Tibetan Treasure Literature

Tibetan Treasure Literature
Author: Andreas Doctor
Publisher: Snow Lion Publications, Incorporated
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2005
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN:

Over the course of Tibetan history, revelations-known as Treasures-have been discovered hidden in nature or have emerged directly from the great minds of the Nyingma School, creating a profound and lasting effect on Tibetan religious society and culture.

Tibetan Treasure Literature

Tibetan Treasure Literature
Author: Andreas Doctor
Publisher:
Total Pages: 245
Release:
Genre:
ISBN: 9788120834149

The Treasure tradition of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism in richly permeated with wonder and controversy. This unique, mysterious tradition embraces revelation as the primary path to spiritual awakening. Over the course of Tibetan history, revelations-known as Treasures (gter ma ) have been discovered hidden in nature or have emerged directly from the great minds of the Nyingma School, creating a profound and lasting effect on Tibetan religious society and culture. Tibetan Treasure Literature discusses central themes and personalities in the history and practice of Tibetan Treasure revelation. In particular, this book presents the first through survey of the revelations of the great visionary master Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa (1829-1870), Chokgyur Lingpa was a prominent member of the famed ecumenical (ris med) tradition and his revelations are widely practiced today in many schools and traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Particular emphasis is placed on his revelations pertaining to the wrathful deity Vajrakilaya. Translations of selected texts are presented together with a detailed commentary on their practice composed by khenpo Rinchen Namgyal (nineteenth century), on of Chokgyur Lingpa's foremost students. Also include is a translation of the renowned master Ju Miphama's ( 1846-1912) discussion of the criteria for evaluating the authenticity of those beings who claim to have revealed such Treasures of Buddhist teachings.

Unearthing Bon Treasures

Unearthing Bon Treasures
Author: Dan Martin
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 495
Release: 2021-07-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004488294

The subject for this study, the Tibetan “treasure revealer” Gshen-chen Klu-dga’, is a crucial figure in the development of Bon as an organised religion after the eleventh century. Here for the first time he is situated in the context of what was happening in Buddhism at the time. By scrutinizing his life and gter-ma (“treasures”), that were to be of much controversy in later ages, Dan Martin sheds light on the mechanism of Tibetan polemical tradition and the ways in which sectarianism accords itself legitimacy by resurrecting ancient arguments in a subtly distorted manner. The exhaustive annotated bibliography of previous works about Bon, forming the second part of the work, can rightly be seen as a legacy of Gshen-chen. Both parts taken together make this an indispensable guide to any student of Bon.

Approaching the Great Perfection

Approaching the Great Perfection
Author: Sam Van Schaik
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2013-02-08
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0861719123

Dzogchen, the Great Perfection, is the highest meditative practice of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Approaching the Great Perfection looks at a seminal figure of this lineage, Jigme Lingpa, an eighteenth-century scholar and meditation master whose cycle of teachings, the Longchen Nyingtig, has been handed down through generations as a complete path to enlightenment. Ten of Jigme Lingpa's texts are presented here, along with extensive analysis by van Schaik of a core tension within Buddhism: Does enlightenment develop gradually, or does it come all at once? Though these two positions are often portrayed by modern scholars as entrenched polemical views, van Schaik explains that both tendencies are present within each of the Tibetan Buddhist schools. He demonstrates how Jigme Lingpa is a great illustration of this balancing act, using the rhetoric of both sides to propel his students along the path of the Great Perfection.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead

The Tibetan Book of the Dead
Author: Padmasambhava
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2013-03-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1583945555

The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Awakening Upon Dying, with introductory commentary by Dzogchen Buddhist master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, is a new translation of the ancient text also known as The Great Liberation through Hearing in the Intermediate State. Both a practical guide and intriguing historical, cultural, and spiritual document, this new version incorporates recent discoveries that have allowed for a better translation of previously ambiguous passages. Revealing a set of instructions designed to facilitate the inner liberation of the dead or dying person, the book provides a guide to navigating the bardo--the interval between death and rebirth. Originally composed by Padmasambhava, an important Indian master of the eighth century, the Tibetan Book of the Dead was concealed in Tibet until it was discovered in the fourteenth century by Karma Lingpa, a famous Tibetan tertön (discoverer of ancient texts). Describing in detail the characteristics and fantastic visions of each stage beyond death, the book includes invocations to be read aloud to the dying person, to help his or her successful journey toward the stage of liberation. Chögyal Namkhai Norbu's introduction clarifies the texts from the Dzogchen point of view and provides a scholarly summary of the ancient material based on his oral teachings and written works. In addition, material from several of Namkhai Norbu's more recent written works and oral teachers have been added, including an essay on the four intermediate states after death entitled Birth, Life, and Death. A full-color 16-page insert of traditional Tibetan art highlights Tibet's unique aesthetic wisdom.

Tantric Treasures

Tantric Treasures
Author:
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2004
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0195166418

This book provides accurate, accessible translations of three classics of medieval Indian Buddhist mysticism. Since their composition around 1000 CE, these poems have exerted a powerful influence on spiritual life.

The Generation Stage in Buddhist Tantra

The Generation Stage in Buddhist Tantra
Author: Gyatrul Rinpoche
Publisher: Shambhala
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2021-08-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 155939952X

This book offers an exceptionally clear and accessible presentation of the generation stage practices of deity yoga. Gyatrul Rinpoche explains the state of mind to be established at the beginning of the practice session, the details of the visualization sequences, the three types of offerings, and proper mantra recitation—as well as mudras, tormas, and malas. Practitioners from all lineages of Tibetan Buddhism will find that these teachings enhance their understanding of sadhana practice. Rinpoche's detailed explanations make it possible to practice these meditations as they were intended and as they were practiced in Tibet and ancient China. It was originally published as Generating the Deity.

Steps to the Great Perfection

Steps to the Great Perfection
Author: Jigme Lingpa
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2016-07-05
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0834840316

The mind-training practices contained in the Dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhism have never before been presented in the English language. The main text translated here, The Steps to Liberation, will be of great interest to Western practitioners, since its instructions are pithy and direct, and experiential rather than scholarly. The contemplations on core Buddhist principles like impermanence and karma, intended for beginning meditators, unfold as dramatic stories in which the meditator is to vividly imagine himself or herself as the main character who undergoes a sequence of experiences that result in transformative realizations. They distill the most essential teachings of the Buddha into a practical system that can be easily implemented in a daily meditation practice. At the same time, they bring together the most foundational Buddhist teachings with the profound methods of the Vajrayana (the esoteric teachings of Buddhist tantra). This is the hallmark of Dzogchen mind training and what sets it apart from other mind-training lineages.

Deity, Mantra, and Wisdom

Deity, Mantra, and Wisdom
Author: Patrul Rinpoche
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2020-02-25
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1559394978

This collection contains four of the most cherished Tibetan Buddhist commentaries on the practices of visualization, mantra recitation, and meditative absorption—elements that form the core of development stage meditation, one of the most important practices of Buddhist Tantra. The texts within this volume—Ladder to Akaniṣṭha, Clarifying the Difficult Points in the Development Stage, The Four Stakes That Bind the Life-Force, and Husks of Unity—are among the most widely studied commentaries on this topic and have formed the basis for spiritual study and practice for centuries. In these eloquent and inspiring translations, Jigme Lingpa, Patrul Rinpoche, and Getse Mahāpaṇḍita explain the fundamental philosophy of the development stage, illuminating its profound insights into the nature of reality and how to utilize these insights through the practice of meditation.