Mahamudra and Related Instructions

Core Teachings of the Kagyu Schools

Peter Alan Roberts

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN:
  9780861714445
• eBook ISBN:
  9780861719297
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Asian Literary Collections

The Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism began in the eleventh century with such renowned figures as Marpa and Milarepa, and its seminal meditative traditions are Mahamudra and the six Dharmas of Naropa. Mahamudra teachings focus on the cultivation of profound insight into the nature of the mind. The Mahamudra texts in this volume include a lucid work by the celebrated master Tsele Natsok Rangdrol and works by the twelfth-century master Shang Rinpoche, the great Third Karmapa, the Eighth Tai Situ, and Drukpa Pema Karpo. The volume also contains an inspirational work by Gampopa, the Drigung Kagyu root text, The Single Viewpoint, the Sixth Shamarpa's guide to the six Dharmas of Naropa, and finally an overview of tantric practice by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, author of the famous Moonlight of Mahamudra. The texts in this volume were selected by the preeminent scholar of the Kagyu school, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Message from the Dalai Lama
• Special Acknowledgments
• Publisher’s Acknowledgments
• Contents
• Foreword by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
• General Editor’s Preface
• Translator’s Introduction
• Technical Notes
• 1. A String of Pearls: A Collection of Dharma Lectures Gampopa (1079–1153)
• 2. The Unrivaled Instructions of Shang Rinpoché: The Preliminaries and Main Practice of the Great Meditation of Mahāmudrā Shönu Lha (late thirteenth century)
• 3. The Ultimate Supreme Path of the Mahāmudrā Lama Shang (1123–93)
• 4. A Record of Mahāmudrā Instructions Drukchen Pema Karpo (1527–92)
• 5. Instructions for the Mahāmudrā Innate Union Karmapa Rangjung Dorjé (1284–1339)
• 6. Prayer for the Definitive Meaning, the Mahāmudrā Karmapa Rangjung Dorjé (1284–1339)
• 7. Oral Transmission of the Supreme Siddhas: A Commentary on Prayer for the Definitive Meaning, the Mahāmudrā Situ Tenpai Nyinjé (1700–1777)
• 8. The Bright Torch: The Perfect Illumination of the True Meaning of the Mahāmudrā, the Essence of All the Dharma Tselé Natsok Rangdröl (b. 1608)
• 9. The Quintessence of Nectar: Instructions for the Practice of the Six Dharmas of Nāropa Shamarpa Chökyi Wangchuk (1584–1630)
• 10. The Single Viewpoint: A Root Text Sherap Jungné (1187–1241)
• 11. Light Rays from the Jewel of the Excellent Teaching: A General Presentation on the Points of Secret Mantra Dakpo Tashi Namgyal (1512–87)
• Table of Tibetan Transliteration
• Notes
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Contributors
• The Institute of Tibetan Classics
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• About Wisdom Publications
• Copyright