Vajradhara in Human Form: The Life and Times of Ngor chen Kun dga' bzang po

Vajradhara in Human Form: The Life and Times of Ngor chen Kun dga' bzang po
Author: Jörg Heimbel
Publisher: Jörg Heimbel
Total Pages: 708
Release: 2017
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9937028493
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The present book presents a detailed study of the life and times of the tantric expert Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (Ngor chen Kun dga’ bzang po, 1382–1456), who was one of the most outstanding and influential Sakya masters of fifteenth-century Tibet. Among his many influential activities, Ngorchen is best remembered for his founding of the monastery of Ngor Ewam Choden (Ngor E waṃ chos ldan) in 1429. Withdrawing from the worldly distractions of the bustling town of Sakya (Sa skya) and sectarian conflicts, he left his traditional alma mater, the monastery of Sakya, and established his own monastic seat in the remote Ngor valley, some 30 kilometres southwest of modern Shigatse (gZhis ka rtse) in the central Tibetan province of Tsang (gTsang). There, based on the observance of a strict monastic discipline, Ngorchen hoped to return to traditional Sakya teaching and practice in a more supportive environment. Ngor immediately became a new centre for tantric training within the monastic circles of the Sakya school. As the leading tantric expert, Ngorchen trained a whole new generation of young students, producing some of the brightest minds of the Sakya school. At his monastic seat, Ngorchen and his abbatial successors established one of the most prominent subdivisions of the Sakya school, the Ngor tradition (ngor lugs), based on Ngorchen’s distinctive understanding of tantric ritual and practice. The religious influence of Ngor and its abbots extended to far-western Tibet (mNga’ ris), including Mustang (Glo bo), Purang (sPu hrang), Guge (Gu ge), Spiti (sPyi ti), and Ladakh (La dwags). In the following centuries, Ngor’s influence also extended eastwards to Khams, where the tradition became very influential in Derge (sDe dge), Lingtsang (Gling tshang), and Gapa (sGa pa). From the 17th century onward, the Ngorpa enjoyed the patronage of the ruling house of Derge, whose successive kings called upon retired abbots of Ngor to serve as their court chaplains (dbu bla).

Searching for the Body

Searching for the Body
Author: Rae Erin Dachille
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2022-10-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0231556314
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In the early fifteenth century, two Tibetan monks debated how to transform the body ritually into a celestial palace inhabited by buddhas. The discussion between Ngorchen Künga Zangpo and Khédrupjé Gélek Pelzangpo concerned the mechanics of this tantric ritual practice, known as body mandala, as well as the most reliable sources to follow in performing it. As representatives of the Sakya and emerging Geluk traditions respectively, these authors spoke for communities of Buddhist practitioners vying for patronage and prestige in an evolving Tibetan scholastic culture. Their debate witnessed clashes between imagination and deception, continuity and rupture, and tradition and innovation. Searching for the Body demonstrates the significance of the body mandala debate for understandings of Tibetan Buddhism as well as conversations on representation and embodiment occurring across the disciplines today. Rae Erin Dachille explores how Ngorchen and Khédrup used citational practice as a tool for making meaning, arguing that their texts reveal a deep connection between ritual mechanics and interpretive practice. She contends that this debate addresses strikingly contemporary issues surrounding interpretation, intertextuality, creativity, essentialism, and naturalness. Buddhist ideas about the construction of meaning and the body offer new ways of understanding representation, which Dachille illuminates in an epilogue that considers Glenn Ligon’s engagement with Robert Mapplethorpe’s photography. By placing Buddhist thought in dialogue with contemporary artistic practice and cultural critique, Searching for the Body offers vital new perspectives on the transformative potential of representations in defining and transcending the human.

Histories of Tibet

Histories of Tibet
Author: Kurtis R. Schaeffer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 667
Release: 2023-07-25
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1614297843
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The thirty-four essays in this volume follow the particular interests of Leonard van der Kuijp, whose groundbreaking research in Tibetan intellectual and cultural history imbued his students with an abiding sense of curiosity and discovery. As part of Leonard van der Kuijp’s research in Tibetan history, as he patiently and expertly revealed treasures of the Tibetan intellectual tradition in fourteenth-century Tsang, or seventeenth-century Lhasa, or eighteenth-century Amdo, he developed an international community of colleagues and students. The thirty-four essays in this volume follow the particular interests of the honoree and express the comprehensive research that his international cohort have engaged in alongside his generous tutelage over the course of forty years. He imbued his students with the abiding sense of curiosity and discovery that can be experienced through every one of his writings, and that can be found as well in these new essays in intellectual, cultural, and institutional history by Christopher Beckwith, the late Hubert Decleer, Franz-Karl Ehrhard, Jörg Heimbel and David Jackson, Isabelle Henrion-Dourcy, Nathan Hill, Matthew Kapstein, Kurtis Schaeffer, Michael Witzel, Allison Aitken, Yael Bentor, Pieter Verhagen, Todd Lewis, William McGrath, Peter Schwieger, Gray Tuttle, and others.

The Faults of Meat

The Faults of Meat
Author: Geoffrey Barstow
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 411
Release: 2019-10-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1614295050
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Vegetarianism is a hotly debated topic within Buddhist circles. This book provides a valuable new contribution to the discussion with translations of thirteen Tibetan texts focused on the ethical problems associated with eating meat, coming from a wide variety of perspectives and lineages. Should all Buddhists be vegetarian? Vegetarianism is an important topic of debate in Buddhist circles—some argue that Buddhists should avoid meat entirely while others suggest that it is acceptable. For the most part, however, this ethical query has been conducted in the West without consulting traditional literature on the subject. The Faults of Meat brings together for the first time a collection of rich and intricate explorations of authoritative Tibetan views on eating meat. These fourteen nuanced texts, ranging from scholastic treatises to poetic verse, reveal vegetarianism as a significant, ongoing issue of debate for Tibetans across time and traditions, with a wide variety of voices marshaled against meat, and a few in favor. Authors include many important Tibetan teachers: Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292–1361) Khedrup Jé (1385–1438) The eighth Karmapa, Mikyö Dorjé (1507–1554) Shabkar Tsokdrük Rangdröl (1781–1851) Khenpo Tsultrim Lodrö (1961– ) and many more. These Buddhist teachers recognize both the ethical problems that surround meat eating and the practical challenges of maintaining a vegetarian diet; their skilled arguments are illuminated further by the translators’ introductions to each work. The perspectives in The Faults of Meat are strikingly relevant to our discussions of vegetarianism today; they introduce us to new approaches and solutions to a contentious issue for Buddhists.

Ocean of Attainments

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

Ornament to Beautify the Three Appearances

Ornament to Beautify the Three Appearances
Author: Dkon-mchog-lhun-grub (Ngor-chen)
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2022-04-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1614297231
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"Box set is not being sold through Simon; volume 1 is The latest offering from a renowned translator in the Buddhist world, of one of the most important texts in one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism (the Sakya school). This translation was done at the request of the head of the Sakya school. Ngorchen Könchok Lhundrup's Ornament to Beautify the Three Appearances is the most extensive explanation of the Three Appearances ever written. Ornament to Beautify the Three Continua is the most extensive explanation of the Three Continua in a single text. This 2-volume set contains translations of the Vajra Lines of the great Indian adept Virūpa (ca. seventh-eighth centuries), the basic text of the Lamdré tradition, the most precious system of tantric theory and practice in the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, and extensive explanation and guidance by Ngorchen Könchok Lhundrup (1497-1557). The translations have been made at the personal request and approval of His Holiness the Sakya Trichen with certainty that they will benefit all beings who desire liberation. The Vajra Lines represents the distilled essence of the Hevajra Tantra and its two explanatory tantras, and is almost entirely concerned with esoteric tantric practice. The first topic, however, is the fundamental teachings of Hinayāna and Mahāyāna Buddhism, which are the essential basis for the main tantric practices of Vajrayāna. In the Lamdré system, this first topic of preliminary instructions is known as the Three Appearances. The second topic, the main Vajrayāna practices, is known as the Three Continua. The preliminary practices presented in the first volume, Ornament to Beautify the Three Appearances, may be practiced by anyone, without specific, required preparation. The guiding instructions on impure appearance are for the purpose of developing renunciation, and this volume focuses on three main topics: the defects of saṃsāra, in order to produce renunciation; the rarity, benefit, and transience of life as a human being, in order to arouse diligence; and the nature of positive and negative actions and results, in order to understand what types of behavior to accept and reject. The guiding instructions on the appearance of the experiences are for the purpose of producing the altruistic intent. This section concerns two main topics: meditation until the common experiences have arisen, which focuses on cultivating love, compassion, and bodhicitta; and cultivating joy now about the uncommon experiences that will arise later when practicing the Vajrayāna teachings. The guiding instructions on pure appearance are for the purpose of producing enthusiasm for the ultimate result of complete awakening. This section briefly describes the inconceivable nature of a buddha's enlightened body, speech, and mind. The second volume explains the main tantric practices of the Three Continua. It is a restricted text, intended only for students who have at least received the great initiation of Hevajra. It is the most extensive explanation of the Three Continua in a single text. These three are the causal continuum [the abiding mode of phenomenon, which involves meditation on the view of the indivisibility of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa for the purpose of eliminating all conceptual elaborations], the method continuum [the precise way to meditate-the main practice of the Teaching, the method for guiding the true nature of the mind, primordially free of conceptual elaborations, the ground of everything, to the four kāyas-which involves instructions on each of the four initiations, the various sacred commitments associated with the four initiations, the propitiation of the ḍākas and ḍākinīs if these commitments have been damaged, and the initiations at the time of the path, which is the main topic of the method continuum], and the resultant continuum [buddhahood]. Dependent on the causal continuum of the mind, or universal ground, which is like a field, being purified by the method continuum of the body, which is like water and manure, the resultant continuum of mahāmudrā (the four resultant kāyas), which is like the ripened fruit, is actualized"--

Ornament to Beautify the Three Appearances

Ornament to Beautify the Three Appearances
Author: Ngorchen Könchok Lhundrup
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2022-04-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1614297371
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The latest offering from a renowned translator in the Buddhist world of one of the most important texts in the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. This translation was made at the request of the head of the Sakya tradition. Ornament to Beautify the Three Appearances is the first book of a two-volume set of works written by Ngorchen Könchok Lhundrup (1497–1557) to explain the Lamdré teachings, the most important system of tantric theory and practice in the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The Lamdré, or Path with the Result, is based on the Vajra Lines of the great Indian adept Virupa (ca. seventh–eighth centuries). The first topic is the fundamental meditative practices of Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism. In the Lamdré teachings, these preliminary instructions are known as the Three Appearances. The guiding instructions on impure appearance are for the purpose of developing renunciation. These focus on the defects of samsara; the rarity, benefit, and transience of human life; and the nature of positive and negative actions and results. The guiding instructions on the appearance of the experiences are for the purpose of producing the altruistic intent. These focus on developing love, compassion, and bodhicitta, and on cultivating joy now about the uncommon experiences that will arise later when practicing the Vajrayana teachings. The guiding instructions on pure appearance are for the purpose of producing enthusiasm for the ultimate result of complete awakening. These briefly describe the inconceivable nature of a buddha’s enlightened body, speech, and mind. Having absorbed these preliminary instructions, the practitioner may go on to the second volume of Ngorchen’s works, a restricted text that explains the main tantric practices of the Three Continua, intended for students who have at least received the great initiation of Hevajra. Volume 2 is available in a restricted box set that includes this first volume and may be obtained only on the Wisdom Publications website.

Histories of Tibet

Histories of Tibet
Author: Kurtis Schaeffer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 491
Release: 2023-07-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1614298084
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The thirty-four essays in this volume follow the particular interests of Leonard van der Kuijp, whose groundbreaking research in Tibetan intellectual and cultural history imbued his students with an abiding sense of curiosity and discovery. As part of Leonard van der Kuijp’s research in Tibetan history, as he patiently and expertly revealed treasures of the Tibetan intellectual tradition in fourteenth-century Tsang, or seventeenth-century Lhasa, or eighteenth-century Amdo, he developed an international community of colleagues and students. The thirty-four essays in this volume follow the particular interests of the honoree and express the comprehensive research that his international cohort have engaged in alongside his generous tutelage over the course of forty years. He imbued his students with the abiding sense of curiosity and discovery that can be experienced through every one of his writings, and that can be found as well in these new essays in intellectual, cultural, and institutional history by Christopher Beckwith, the late Hubert Decleer, Franz-Karl Ehrhard, Jörg Heimbel and David Jackson, Isabelle Henrion-Dourcy, Nathan Hill, Matthew Kapstein, Kurtis Schaeffer, Michael Witzel, Allison Aitken, Yael Bentor, Pieter Verhagen, Todd Lewis, William McGrath, Peter Schwieger, Gray Tuttle, and others.

Sakya: The Path with Its Result, Part One

Sakya: The Path with Its Result, Part One
Author: Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 665
Release: 2022-07-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1611809665
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A compilation by one of Tibet's greatest Buddhist masters of the Path with Its Result teachings and practices of the Sakya 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. Volumes in this series may be engaged as practice manuals while also preserving ancient teachings significant to the literature and history of world religions. Volume 5 of the series, Sakya: The Path with Its Result, presents a selection of teachings and practices from the Path with Its Result (Lamdre) practice lineage of the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The Sakya lineage derives from Virupa, Dombhi Heruka, and other Indian masters, or mahasiddhas, and passes through Gayadhara and his Tibetan disciple Drokmi Lotsawa Sakya Yeshe (992–1072). The practice tradition centers around the teaching and transmission of the Hevajra Tantra and its subsidiary texts. In three parts, this volume includes, respectively: the root text, commentary, and outlines for the Indian mahasiddha Virupa’s core text, the Vajra Verses; the liturgies for empowerment and offering rituals specific to a Hevajra Tantra practice lineage; and instructional manuals for practice.

Sakya: The Path with Its Result, Part One

Sakya: The Path with Its Result, Part One
Author: Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thayé
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 665
Release: 2022-07-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0834844265
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A compilation by one of Tibet's greatest Buddhist masters of the Path with Its Result teachings and practices of the Sakya 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. Volumes in this series may be engaged as practice manuals while also preserving ancient teachings significant to the literature and history of world religions. Volume 5 of the series, Sakya: The Path with Its Result, presents a selection of teachings and practices from the Path with Its Result (Lamdre) practice lineage of the Sakya tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The Sakya lineage derives from Virupa, Dombhi Heruka, and other Indian masters, or mahasiddhas, and passes through Gayadhara and his Tibetan disciple Drokmi Lotsawa Sakya Yeshe (992–1072). The practice tradition centers around the teaching and transmission of the Hevajra Tantra and its subsidiary texts. In three parts, this volume includes, respectively: the root text, commentary, and outlines for the Indian mahasiddha Virupa’s core text, the Vajra Verses; the liturgies for empowerment and offering rituals specific to a Hevajra Tantra practice lineage; and instructional manuals for practice.