Essence of the Ocean of Attainments

Essence of the Ocean of Attainments
Author: Penpa Dorjee
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2019-02-05
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1614295069

A comprehensive guide to the creation stage of the Guhyasamaja. The Essence of the Ocean of Attainments (Dngos grub rgya mtsho’i snying po) is a commentary on the creation stage of the Guhyasamaja Tantra written by the illustrious Panchen Lama, Losang Chökyi Gyaltsen (1570–1662). The practice of Guhyasamaja, one of the earliest and most influential of the highest Tantras, along with its remarkable hermeneutic system, created a framework that was applied to other so-called unexcelled Tantras. Still very much a living tradition, in our time the Fourteenth Dalai Lama confers its empowerment every year. In this work, the Panchen Lama not only clarifies each step of the sadhana meditation ritual, but he also offers general insights into the practice and its workings. It is an Essence because it distills the much longer Ocean of Attainments commentary on the practice composed by Khedrup Jé (1385–1438), one of two key disciples of Tsongkhapa, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism’s Geluk school. The Panchen Lama identifies core elements of sadhana and with unparalleled precision clarifies many seminal points. In her introduction, Yael Bentor surveys the creation stage of unexcelled Tantra as presented by the founding fathers of the Geluk school and unpacks the contents of The Essence of the Ocean of Attainments for readers. The translation features both explanatory annotations for practitioners and ample references for scholars.

Vajrayana and the Culmination of the Path

Vajrayana and the Culmination of the Path
Author: Dalai Lama
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 467
Release: 2024-12-03
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1614299579

The final volume of the Library of Wisdom and Compassion by His Holiness the Dalai Lama takes us to the uncommon practices and realizations of Vajrayana to the full awakening of a buddha. His Holiness the Dalai Lama skillfully illuminates the unique qualities of Vajrayana, as practiced in Tibet, and the method to eradicate the subtlest obscurations preventing the full awakening of a buddha. Speaking to newcomers and advanced students alike, he explains the similarities and differences of the Sutra and Tantra paths. Having gathered many of the doubts and difficult points concerning the tantric path, he clarifies the purpose of receiving proper empowerment by qualified gurus and the ethical restraints and commitments required to enter the path of secret mantra. The paths and stages of the four tantric classes are explained, as are the generation-stage and completion-stage practices of Highest Yoga Tantra. You are introduced to the practices of clear appearance and divine identity common to all tantric sadhanas, as well as the distinctive practices of illusory body and actual clear light that overcome the subtlest defilements on the mind and eliminate all obscurations quickly. The understanding of emptiness in Sutra and Tantra is the same, but the consciousness perceiving emptiness differs. In Highest Yoga Tantra that consciousness is great bliss, which arises from knowing the methods to manipulate the channels, winds, and drops of the subtle body. In short, in Vajrayana and the Culmination of the Path the Dalai Lama sets out the path that leads to blissful awakening and enables us to be of great benefit to all sentient beings.

A Direct Path to the Buddha Within

A Direct Path to the Buddha Within
Author: Klaus-Dieter Mathes
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 626
Release: 2013-02-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0861719158

Maitreya's Ratnagotravibhaga, also known as the Uttaratantra, is the main Indian treatise on buddha nature, a concept that is heavily debated in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. In A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, Klaus-Dieter Mathes looks at a pivotal Tibetan commentary on this text by Go Lotsawa Zhonu Pal, best known as the author of the Blue Annals. Go Lotsawa, whose teachers spanned the spectrum of Tibetan schools, developed a highly nuanced understanding of buddha nature, tying it in with mainstream Mahayana thought while avoiding contested aspects of the so-called empty-of-other (zhentong) approach. In addition to translating key portions of Go Lotsawa's commentary, Mathes provides an in-depth historical context, evaluating Go's position against those of other Kagyu, Nyingma, and Jonang masters and examining how Go Lotsawa's view affects his understanding of the buddha qualities, the concept of emptiness, and the practice of mahamudra.

The Life of My Teacher

The Life of My Teacher
Author: Dalai Lama
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 505
Release: 2017-07-11
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1614293430

The Dalai Lama tells the life story of his remarkable teacher, Ling Rinpoché, who remained a powerful anchor for him from childhood and into his emergence as a global spiritual leader. The Sixth Ling Rinpoché (1903–83) was a towering figure in Tibetan Buddhism. Combining great learning with great humility, he was ordained by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and went on to serve as the the head of the Geluk tradition and as the senior tutor to the present Dalai Lama. In temperament and wisdom, he had a profound influence on the Dalai Lama’s spiritual development, and he became a steadying presence for His Holiness during the chaotic changes that defined the Tibetan experience of the twentieth century, with the invasion of their county by Communist forces and the subsequent rebuilding of their culture in India. Ling Rinpoché’s extensive travels among exiled communities abroad and across India bouyed the spirits of the Tibetan diaspora, and the training and activities of this consummate Buddhist master, here told by the Dalai Lama in the traditional Tibetan style, will inspire and amaze. Over one hundred archival photos bring the text to life.

The Secret Revelations of Chittamani Tara

The Secret Revelations of Chittamani Tara
Author: Pabongkha Dechen Nyingpo
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2023-04-04
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1614295654

Chittamani Tara is the Highest Yoga Tantra aspect of Green Tara, one of the most popular yidams in Tibetan Buddhism. In this book beloved teacher Pabongkha Rinpoche shares the teachings that his teacher, Gargyi Wangpo Takphu Dorje Chang, received directly from Chittamani Tara herself. The Secret Revelations of Chittamani Tara contains many profound oral instructions that are not easily found elsewhere, including one of the most powerful and practical discourses on the completion stage to be found anywhere in English translation. Rinpoche has supplemented his commentary with teachings from the Gaden Hearing Lineage as well as the general tantric teachings of the Gelug tradition. Also included are the Chittamani Tara self-generation sadhana, the ganachakra offering for Chittamani Tara, and three beautiful and moving praises and prayers to Tara composed by masters in the tradition. Lovingly translated by the scholar-monk David Gonsalez, The Secret Revelations of Chittamani Tara is a guiding force leading all living beings to the state of Arya Tara. The material in this book is restricted. This book may be read only by those who have received an empowerment into any of the four classes of tantra. In order to practice this material, you must have received both the common and uncommon Chittamani Tara empowerments.

LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF TSONG KHAPA

LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF TSONG KHAPA
Author: Prof. Robert Thurman
Publisher: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2006-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 8186470441

Je Tsong Khapa (1357-1419) is revered as one of the most significant Tibetan Buddhist teacher whose eclectic and analytic studies and meditations in all the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism resulted in the founding of the Gelugpa system of the Tibetan Buddhist heritage. The Life and Teachings of Tsong Khapa brings together for the first time a number of extremey important and useful works by and on Tsong Khapa touching transcendental aspects of Sutra, Tantra and Insight Meditation, including mystic conver sations with great Bodhisattvas and deeply spiritual songs in praises of Manjushri and Maitreya etc. The anthology concludes with a number of intensely moving songs in praise of Tsong Khapa and his immeasurable contribution to Tibetan Buddhism by such realised and remarkable Tibetan Buddhist personalities like the Seventh Dalai Lama, Eighth Karmapa, Dulnagpa Palden and Khaydrub Je etc. Ably translated by a number of Western Buddhist translators in association with Tibetan Buddhist scholars, The Life and Teachings of Tsong Khapa edited by Professor Robert Thurman, fulfils a long standing need of the contemporary Dharma community of both the East and the West.

Ocean of Attainments

Ocean of Attainments
Author: Yael Bentor
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 835
Release: 2024-04-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1614298300

This commentary on Guhyasamaja tantra is the seminal guide to deity yoga and tantric visualization for the Geluk school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Guhyasamaja Tantra, called the king of all tantras, is revered in Tibet, especially by the Geluk school. Ocean of Attainments, a commentary on Guhyasamaja practice, was composed by Khedrup Jé Gelek Palsang (1385–1438), a key disciple of the Geluk school founder, Tsongkhapa Losang Drakpa. It explores the creation stage, a quintessential Buddhist tantric meditation that together with the completion stage comprises the path of unexcelled tantra. In the creation stage, meditators visualize themselves as buddhas at the center of the celestial mandala, surrounded in all directions by male and female buddhas, bodhisattvas, and other enlightened beings. Yet creation-stage practice is not merely visualization but deity yoga—indivisibly uniting the meditation on emptiness with the visualization of the mandala. The creation stage uses the conceptualization in visualization to overcome conceptualization, thereby creating a nonconceptual and nonerroneous direct perception. Such a mind, profound and vast, can bring about a transformation that stops samsaric suffering. How can visions generated as mental constructs not be erroneous? To the awakened eye, the buddhas and other beings who dwell in the mandala are “reality,” and in a sense they are more than real. While the previously published Essence of the Ocean of Attainments is a concise exposition on the practice of the Guhyasamaja sadhana, Ocean of Attainments is far more detailed, providing extensive scriptural citations, clear explanation of the body maanala, arguments on points of contention, reference to other tantric systems, and critiques of misinterpretations. With its extensive and clear introduction, this volume is a vital contribution to the growing body of scholarship on Guhyasamaja and on Buddhist tantra in general.

A Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages

A Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages
Author: Je Tsongkhapa
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 414
Release: 2012-11-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1614290350

Tsongkhapa's A Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages (1419) is a comprehensive presentation of the highest yoga class of Buddhist tantra, especially the key practices - the so-called five stages (pancakrama) - of the advanced phase of Guhyasamaja tantra. Beginning with a thorough examination of the Indian sources, Tsongkhapa draws particularly from the writings of Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Candrakirti, and Naropa to develop a definitive understanding of the Vajrayana completion stage. Whereas in the generation stage, meditators visualize the Buddha in the form of the deity residing in a mandala palace, in the completion stage discussed in the present volume, meditators transcend ordinary consciousness and actualize the state of a buddha themselves. Among other things, Tsongkhapa's work covers the subtle human physiology of channels and winds along with the process of dying, the bardo, and rebirth. This definitive statement on Guhyasamaja tantra profoundly affected the course of Buddhist practice in Tibet.