The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Book 13

The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Book 13
Author: Choying Tobden Dorje
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 674
Release: 2017-11-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1559394609

Chöying Tobden Dorje's magnum opus presented in English for the first time, in an authoritative translation prepared under the auspices of well-known and highly respected Tibetan teachers and translators. In 1838, Choying Tobden Dorje, a yogin and scholar of northeastern Tibet, completed a multivolume masterwork that traces the entire path of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism from beginning to end. Written by a mantra practitioner for the benefit of mantra practitioners living among the lay community, it was intended to be informative, inspirational, and above all, practical. Its twenty-five books, or topical divisions, offer a comprehensive and detailed view of the Buddhist path according to the early translation school of Tibetan Buddhism, spanning the vast range of Buddhist teachings from the initial steps to the highest esoteric teachings of great perfection. Choying Tobden Dorje’s magnum opus appears in English here for the first time. Book 13 presents the philosophical systems of India and Tibet, according to the writings of Longchen Rabjam and the revelations of Orgyan Lingpa. First, it discusses the views attributed to classical Hinduism, Jainism, materialism, and nihilism. Second, it describes the standpoints of the Vaibhashika and Sautrantika exponents of the lesser vehicle, exemplified by pious attendants and hermit buddhas, and the Cittamatra (“mind only”) and Madhyamaka (“middle way”) commentators of the great vehicle, exemplified by great bodhisattva beings. Third, it analyzes the inner and outer vehicles of the Buddhist tantras, with an emphasis on the three classes of the great perfection. Fourth, it documents the lines of philosophical transmission within Tibet, including Bon, Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Kadampa, and Geluk. It concludes with an extract from a well-known treatise of the Fifth Dalai Lama, applying the techniques of consequential reasoning to the first chapter of Vasubandhu’s Treasury of Phenomenology.

The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Books 1 to 10

The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Books 1 to 10
Author: Choying Tobden Dorje
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 941
Release: 2015-06-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0834829916

In 1838, Choying Tobden Dorje, a Buddhist yogi-scholar of eastern Tibet, completed a multivolume masterwork that traces the entire path of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism from beginning to end. Written by a lay practitioner for laypeople, it was intended to be accessible, informative, inspirational, and above all, practical. Its twenty-five books, or topical divisions, offer a comprehensive and detailed view of the Buddhist path according to the early translation school of Tibetan Buddhism, spanning the vast range of Buddhist teachings from the initial steps to the highest esoteric teachings of great perfection. Choying Tobden Dorje’s magnum opus appears in English here for the first time. In Foundations of the Buddhist Path, which covers the first ten of the treatise’s twenty-five books, the author surveys the scope of the entire work and then begins with the topics that set the cornerstones for all subsequent Buddhist practice: what constitutes proper spiritual apprenticeship, how to receive the teachings, how to make the best use of this life, and how to motivate ourselves to generate effort on the spiritual path. He then describes refuge and the vows that define the path of individual liberation before turning to the bodhisattva’s way—buddha nature, how to uplift the mind to supreme awakening, the bodhisattva’s training, and the attainments of the paths leading to supreme awakening.

The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Book 13

The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Book 13
Author: Choying Tobden Dorje
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 640
Release: 2017-11-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0834841061

Chöying Tobden Dorje's magnum opus presented in English for the first time, in an authoritative translation prepared under the auspices of well-known and highly respected Tibetan teachers and translators. In 1838, Choying Tobden Dorje, a yogin and scholar of northeastern Tibet, completed a multivolume masterwork that traces the entire path of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism from beginning to end. Written by a mantra practitioner for the benefit of mantra practitioners living among the lay community, it was intended to be informative, inspirational, and above all, practical. Its twenty-five books, or topical divisions, offer a comprehensive and detailed view of the Buddhist path according to the early translation school of Tibetan Buddhism, spanning the vast range of Buddhist teachings from the initial steps to the highest esoteric teachings of great perfection. Choying Tobden Dorje’s magnum opus appears in English here for the first time. Book 13 presents the philosophical systems of India and Tibet, according to the writings of Longchen Rabjam and the revelations of Orgyan Lingpa. First, it discusses the views attributed to classical Hinduism, Jainism, materialism, and nihilism. Second, it describes the standpoints of the Vaibhashika and Sautrantika exponents of the lesser vehicle, exemplified by pious attendants and hermit buddhas, and the Cittamatra (“mind only”) and Madhyamaka (“middle way”) commentators of the great vehicle, exemplified by great bodhisattva beings. Third, it analyzes the inner and outer vehicles of the Buddhist tantras, with an emphasis on the three classes of the great perfection. Fourth, it documents the lines of philosophical transmission within Tibet, including Bon, Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Kadampa, and Geluk. It concludes with an extract from a well-known treatise of the Fifth Dalai Lama, applying the techniques of consequential reasoning to the first chapter of Vasubandhu’s Treasury of Phenomenology.

Luminous Essence

Luminous Essence
Author: Jamgon Mipham
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2009-06-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1559393270

Luminous 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.

The Buddhist Path

The Buddhist Path
Author: Kenchen Palden Sherab
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2010-09-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1559397985

An accessible and practical introduction to Tibetan Buddhism as practiced in the Nyingma or 'ancient' tradition, The Buddhist Path presents for us the proper way of cultivating intellect and heart so that our true nature can manifest. The authors provide clear explanations and methods that reveal how the mind functions and what its essence, our primordial nature, is. They impart detailed instructions on how to meditate, using methods ranging from generating calm abiding to the tantric techniques of visualization, mantra, and formless meditation.

The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Books 15 to 17

The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, Books 15 to 17
Author: Choying Tobden Dorje
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 647
Release: 2016-03-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1559394366

Choying Tobden Dorje's magnum opus presented in English for the first time, in an authoritative translation prepared under the auspices of well-known and highly respected Tibetan teachers and translators. The Complete Nyingma Tradition from Sutra to Tantra, a multivolume masterwork by the eighteenth-century tantric master Choying Tobden Dorje, traces the path of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism from beginning to end. Books 15 to 17: The Essential Tantras of Mahayoga concerns the first of the three classes of highest, or inner, tantras. It presents the entire text of the Guhyagarbha Tantra, in Tibetan and English, together with one of its most important commentaries, Dispelling the Darkness of the Ten Directions, by the outstanding fourteenth-century master Longchen Rabjam. In addition, it presents the author's rewriting of Candragomin's inspirational Extensive Commentary on the Sublime Litany of the Names of Mañjuśrī, which correlates diverse aspects of Mañjuśrī to the five pristine cognitions. This product (Books 15 to 17) will be published as two volumes in a slipcase.

Groundless Paths

Groundless Paths
Author: Karl Brunnholzl
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 897
Release: 2012-08-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0834829509

The 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.

Jonang: The One Hundred and Eight Teaching Manuals

Jonang: The One Hundred and Eight Teaching Manuals
Author: Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 873
Release: 2021-01-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1559394951

Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye presents practical teachings from a variety of Tibetan Buddhist traditions in this volume of The Treasury of Precious Instructions. 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. In this, the eighteenth volume, Kongtrul expands on The One Hundred and Eight Guidebooks, a collection of teaching manuals compiled by the sixteenth-century Tibetan master Kunga Drolchok, adding Indic source texts, Tibetan antecedents, and later interpretations. Though compiled by a Jonangpa abbot and transmitted by the Jonang tradition, these teaching manuals are actually drawn from the Kadam, Sakya, Kagyu, and, to a lesser extent, Nyingma traditions. They are succinct and impart practical wisdom, as transmitted by key figures like Kunga Chogdrub and Lowo Khenchen Sonam Lhundrub. Gyurme Dorje, the translator, provides extensive notes and helpful context throughout. The resulting volume preserves and integrates the diverse lineages of Tibetan Buddhism while providing useful advice to practitioners.

The Treasury of Knowledge: Book One

The Treasury of Knowledge: Book One
Author: Jamgon Kongtrul
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2003-06-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1559398825

In 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.

The Guhyagarbha Tantra

The Guhyagarbha Tantra
Author: Lama Chonam
Publisher: Snow Lion Publications, Incorporated
Total Pages: 744
Release: 2011
Genre: Tripiṭaka
ISBN: 9781559394000