Tilopa's Wisdom

Tilopa's Wisdom
Author: Khenchen Thrangu
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2019-12-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0834842572

Accessible and practical teachings on both the life of Tilopa, who founded the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, and one of his most important texts on the practice of Mahamudra. Most traditions of Mahamudra meditation can be traced back to the mahasiddha Tilopa and his Ganges Mahamudra, a “song of realization” that he sang to his disciple Naropa on the banks of the Ganges River more than a thousand years ago. In this book, Khenchen Thrangu, a beloved Mahamudra teacher, tells the extraordinary story of Tilopa’s life and explains its profound lessons. He follows this story with a limpid and practical verse-by-verse commentary on the Ganges Mahamudra, explaining its precious instructions for realizing Mahamudra, the nature of one’s mind. Throughout, Thrangu Rinpoche speaks plainly and directly to Westerners eager to receive the essence of Mahamudra instructions from an accomplished teacher.

Life of Tilopa and the Ganges Mahamudra

Life of Tilopa and the Ganges Mahamudra
Author: Rinpoche Thrangu
Publisher:
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2002
Genre: Buddhist priests
ISBN: 9781877294228

Thrangu Rinpoche's account of the life of Tillopāda, 988-1069, the master of Mar-pa, and the Ganges Mahamudra, Tillopāda's instructions for attaining enlightenment.

The Life of the Mahāsiddha Tilopa

The Life of the Mahāsiddha Tilopa
Author: Mar-pa Chos-kyi-blo-gros
Publisher: Library of Tibetan Works & Archives
Total Pages: 108
Release: 1995
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

Thought of have been composed in the 11th century by the renowned Tibetan yogi Marpa Lotsawa, is a compelling account of the 'complete liberation' of the guru of Naropa, and belongs to the genre of 'Buddhist hagiology'. As such, it will be of interest to followers of the Kagyud school of Tibetan Buddhism as well as to those who are fascinated by the lives of the Buddhist saints and masters. This fine translation is presented in a vivid and accessible manner, and the translators have included a transliteration of the original Tibetan text for scholars who wish to study this early biography of Tilopa in both languages.

Vajra Wisdom

Vajra Wisdom
Author: Shechen Gyaltsap IV
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2013-04-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0834829002

Vajra Wisdom presents the commentaries of two great nineteenth-century Nyingma masters that guide practitioners engaged in development stage practice through a series of straightforward instructions. The rarity of this kind of material in English makes it indispensable for practitioners and scholars alike. The goal of development stage meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition is to directly realize the inseparability of phenomena and emptiness. Preceded by initiation and oral instructions, the practitioner arrives at this view through the profound methods of deity visualization, mantra recitation, and meditative absorption.

Tilopa's Mahamudra Upadesha

Tilopa's Mahamudra Upadesha
Author: Sangyes Nyenpa
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2014-04-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1559394269

An explanation of the Indian Mahasiddha Tilopa's renowned Gangama Mahamudra meditation instructions, given in a traditional Tibetan context by one of its lineage's most accomplished contemporary masters. These ancient instructions, in the form of a "song of realization," are the original source for all Mahamudra lineages of meditation. All lineages of Mahamudra meditation have their source in a verse teaching--a "song of realization"--sung by the Mahasiddha Tilopa to his disciple Naropa on the banks of the Ganges River more than a thousand years ago. Since that time the meaning of the instructions has been passed directly from master to disciple in a continuous transmission lineage that exists unbroken to this day. Mahamudra meditation, while highly advanced, is yet simple and practical because what is identified and meditated upon is the very essence of one's own mind. This book offers the reader a window into the oral transmission of these instructions, given in a traditional Tibetan context by one of the Kagyu lineage's most learned and accomplished contemporary masters.

The Mahamudra Lineage Prayer

The Mahamudra Lineage Prayer
Author: Khenchen Thrangu
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2018-09-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0834841819

The only book in English on a popular Tibetan Buddhist lineage prayer that explains how it can be used as a guide to practice. One of the most beloved and oft-recited prayers in the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, The Mahamudra Lineage Prayer combines a supplication to the Mahamudra lineage with a concise guide to Mahamudra practice and the stages of the path to enlightenment. In this commentary on the prayer, Thrangu Rinpoche teaches in his down-to earth yet direct manner the importance of the Mahamudra lineage, how to develop renunciation and devotion through the common and uncommon preliminary practices, and how to practice calm abiding (Shamatha) and insight (Vipashyana) meditation in the Mahamudra tradition. He explains that Mahamudra teachings are easy to practice yet are very powerful, and are especially appropriate for serious Western Dharma students.

Naropa's Wisdom

Naropa's Wisdom
Author: Khenchen Thrangu
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2020-01-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0834842521

Accessible and practical teachings on the life of Naropa, with verse-by-verse commentary on his two most important Mahamudra songs by a contemporary Karma Kagyu master. Naropa is one of the accomplished lineage holders of the Mahamudra tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. In this book, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, a beloved Mahamudra teacher, first tells the extraordinary story of Naropa’s life and explains its profound lessons. He follows this with lucid and practical commentaries on two of Naropa’s songs of realization, explaining their precious instructions for realizing Mahamudra, the nature of one’s mind. Throughout, Thrangu Rinpoche speaks plainly and directly to Westerners eager to receive the essence of Mahamudra instructions from an accomplished teacher.

Marpa Kagyu, Part One

Marpa Kagyu, Part One
Author: Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 1241
Release: 2023-03-28
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0834844702

A translation from Tibetan of an eighteenth-century compilation by one of Tibet's greatest Buddhist masters of practice texts of the Marpa Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. The Treasury of Precious Instructions by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye, one of Tibet’s greatest Buddhist masters, is a shining jewel of Tibetan literature, presenting essential teachings from the entire spectrum of practice lineages that existed in Tibet. In its eighteen volumes, Kongtrul brings together some of the most important texts on key topics of Buddhist thought and practice as well as authoring significant new sections of his own. The seventh volume of the series, Marpa Kagyu, is the first of four volumes that present a selection of core instructions from the Marpa Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. This lineage is named for the eleventh-century Tibetan Marpa Chökyi Lodrö of Lhodrak who traveled to India to study the sūtras and tantras with many scholar-siddhas, the foremost being Nāropa and Maitrīpa. The first part of this volume contains source texts on mahāmudrā and the six dharmas by such famous masters as Saraha and Tilopa. The second part begins with a collection of sādhanas and abhisekas related to the Root Cakrasamvara Aural Transmissions, which are the means for maturing, or empowering, students. It is followed by the liberating instructions, first from the Rechung Aural Transmission. This section on instructions continues in the following three Marpa Kagyu volumes. Also included are lineage charts and detailed notes by translator Elizabeth M. Callahan.

Pointing Out the Dharmakaya

Pointing Out the Dharmakaya
Author: Khenchen Thrangu
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 183
Release: 2012-04-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1559393882

At 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.

Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen

Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen
Author: Chokyi N. Rinpoche
Publisher: Rangjung Yeshe Publications
Total Pages: 244
Release: 1994
Genre: Avalokiteśvara (Buddhist deity)
ISBN: 9789627341215

In simple and direct language, the Union of Mahamudra & Dzogchen contains Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche's teachings on a complete path to enlightenment, based on eight songs by the 17th century yogi and poet Karma Chagmey. As the first book by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, a living master of the Practice Lineage, the Union serves as a forum for his subtle brilliance and humor, the trademark of his teaching style.