Tibetan Buddhism Books

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Book SynopsisOne of Tibet's highest and most respected lamas elucidates for us the principles of Shambhala, or the path to happiness, set down by his legendary father, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche.Dear Reader, We humans have come to a crossroads in our history: we can either destroy the world or create a good future. The Shambhala Principle offers the principle of basic goodness as a way of addressing the personal and social challenges that we face. Do we, as humans, have confidence in the basic goodness of humanity, as well as of society itself? As a Tibetan lama and spiritual leader, this strikes me as our most compelling global issue. The book revolves around a dialogue with my father, the legendary Chögyam Trungpa. Whether his responses were direct or mystical, he continuously returned to the topics of basic goodness and enlightened society.  Not only did he show me how I could become confident in their existence through awareness and meditation, he

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Book SynopsisA complete explanation of the esoteric principles of Mantra that also clarifies the differences between Hindu and Tibetan yoga. Translated into many languages, this is an important text for any student of Buddhism. With bibliography, index, and illustrations.

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Book SynopsisThis exciting and often intense biography describes the Dalai Lama''s rigorous education and his full assumption of power at the age of fifteen following the Chinese invasion in 1950. Though Tibetan tradition holds that the Dalai Lama is a reincarnation of his predecessors, one still marvels at the level of responsibility, maturity, and wisdom he possessed at a very young age. Through Claude B. Levenson''s account of his youth, illuminated by photographs and many recollections of the Dalai Lama in his own words, we begin to understand how a lama from Tibet has become the worldwide spiritual leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

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Book SynopsisMachig Labdron is popularly considered to be both a dakini and a deity, an emanation of Yum Chenmo, or Prajnaparamita, the embodiment of the wisdom of the buddhas. Historically, this Tibetan woman, a contemporary of Milarepa, was an adept and outstanding teacher, a mother, and a founder of a unique transmission lineage known as the Chöd of Mahamudra. This translation of the most famous biography of Machig Labdron, founder of the unique Mahamudra Chöd tradition, is presented together with a comprehensive overview of Chöd''s historical and doctrinal origins in Indian Buddhism and its subsequent transmission to Tibet. Chöd refers to cutting through the grasping at a self and its attendant emotional afflictions. Most famous for its teaching on transforming the aggregates into an offering of food for demons as a compassionate act of self-sacrifice, Chöd aims to free the mind from all fear and to arouse realization of its true nature, primordially clear bliss and emptiness.

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Book SynopsisIn Tibetan religious literature, Jamgön Kongtrül''s Treasury of Knowledge in ten books stands out as a unique, encyclopedic masterpiece embodying the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they were preserved in Tibet. In his monumental Treasury of Knowledge, Jamgön Kongtrül presents a complete account of the major lines of thought and practice that comprise Tibetan Buddhism. This first book of The Treasury which serves as a prelude to Kongtrul''s survey describes four major cosmological systems found in the Tibetan tradition—those associated with the Hinayana, Mahayana, Kalachakra, and Dzogchen teachings. Each of these cosmologies shows how the world arises from mind, whether through the accumulated results of past actions or from the constant striving of awareness to know itself.

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Book SynopsisKing of the Empty Plain is familiar to every Tibetan yet nearly unknown in the rest of the world. Tangtong Gyalpo''s incredible lifespan, profound teachings, unprecedented engineering feats, eccentric deeds, and creation of Tibetan opera have earned this fascinating figure a unique status in Tibetan culture. Believed to be the great Indian master Padmasambhava appearing again in the world to benefit living beings, he discovered techniques for achieving longevity that are still held in highest esteem and are frequently taught six hundred years later. His construction of fifty-eight iron suspension bridges, sixty wooden bridges, 118 ferries, 111 stupa monuments, and countless temples and monasteries in Tibet and Bhutan remains an awe-inspiring accomplishment. This book is a detailed study of the life and legacy of this great master. An extensive introduction discusses Tangtong Gyalpo''s Dharma traditions, the question of his amazing longevity, his "crazy" activities manifested to enhance his own realization and to benefit others, and his astonishing engineering and architectural achievements. The book includes a complete translation of the most famous Tibetan biography of Tangtong Gyalpo, as well as the Tibetan text and English translation of a unique early manuscript describing his miraculous death. The text is further enriched with ten color plates and seventy-seven black-and-white illustrations.

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Book SynopsisThis is the most comprehensive and authoritative introduction to Tibetan Buddhism available to date, covering a wide range of topics, including history, doctrines, meditation, practices, schools, religious festivals, and major figures. The revised edition contains expanded discussions of recent Tibetan history and tantra and incorporates important new publications in the field. Beginning with a summary of the Indian origins of Tibetan Buddhism and how it eventually was brought to Tibet, it explores Tibetan Mahayana philosophy and tantric methods for personal transformation. The four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as Bön, are explored in depth from a nonsectarian point of view. This new and expanded edition is a systematic and wonderfully clear presentation of Tibetan Buddhist views and practices.

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Book SynopsisIn the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, the Great Perfection is considered the most profound and direct path to enlightenment. The instructions of this tradition present a spiritual shortcut—a radically direct approach that cuts through confusion and lays bare the mind''s true nature of luminous purity. For centuries, these teachings have been taught and practiced in secret by some of the greatest adepts of the Buddhist tradition. Great Perfection: Outer and Inner Preliminaries contains detailed instructions on the foundational practices of this tradition, from "The Excellent Chariot," a practice manual compiled by the Third Dzogchen Rinpoche. Distilling the teachings of the Heart Essence of the Dakinis into an accessible, easy-to-practice format, The Excellent Chariot leads the reader through the entire Buddhist path, starting with basic Buddhist contemplations that work to dislodge deeply ingrained patterns of thinking and behaving, and continuing on to the most advanced and secret meditative practices of the Great Perfection. The teachings in this volume are drawn largely from the writings of the great Nyingma master Longchenpa and the root texts of the Heart Essence of the Dakinis itself. The Third Dzogchen Rinpoche begins by discussing the correct way to study and practice the Great Perfection teachings before presenting an overview of the Great Perfection lineage and an explanation on the meaning and importance of empowerment. In the chapters that follow, he presents practical instructions on the outer and inner preliminaries, the so-called "ngöndro" practices. These practices enable the practitioner to transform and purify the mind, preparing it for the advanced Great Perfection meditation of Trekchö and Tögal, the breakthrough and direct leap. In addition to the translation mentioned above, Great Perfection: Outer and Inner Preliminaries contains a beautiful introduction by the Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, a contemporary Great Perfection master, and an extensive glossary of key Great Perfection terminology. The Heart Essence Series presents translations of seminal writings on the Great Perfection. Beginning with the works of the Heart Essence of the Dakinis and the Heart Essence of Vimalamitra, two cycles that lie at the core of the Great Perfection lineage, the series aims to provide scholars, teachers, and practitioners of these profound teachings with accurate and readable translations of the most important Great Perfection texts. Great Perfection: Separation and Breakthrough, a companion volume of restricted teachings, is also available, containing advanced teachings on the separation or rushen practices and the breakthrough stage of Great Perfection meditation.

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Book SynopsisJamgön Kongtrül''s Treasury of Knowledge in ten volumes is a unique encyclopedic masterpiece embodying the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they were presented in Tibet. Tibetan Buddhist teachers expected their students to study Buddhist philosophical texts as well as practice reflection and meditation; present-day students have also realized that awakening has its source in study as well as in reflection and practice. The Elements of Tantric Practice sets forth the essential components of the path of highest yoga tantra, a system of meditation that unites wisdom and compassion in its two phases of practice. The first phase, that of creation, relies primarily on the use of the imagination to effect personal transformation. The phase of completion allows the practitioner to perfect the process of transformation by training in methods that manipulate the energies and constituents of the mind and body. The result of this path is the direct experience of the fundamental nature of mind and phenomena. The Elements of Tantric Practice concerns the meditative processes of the inner system of secret mantra—that of highest yoga tantra—and is based primarily on tantric sources. The author introduces the subject by describing the path of tantra and its underlying principles. The main body of the book deals with two major elements essential to all highest yoga tantras: the practice of the creation phase and that of the completion phase. For the first phase, Kongtrül describes the visualization sequences in which ordinary perceptions are transformed into the forms of awakening and explains how these practices purify the stages of cyclic existence—life, death, and rebirth. The creation phase prepares the practitioner for the techniques of the completion phase, which entail focusing directly on the channels, winds, and vital essences that form the subtle body. Kongtrül presents the key elements of a variety of tantras, including the Guhyasamaja and Yamari, belonging to the class of father tantras and the Kalachakra Hevajra Chakrasamvara Mahamaya Buddhakapala and Tara mother tantras. All these tantras share a common goal: to make manifest the pristine awareness that is the union of emptiness and bliss.

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Book SynopsisThe Dark Red Amulet presents the Vajrayana practice of Vajrakilaya according to the oral transmission lineage of the great seventeenth-century treasure-revealer Tsasum Lingpa. Vajrakilaya embodies the enlightened activity of all the buddhas that subjugates delusion and negativity in order to clear obstacles to spiritual practice. The essential purpose of Vajrakilaya practice is to discover the absolute vajra nature that will transform every duality hindrance into clear wisdom and compassion. In this text, the renowned scholars and meditation masters Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche present the history of this lineage and the miraculous story of how Tsasum Lingpa revealed this terma teaching. Their line-by-line commentary on the short and condensed sadhanas provides an invaluable guide for practitioners to combine the skillful means of compassion and wisdom that are the foundation of Tibetan Buddhism.

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Book SynopsisThe Buddha from Dölpo is a revised and enlarged edition of the only book about the most controversial Buddhist master in the history of Tibet, Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292–1361), who became perhaps the greatest Tibetan expert of the Kalacakra or Wheel of Time, a vast system of tantric teachings. Based largely on esoteric Buddhist knowledge from the legendary land of Shambhala, Dölpopa''s insights have profoundly influenced the development of Tibetan Buddhism for more than 650 years. Dölpopa emphasized two contrasting definitions of the Buddhist theory of emptiness. He described relative phenomena as empty of self-nature, but absolute reality as only empty of other (i.e. relative) phenomena. He further identified absolute reality as the buddha nature or eternal essence present in all living beings. This view of an "emptiness of other," known in Tibetan as shentong, is Dölpopa''s enduring legacy. The Buddha from Dölpo contains the only English translations of three of Dölpopa''s crucial works. A General Commentary on the Doctrine is one of the earliest texts in which he systematically presented his view of the entire Buddhist path to enlightenment. The Fourth Council and its Autocommentary (which was not in the first edition of this book) were written at the end of his life and represent a final summation of his teachings. These translations are preceded by a detailed discussion of Dölpopa''s life, his revolutionary ideas, earlier precedents for the shentong view, his unique use of language, and the influence of his theories. The fate of his Jonang tradition, which was censored by the central Tibetan government in the seventeenth century but still survives, is also examined.

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Book SynopsisJamgön Kongtrül’s ten-volume Treasury of Knowledge is a unique, encyclopedic masterpiece embodying the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they were preserved in Tibet. Tibetan Buddhist teachers expected their students to study Buddhist philosophical texts as well as practice reflection and meditation; present-day students have also realized that awakening has its source in study as well as in reflection and practice. Buddhism’s Journey to Tibet presents Kongtrül''s masterful history of Buddhism in India and Tibet. Beginning with the appearance of the Buddha in our world (Book Two), it describes the Buddha''s life, his enlightenment, and what he taught (Book Three) from a multitude of Buddhist viewpoints. Buddhism''s transmission to and preservation in Tibet is the focus of the main part of this volume (Book Four), which describes the scriptural transmissions and lineages of meditation practice as well as the Buddhist arts that together make up the world of Tibetan Buddhism.

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Book SynopsisThe wish for freedom, the altruistic intention, and the wisdom realizing emptiness constitute the essence of the Buddhist path. In this teaching, Geshe Sonam Rinchen explains, in clear and readily accessible terms, Je Tsongkhapa’s (1357–1419) famed presentation of these three essential topics.

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Book SynopsisThe Abhisamayalamkara summarizes all the topics in the vast body of the Prajnaparamita Sutras. Resembling a zip-file, it comes to life only through its Indian and Tibetan commentaries. Together, these texts not only discuss the "hidden meaning" of the Prajnaparamita Sutras—the paths and bhumis of sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas—but also serve as contemplative manuals for the explicit topic of these sutras—emptiness—and how it is to be understood on the progressive levels of realization of bodhisattvas. Thus these texts describe what happens in the mind of a bodhisattva who meditates on emptiness, making it a living experience from the beginner''s stage up through buddhahood. Gone Beyond contains the first in-depth study of the Abhisamayalamkara (the text studied most extensively in higher Tibetan Buddhist education) and its commentaries in the Kagyu School. This study (in two volumes) includes translations of Maitreya''s famous text and its commentary by the Fifth Shamarpa Goncho Yenla (the first translation ever of a complete commentary on the Abhisamayalamkara into English), which are supplemented by extensive excerpts from the commentaries by the Third, Seventh, and Eighth Karmapas and others. Thus it closes a long-standing gap in the modern scholarship on the Prajnaparamita Sutras and the literature on paths and bhumis in mahayana Buddhism. The first volume presents an English translation of the first three chapters of the Abhisamayalamkara and its commentary by the Fifth Shamarpa. The second volume presents an English translation of the final five chapters and its commentary by the Fifth Shamarpa.

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Book SynopsisThe Abhisamayalamkara summarizes all the topics in the vast body of the Prajnaparamita Sutras. Resembling a zip-file, it comes to life only through its Indian and Tibetan commentaries. Together, these texts not only discuss the "hidden meaning" of the Prajnaparamita Sutras—the paths and bhumis of sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas—but also serve as contemplative manuals for the explicit topic of these sutras—emptiness—and how it is to be understood on the progressive levels of realization of bodhisattvas. Thus these texts describe what happens in the mind of a bodhisattva who meditates on emptiness, making it a living experience from the beginner''s stage up through buddhahood. Gone Beyond contains the first in-depth study of the Abhisamayalamkara (the text studied most extensively in higher Tibetan Buddhist education) and its commentaries in the Kagyu School. This study (in two volumes) includes translations of Maitreya''s famous text and its commentary by the Fifth Shamarpa Goncho Yenla (the first translation ever of a complete commentary on the Abhisamayalamkara into English), which are supplemented by extensive excerpts from the commentaries by the Third, Seventh, and Eighth Karmapas and others. Thus it closes a long-standing gap in the modern scholarship on the Prajnaparamita Sutras and the literature on paths and bhumis in mahayana Buddhism. The first volume presents an English translation of the first three chapters of the Abhisamayalamkara and its commentary by the Fifth Shamarpa. The second volume presents an English translation of the final five chapters and its commentary by the Fifth Shamarpa.

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Book SynopsisJamgön Kongtrul''s ten-volume Treasury of Knowledge is a unique, encyclopedic masterpiece embodying the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they were preserved in Tibet. Tibetan Buddhist teachers expected their students to study Buddhist philosophical texts as well as practice reflection and meditation; present-day students have also realized that awakening has its source in study as well as in reflection and practice. Journey and Goal focuses on the spiritual path—the journey and the resultant state of enlightenment to which it leads—the goal. Extensively varied perspectives are offered not only from within the many schools of Buddhism but also from the different levels of practice and attainment. This is in fact the most comprehensive treatment of these themes to appear in the English language.

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Book SynopsisProviding a rare glimpse of feminine Buddhist history, Niguma, Lady of Illusion brings to the forefront the life and teachings of a mysterious eleventh-century Kashmiri woman who became the source of a major Tibetan Buddhist practice lineage. The circumstances of her life and extraordinary qualities ascribed to her are analyzed in the greater context of spiritual biography and Buddhist doctrine. More than a historical presentation, Niguma''s story raises the question of women as real spiritual leaders versus male images of  feminine principle and other related contemporary issues. This volume includes the thirteen works that have been attributed to Niguma in the Tibetan Buddhist canon. These collected works form the basis of an ancient lineage Shangpa, which continues to be actively studied and practiced today. These works include the source verses for such esoteric practices as the Six Yogas, the Great Seal, and the Chakrasamvara and Hevajra tantric practices that are widespread in Tibetan traditions. Also included is the only extant biography, which is enhanced by the few other sources of information on her life and work.

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Book SynopsisBardo Teachings gives readers a precise and vivid description of the way of death and rebirth. It contains a wealth of heretofore untranslated material on the Tibetan presentation of the process of dying, the nature of the intermediate state after death, and the process of taking rebirth. This modest but carefully produced book presents the essence of the Tibetan Book of the Dead in a digestible form.

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Book SynopsisThe Abhisamayalamkara summarizes all the topics in the vast body of the prajñaparamita sutras. Resembling a zip-file, it comes to life only through its Indian and Tibetan commentaries. Together, these texts not only discuss the "hidden meaning" of the prajñaparamita sutras—the paths and bhumis of sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas—but also serve as contemplative manuals for the explicit topic of these sutras—emptiness—and how it is to be understood on the progressive levels of realization of bodhisattvas. Thus these texts describe what happens in the mind of a bodhisattva who meditates on emptiness, making it a living experience from the beginner''s stage up through buddhahood. Groundless Paths contains the first in-depth study of the Abhisamayalamkara (the text studied most extensively in higher Tibetan Buddhist education) and its commentaries from the perspective of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. This study consists mainly of translations of Maitreya''s famous text and two commentaries on it by Patrul Rinpoche. These are supplemented by three short texts on the paths and bhumis by the same author, as well as extensive excerpts from commentaries by six other Nyingma masters, including Mipham Rinpoche. Thus this book helps close a long-standing gap in the modern scholarship on the prajñaparamita sutras and the literature on paths and bhumis in mahayana Buddhism. Arya Maitreya''s Ornament of Clear Realization, with its Indian and Tibetan commentaries, presents the complex dynamics of the path to liberation as a succession of realizations of the empty nature of all phenomena. This presentation is a powerful antidote to whatever two-dimensional views we might hold about spiritual experience and the journey to enlightenment.

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Book SynopsisAt the heart of successful Mahamudra practice is the ability to understand the nature of mind. The Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje (1556?1603) was the acknowledged master of this approach. No more authoritative or useful instructions exist than in his three definitive texts on Mahamudra, of which this easy-to-use manual is the shortest and most practical. Pointing Out the Dharmakaya is an indispensable companion to The Ocean of Definitive Meaning, the most vast and detailed of the texts. An invaluable guide for Mahamudra practitioners on how to look at the mind, it is clearly laid out so that the instructions are easy to recall and put to use. Brilliant explanations by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche make this text vividly relevant for contemporary Western practitioners. For those committed to ascertaining the mind''s true nature, checking their experience, and refining and extending their insight, there is no more systematic or comprehensive approach than can be found in this extraordinary set of instructions.

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Book SynopsisMaitreya’s Distinction between Phenomena and the Nature of Phenomena distinguishes the illusory phenomenal world of saṃsāra produced by the confused dualistic mind from the ultimate reality that is mind’s true nature. The transition from the one to the other is the process of “mining for wisdom within delusion.” Maitreya’s text calls this “the fundamental change,” which refers to the vanishing of delusive appearances through practicing the path, thus revealing the underlying changeless nature of these appearances. In this context, the main part of the text consists of the most detailed explanation of nonconceptual wisdom—the primary driving force of the path as well as its ultimate result—in Buddhist literature. The introduction of the book discusses these two topics (fundamental change and nonconceptual wisdom) at length and shows how they are treated in a number of other Buddhist scriptures. The three translated commentaries, by Vasubandhu, the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, and Gö Lotsāwa, as well as excerpts from all other available commentaries on Maitreya’s text, put it in the larger context of the Indian Yogācāra School and further clarify its main themes. They also show how this text is not a mere scholarly document, but an essential foundation for practicing both the sūtrayāna and the vajrayāna and thus making what it describes a living experience. The book also discusses the remaining four of the five works of Maitreya, their transmission from India to Tibet, and various views about them in the Tibetan tradition.

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Book SynopsisPema Chödrön, Joan Halifax, and ten other female Tibetan Buddhist teachers share inspiring personal stories, revealing how we can embody Buddhist wisdom and overcome everyday challengesWhat drives a young London librarian to board a ship to India, meditate in a remote cave by herself for twelve years, and then build a flourishing nunnery in the Himalayas? How does a surfer girl from Malibu become the head of the main international organization for Buddhist women? Why does the daughter of a music executive in Santa Monica dream so vividly of peacocks one night that she chases these images to Nepal, where she finds the love of her life in an unconventional young Tibetan master? The women featured inDakini Power?contemporary teachers of Tibetan Buddhism, both Asians and Westerners, who teach in the West?have been universally recognized as accomplished practitioners and brilliant teachers whose life stories demonstrate their immense determination and bravery. Meeting them in this book, readers will be inspired to let go of old fears, explore new paths, and lead the lives they envision. Featured here are: Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche (This Precious Life) Dagmola Sakya (Princess in the Land of Snows) Jetsun Tenzin Palmo/Diane Perry (Into the Heart of Life) Pema Chödrön/Deirdre Blomfield-Brown (When Things Fall Apart;Start Where You Are) Khandro Tsering Chödron (late aunt of Sogyal Rinpoche, author ofThe Tibetan Book of Living and Dying) Thubten Chodron/Cherry Greene (Buddhism for Beginners;Taming the Mind) Karma Lekshe Tsomo/Patricia Zenn (Buddhism Through American Women?s Eyes) Chagdud Khadro/Jane Dedman (P?howa Commentary;Life in Relation to Death) Sangye Khandro/Nanci Gay Gustafson (Meditation,Transformation, and Dream Yoga) Roshi Joan Halifax (Being with Dying) Lama Tsultrim Allione/Joan Rousmanière Ewing (Women of Wisdom; Feeding Your Demons) Elizabeth Mattis-Namgyel (The Power of an Open Question)

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Book SynopsisFear, anger, and negativity are states that each of us have to contend with. Machik''s Complete Explanation, the most famous book of the teachings of Machik Lapdrön, the great female saint and yogini of eleventh- to twelfth-century Tibet, addresses these issues in a practical, direct way. Machik developed a system, the Mahamudra Chöd, that takes the Buddha''s teachings as a basis and applies them to the immediate experiences of negative mind states and malignant forces. Her unique feminine approach is to invoke and nurture the very "demons" that we fear and hate, transforming those reactive emotions into love. It is the tantric version of developing compassion and fearlessness, a radical method of cutting through ego-fixation. This expanded edition includes Machik Lapdrön''s earliest known teaching, the original source text for the tradition, The Great Bundle of Precepts on Severance (Chöd). This pithy set of instructions reveals that the teachings of the perfection of wisdom are the true inspiration for Chöd. It is beautifully clarified in a short commentary by Rangjung Dorje, the Third Karmapa.

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Book SynopsisKhenpo Ngawang Palzang, also known as Khenpo Ngakchung or Khenpo Ngaga, was one of the great masters in the late nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries. He was an extremely influential teacher who taught some of the great lamas of the next generation, including Kyabje Chatral Rinpoche. Khenpo Ngaga was considered a living emanation of Vimalamitra and Longchenpa.In this autobiography, Khenpo Ngaga tells his life story through memories and reflections in a way that presents the entire Buddhist path, including the renunciation of worldly pursuits, finding and attending to a qualified teacher, engaging in mind training, practicing the preliminaries, studying the sutras and tantras, engaging in the generation and completion stages, and Dzogchen. Throughout he shares stories, visionary experiences, and advice that serve as a model for the reader on the path to emulate. The great Tibetologist Gene Smith considered this autobiography so important that he devoted the first chapter of his seminal study Among Tibetan Texts to it, writing that Khenpo Ngaga’s autobiography is significant as “a treasury of authentic instruction on the essentials of Buddhism and Rdzogs chen meditation.”

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Book SynopsisAn accessible commentary by a popular and respected Tibetan Buddhist master opens the door for Westerners to Karma Chagme's classic text that integrates two of the great meditation systems of Tibet: Mahamudra and Dzogchen.      This book grows out of an oral teaching that Khenchen Thrangu gave in Crestone, Colorado, on Karma Chagme's text Meaningful to Behold: The Essential Instructions of the Compassionate One on the Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen. Thrangu Rinpoche explains in lucid detail the advanced meditation practices of Mahamudra and Dzogchen and also their similarities and differences, including advice on how to safely perform some of the more advanced Dzogchen practices. Many chapters include his answers to questions from the audience, which give the book an intimate feeling.

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Book SynopsisAn in-depth presentation of one of the most profound traditions of Tibetan Buddhism--the Dudjom lineage--beginning with the Buddha and tracing the origins and development of the lineage through its Indian and Tibetan masters.The Ruby Rosary is Thinley Norbu''s commentary on a short prayer written by his father, His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, who was a revered leader of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism as well as a "revealer of treasures" in the Tibetan tradition. The root text, entitled "The Pearl Necklace," is a prayer of devotion to the eighteen primary masters of the Dudjom incarnation lineage, "strung together into a necklace of liberated lifetimes." With lively storytelling, Thinley Norbu illuminates the life of each of these great yogis, scholars, and masters of the Buddha''s teachings, from Nüden Dorje Chang, Shariputra, and Saraha to Dudjom Lingpa. It concludes with an account of the enlightened activities of Dudjom Rinpoche himself, a towering figure, thus completing this awe-inspiring portrait of a modern master.

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Book SynopsisThis playful and accessible guide presents a Buddhist psychological system for enhancing self-awareness, interpersonal communication, and creativity This book invites us to celebrate our strengths and work with our weaknesses by learning to identify and utilize five basic personal styles or energies based on a Tibetan Buddhist practice. Each of the five wisdom energies is associated with particular ways of perceiving and interacting with the world and also with particular colors, elements, senses, seasons, and times of day. With easy, fun, and engaging exercises and stories, Irini Rockwell shows us how to identify which energies are active in our lives, and how we can work with them in any situation to improve self-awareness, communication, and creative expression. According to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, each of us has one or two dominant energies, but these can shift and change over time, and we can manifest different energies in different areas of our lives. Each of the five energies has its unique wisdom, but also its neurotic tendencies. By learning to recognize which energies we possess—and which are present in those around us—we can learn to relax and appreciate our natural traits and those of others, and we can move away from our neuroses toward the wisdom-aspects of our character.

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Book SynopsisA fresh interpretation of the dakini—a Tibetan Buddhist symbol of the feminine—that will appeal to practitioners interested in goddess worship, female spirituality, and Tantric Buddhism The primary emblem of the feminine in Tibetan Buddhism is the dakini, or “sky-dancer,” a semi-wrathful spirit-woman who manifests in visions, dreams, and meditation experiences. Western scholars and interpreters of the dakini, influenced by Jungian psychology and feminist goddess theology, have shaped a contemporary critique of Tibetan Buddhism in which the dakini is seen as a psychological “shadow,” a feminine savior, or an objectified product of patriarchal fantasy. According to Judith Simmer-Brown—who writes from the point of view of an experienced practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism—such interpretations are inadequate. In the spiritual journey of the meditator, Simmer-Brown demonstrates, the dakini symbolizes levels of personal realization: the sacredness of the body, both female and male; the profound meeting point of body and mind in meditation; the visionary realm of ritual practice; and the empty, spacious qualities of mind itself. When the meditator encounters the dakini, living spiritual experience is activated in a nonconceptual manner by her direct gaze, her radiant body, and her compassionate revelation of reality. Grounded in the author''s personal encounter with the dakini, this unique study will appeal to both male and female spiritual seekers interested in goddess worship, women''s spirituality, and the tantric tradition.

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Book SynopsisThe Lamp That Enlightens Narrow Minds: The Life and Times of a Realized Tibetan Master, Khyentse Chökyi Wangchug presents an engaging account of the life of Khyentse Chökyi Wangchug, a realized Tibetan tulku (reincarnated lama or teacher). The book's historical references provide a detailed portrait of Tibet on the verge of invasion and occupation by Chinese forces in the decades leading up to 1959 when Chinese repression led the Dalai Lama to take refuge in India. Narrated by Chökyi Wangchug's nephew, author and international Tibetan teacher Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, this inspired biography describes the extraordinary events of Chökyi Wangchug's life during this momentous period in Tibetan history. Born in 1909 in a valley south of Derge, an ancient center of Tibetan culture, Chökyi Wangchug was recognized at an early age as a reincarnation of a tulku and thus received Buddhist teachings from the greatest masters of the epoch. A privileged observer of his uncle's life, Namkhai Norbu reveals the complexity of Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy and the conflicts caused not only by Chinese forces, but also by people close to Chökyi Wangchug who had become members of factions motivated by bigotry and personal greed. Despite the difficulties he encountered, he maintained a state of equanimity and dedicated himself to a life of peace and compassion for all sentient beings. Ultimately tortured and imprisoned by the Chinese, he and two other realized Tibetan teachers passed away at the same moment while meditating.

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Book SynopsisThis handbook to spirituality gathers together Danish meditation teacher Jes Bertelsen''s advice on training the mind through wordless prayer and meditation to realize the essence of consciousness. Bertelsen has been teaching philosophy and meditation since the early 1970s; in 1989, he met the Tibetan lama Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, who authorized Jes Bertelsen to teach Dzogchen, and to do so using his own judgment as to the most appropriate way to assimilate these teachings into Western culture. Bertelsen''s teachings are based on an experiential investigation of the nature of consciousness, using comparative analysis of Eastern and Western spiritual teachings and consciousness practices on a foundation of modern psychological, philosophical, and scientific approaches.Essence of Mind outlines the author''s experience and approach to Dzogchen, the natural primordial state of human consciousness that is timeless, pure, and untouched by suffering. The book is divided into three parts. The first part describes different methods for pointing out the essence of consciousness and the techniques related to them. The second part seeks to outline the key principles of a training system suited to Western students that can lead to realization. The final section outlines the significance of continuous exercises, and describes the way spiritual practice slowly permeates daily life, dreams, sleep, and eventually death. Through the mind-training process, the practitioner approaches an almost ecstatic state of completion, a luminous, blissful wakefulness in which the consciousness is also fully relaxed, not clinging to bliss or desiring ecstasy, but transparent and open.Bertelsen emphasizes that while more advanced forms of spiritual training can only take place in a face-to-face, deeply engaged mutual process between teacher and student, books are useful as sources of inspiration, in particular to help review one''s insights and refresh one''s practice. Essence of Mind systematizes the experiences that occur along the spiritual path and helps students to refine, correct, and clarify their efforts; it is the author''s hope that many students in the West will be able to benefit from his comparative approach to Dzogchen.

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Book SynopsisThe Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa brings together in eight volumes the writings of the first and most influential and inspirational Tibetan teachers to present Buddhism in the West. Organized by theme, the collection includes full-length books as well as articles, seminar transcripts, poems, plays, and interviews, many of which have never before been available in book form. From memoirs of his escape from Chinese-occupied Tibet to insightful discussions of psychology, mind, and meditation; from original verse and calligraphy to the esoteric lore of tantric Buddhism—the impressive range of Trungpa''s vision, talents, and teachings is showcased in this landmark series. Volume One contains Trungpa''s early writings in Great Britain, including Born in Tibet (1966), the memoir of his youth and training; Meditation in Action (1969), a classic on the practice of meditation; and Mudra (1972), a collection of verse. Among the selected articles from the 1960s and ''70s are early teachings on compassion and the bodhisattva path. Other articles contain unique information on the history of Buddhism in Tibet; an exposition of teachings of dzogchen with the earliest meditation instruction by Trungpa Rinpoche ever to appear in print; and an intriguing discussion of society and politics, which may be the first recorded germ of the Shambhala teachings.

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Book SynopsisThe Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa brings together in eight volumes the writings of the first and most influential and inspirational Tibetan teachers to present Buddhism in the West. Organized by theme, the collection includes full-length books as well as articles, seminar transcripts, poems, plays, and interviews, many of which have never before been available in book form. From memoirs of his escape from Chinese-occupied Tibet to insightful discussions of psychology, mind, and meditation; from original verse and calligraphy to the esoteric lore of tantric Buddhism—the impressive range of Trungpa''s vision, talents, and teachings is showcased in this landmark series. Volume Two examines meditation, mind, and Mahayana, the 'great vehicle' for the development of compassion and the means to help others. Chögyam Trungpa introduced a new psychological language and way for looking at the Buddhist teachings in the West. His teachings on human psychology and the human mind are included in this volume.

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Book SynopsisThe Collected Works of Chögyam Trungpa brings together in eight volumes the writings of the first and most influential and inspirational Tibetan teacher to present Buddhism in the West. Organized by theme, the collection includes full-length books as well as articles, seminar transcripts, poems, plays, and interviews, many of which have never before been available in book form. From memoirs of his escape from Chinese-occupied Tibet to insightful discussions of psychology, mind, and meditation; from original verse and calligraphy to the esoteric lore of tantric Buddhism—the impressive range of Trungpa''s vision, talents, and teachings is showcased in this landmark series. Volume Four presents introductory writings on the vajrayana tantric teachings, clearing up Western misconceptions about Buddhist tantra. It includes three full-length books and a 1976 interview in which Chögyam Trungpa offers penetrating comments on the challenge of bringing the vajrayana teachings to America.

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