogs-chen. The text aims to show how purity of mind is always present, just waiting to be recognized.

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Book SynopsisMahamudra and Dzogchen are perhaps the most profound teachings within all of Tibetan Buddhism. The experience of Mahamudra, or 'great symbol,' is an overwhelming sense of extraordinary clarity, totally open and nondualistic. Dzogchen, or 'great perfection,' is the ultimate teaching according to the Nyingma tradition and also represents the pinnacle of spiritual development. These are the two paths that provide practitioners with the most skillful means to experience the fully awakened state and directly taste the reality of our mind and environment. And yet these concepts are notoriously difficult to grasp and challenging to explain. In Wild Awakening, Tibetan Buddhist master Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche presents these esoteric teachings in a style that reveals their surprising simplicity and great practical value, emphasizing that we can all experience our world more directly, with responsibility, freedom, and confidence. With a straightforward approach and informal style, he presents these essential teachings in a way that even those very new to Tibetan Buddhism can understand.

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Book SynopsisTreasured by Buddhists of all traditions, The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicharyavatara) is a guide to cultivating the mind of enlightenment and to generating the qualities of love, compassion, generosity, and patience. This text has been studied, practiced, and expounded upon in an unbroken tradition for centuries. Presented in the form of a personal meditation in verse, it outlines the path of the Bodhisattvas—those who renounce the peace of individual enlightenment and vow to work for the liberation of all beings and to attain buddhahood for their sake.This version is translated from the Tibetan and includes a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, a translator’s preface, a thorough introduction, a note on the translation, and three appendices of commentary by the Nyingma master Kunzang Pelden.

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Book SynopsisAll of us experience obstacles as part of our journey, in life and on the spiritual path. In many cases, we think of them as purely something unpleasant to overcome, or as a mistake that needs correcting. Here, Chögyam Trungpa takes a radically different approach to such obstacles, teaching that unexpected chaos, confusion, and emotional upheavals can actually be used as fuel for the journey—an energy that can transform confusion into sanity and wisdom. He illustrates this transformative principle through telling the lively history of the Trungpa tulkus (a lineage within the Kagyü tradition of Tibetan Buddhism), of which he was the eleventh incarnation. Trungpa referred to his lineage as the 'Mishap Lineage' because of the ups and downs and colorful lives that were typical of his predecessors, and true of his own life as well. The stories of the Trungpas are seen as a guide for the practitioner’s journey and help us to understand how important lineage and community remain for us today.

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Book SynopsisA collection of Chögyam Trungpa''s early teachings in North America--on buddha nature, emptiness, the feminine principle, and the three bodies of enlightenment. At the beginning of a North American teaching career that would span seventeen years, the meditation master Chögyam Trungpa conducted five pivotal seminars covering various dharmic topics. The transcripts from these seminars are collected here so that readers can experience them right at home. Comprising twenty-six talks in total, each one followed by a Q&A, Glimpses of the Profound is sure to provoke glimpses of all kinds: glimpses that inspire you to look further, glimpses that give you confidence, glimpses that upset the apple cart, glimpses that open your heart, glimpses that undermine falsity, glimpses that awaken you to your boundless potential.This book was originally published as four separate volumes by Vajradhatu Publications. Judith L. Lief has written a new introduction.

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