Machig Labdron is popularly considered to be both a dakini and a deity, an emanation of Yum Chenmo, or Prajnaparamita, the embodiment of the wisdom of the buddhas. Historically, this Tibetan woman, a contemporary of Milarepa, was an adept and outstanding teacher, a mother, and a founder of a unique transmission lineage known as the Chod of Mahamudra. This translation of the most famous biography of Machig Labdron, founder of the unique Mahamudra Chod tradition, is presented together with a comprehensive overview of Chod's historical and doctrinal origins in Indian Buddhism and its subsequent transmission to Tibet.
Chod refers to cutting through the grasping at a self and its attendant emotional afflictions. Most famous for its teaching on transforming the aggregates into an offering of food for demons as a compassionate act of self-sacrifice, Chod aims to free the mind from all fear and to arouse realization of its true nature, primordially clear bliss and emptiness.

After his enlightenment, the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths--the foundation and essence of all forms of Buddhism. The first truth diagnoses the nature of our existential illnesses and neuroses. The second explores their causes and conditions for arising. The third shows that the causes of our problems can be removed and that we can be free of suffering. The fourth includes the many paths Buddhism offers to realize that goal. The Buddha has shown that the spiritual path is pragmatic and works directly with everyday experience in order to fundamentally transform the practitioner. This presentation is a succinct and a very clear introduction to the Buddha's core teaching.

With unsurpassed honesty and humility, the highly influential meditation master Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche offers a glimpse into the remarkable reality of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as an in depth portrait of the lost culture of old Tibet. This grand narrative stretches across generations, providing an inspiring glimpse into a realm of remarkable human achievement quite different from our familiar, mundane world. Intimate in tone, these personal memoirs recount the influences and experiences that shaped one of the great spiritual teachers of our time. "Blazing Splendor" is of both spiritual and historical importance.

Love Letters from Golok chronicles the courtship between two Buddhist tantric masters, Tare Lhamo (1938-2002) and Namtrul Rinpoche (1944-2011), and their passion for reinvigorating Buddhism in eastern Tibet during the post-Mao era. In fifty-six letters exchanged from 1978 to 1980, Tare Lhamo and Namtrul Rinpoche envisioned a shared destiny to "heal the damage" done to Buddhism during the years leading up to and including the Cultural Revolution. Holly Gayley retrieves the personal and prophetic dimensions of their courtship and its consummation in a twenty-year religious career that informs issues of gender and agency in Buddhism, cultural preservation among Tibetan communities, and alternative histories for minorities in China. The correspondence between Tare Lhamo and Namtrul Rinpoche is the first collection of "love letters" to come to light in Tibetan literature. Blending tantric imagery with poetic and folk song styles, their letters have a fresh vernacular tone comparable to the love songs of the Sixth Dalai Lama, but with an eastern Tibetan flavor. Gayley reads these letters against hagiographic writings about the couple, supplemented by field research, to illuminate representational strategies that serve to narrate cultural trauma in a redemptive key, quite unlike Chinese scar literature or the testimonials of exile Tibetans. With special attention to Tare Lhamo's role as a tantric heroine and her hagiographic fusion with Namtrul Rinpoche, Gayley vividly shows how Buddhist masters have adapted Tibetan literary genres to share private intimacies and address contemporary social concerns.

The Tibetan Buddhist tradition has known over thirteen centuries of continuous development. During that time, it has spread among the neighboring peoples - the Mongol, Himalayan, and Siberian peoples, Manchus and Chinese. At its height is has been practiced in regions as far west as the Volga river and to the east in Beijing. Its capacity for creative adaptation is demonstrated by its recent growth in Europe and America. At the same time, it is at the center of political contestation in ethnically Tibetan regions of China, while its best known exponent, the Dalai Lama, has become one of the most admired religious leaders in the world today. But what does this religion teach? Just what is the position of the Dalai Lama, and how will his succession be assured? Is it true that Tibetan Buddhism in entirely suppressed in China? Scholar Matthew Kapstein offers a brief account responding to these questions and more in this Very Short Introduction, in terms that are accessible to students, general readers, journalists, and others who are curious to learn the most essential features of Tibetan Buddhist history, teachings, and practice. About the Series: Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects-from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative-yet always balanced and complete-discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) is by any measure the single most influential philosopher in Tibetan history. His articulation of Prasangika Madhyamaka, and his interpretation of the 7th Century Indian philosopher Candrakirti's interpretation of Madhyamaka is the foundation for the understanding of that philosophical system in the Geluk school in Tibet. Tsongkhapa argues that Candrakirti shows that we can integrate the Madhyamaka doctrine of the two truths, and of the ultimate emptiness of all phenomena with a robust epistemology that explains how we can know both conventional and ultimate truth and distinguish truth from falsity within the conventional world. The Sakya scholar Taktsang Lotsawa (born 1405) published the first systematic critique of Tsongkhapa's system. In the fifth chapter of his Freedom from Extremes Accomplished through Comprehensive Knowledge of Philosophy, Taktsang attacks Tsongkhapa's understanding of Candrakirti and the cogency of integrating Prasangika Madhyamaka with any epistemology. This attack launches a debate between Geluk scholars on the one hand and Sakya and Kagyu scholars on the other regarding the proper understanding of this philosophical school and the place of epistemology in the Madhyamaka program. This debate raged with great ferocity from the 15th through the 18th centuries, and continues still today. These two volumes study that debate and present translations of the most important texts produced in that context. Volume I provides historical and philosophical background for this dispute and elucidates the philosophical issues at stake in the debate, exploring the principal arguments advanced by the principals on both sides, and setting them in historical context. This volume presents English translations of each of the most important texts in this debate.

The paradox of awareness is very profound and yet very simple. It can't be described because it has no objective qualities and no limitation. Sometimes it comes naturally to the surface when we are fully in the present moment and no longer lost in thought or mental projections. Pure consciousness is neither high nor low, neither pleasant nor unpleasant, neither good nor bad. No matter where we are, no matter what we are doing, we always have an immediate access to that inner stillness. It can be experienced in an instant in all circumstances once we know how to pay attention to it. It is utterly peaceful and it is also insightful, so it sees through all illusions. Whenever there is a moment of being deluded, we can use that moment to practice settling in the very perfect sphere of the Buddha mind without trying to change anything. When we reside in that liberated mind, we find the very thing we have been seeking all along.

Mind Training is a comprehensive practice that is suitable for all types of students. It contains the entire path and does not depend on a person's background. Mind Training nurses and cultivates the Buddha Nature, that pure seed of awakening that is at the very heart of every sentient being. It has the power to transform even egotistical self-clinging into selflessness. Put into practice diligently, it is enough to lead you all the way to awakening. In "The Path to Awakening", Shamar Rinpoche gives his own detailed commentary on Chekawa YeshE Dorje's "Seven Points of Mind Training", a text that has been used as a basis for transformative practice in Tibetan Buddhism for close to a thousand years. Clear, accessible, and yet profound, this book is filled with practical wisdom, philosophy, and meditation instructions.

This complete textbook on classical Tibetan is suitable for beginning or intermediate students. It begins with rules for reading writing and pronouncing Tibetan, gradually carrying the reader through the patterns seen in the formation of words and into the repeating patterns of Tibetan phrases, clauses, and sentences. Students with prior experience will find the seven appendices--which review the rules of pronunciation grammar and syntax--provide an indispensable reference. It balances traditional Tibetan grammatical and syntactic analysis with a use of terminology that reflects English preconceptions about sentence structure. Based on the system developed by Jeffrey Hopkins at the Unversity of Virginia, this book presents in lessons with drills and reading exercises a practical introduction to Tibetan grammar syntax and technical vocabulary used in Buddhist works on philosophy and meditation. An extremely well designed learning system, it serves as an introduction to reading and translating and to Buddhist philosophy and meditation. Through easily memorizable paradigms the student comes to recognize and understand the recurrent patterns of the Tibetan language. Each chapter contains a vocabulary full of helpful Buddhist terms.

Treasures from Juniper Ridge combines meditation and pith practice
instructions in a way that is easy to apply and comprehend. It is a compilation
of discovered teachings, termas, by the greatest master of Vajrayana
Buddhism, Padmasambhava, hidden by his female disciple, Yeshe Tsogyal.
Treasures is replete with pieces that are direct, profound, fresh, and pertinent
to our times.
These various revelations are for all levels of practitioners. They provide indepth explanations of assorted aspects of practice, including: deity, death
and dying, non-conceptual meditation and recognizing mind nature. The
book outlines ways to apply these teachings for the modern student, while
remaining true to traditional principles.
"Padmasambhava's pith instructions are extremely important because he
is not just a legendary figure or an ancient myth. He is an actual person
who continuously carries out spontaneous activities, including manifesting
as treasure revealers, so that there is always a fresh, unimpaired teaching
that people can practice. This also ensures that Padmasambhava's spiritual
influence and blessings are unceasing.
The special quality of these terma teachings is that they provide a method
for accomplishment that is appropriate for each specific generation, period
of time, and individual person who meets them. The treasure teachings
he gave on the Juniper Ridge of Crystal Pearls contain the essential meaning
of hundreds of such instructions."
--Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

While yoga has become a common practice for health and well-being, Tibetan yoga still remains a mystery. Translated as 'magical movements', Tibetan yoga can improve physical strength and support positive emotional and mental health, healing the body-energy-mind system with a full sense of awareness. In Tibetan Yoga for Health & Well-Being, Alejandro Chaoul PhD focuses on the five principal breaths of Tibetan medicine and yoga, and how special body movements for each of these breaths engage the five chakras of the body. Alongside photos of each movement, Chaoul will guide you through the physical practice with a focus on simplicity and accessibility. He shares his experiences of daily practice in different cultures, and provides a contextual understanding of the history of Tibetan yoga so that you can fully incorporate its ancient teachings in your present day lifestyle.

Critically exploring medical thought in a cultural milieu with no discernible influence from the European Enlightenment, Being Human in a Buddhist World reveals an otherwise unnoticed intersection of early modern sensibilities and religious values in traditional Tibetan medicine. It further studies the adaptation of Buddhist concepts and values to medical concerns and suggests important dimensions of Buddhism's role in the development of Asian and global civilization. Through its unique focus and sophisticated reading of source materials, Being Human adds a crucial chapter in the larger historiography of science and religion. The book opens with the bold achievements in Tibetan medical illustration, commentary, and institution building during the period of the Fifth Dalai Lama and his regent, Desi Sangye Gyatso, then looks back to the work of earlier thinkers, tracing a strategically astute dialectic between scriptural and empirical authority on questions of history and the nature of human anatomy. It follows key differences between medicine and Buddhism in attitudes toward gender and sex and the moral character of the physician, who had to serve both the patient's and the practitioner's well-being. Being Human in a Buddhist World ultimately finds that Tibetan medical scholars absorbed ethical and epistemological categories from Buddhism yet shied away from ideal systems and absolutes, instead embracing the imperfectability of the human condition.

In 1988, Gen Lamrimpa, a Tibetan monk and contemplative, led a one-year retreat in the Pacific Northwest, during which a group of Western meditators devoted themselves to the practice of meditative quiescence (shamatha). This book is a record of the oral teachings he gave to this group at the outset of the retreat. The teachings are brought to life by Gen Lamrimpa's warmth, humor, and extensive personal experience as a contemplative recluse. An invaluable, practical guide for those seeking to develop greater attentional stability and clarity, this work will be of considerable interest to meditators, psychologists, and all others who are concerned with the potentials of the human mind.

A leading writer and researcher on Tibet, Sam van Schaik offers an accessible and authoritative introduction to Tibetan Buddhism by examining its key texts, from its origins in the eighth century to teachings practiced across the world today. In addition to demonstrating its richness and historical importance, van Schaik's fresh translations of and introductions to each text provide a comprehensive overview of Tibetan Buddhism's most popular teachings and concepts-including rebirth, compassion, mindfulness, tantric deities, and the graduated path-and discusses how each is put into practice. The book unfolds chronologically, conveying a sense of this thousand-year-old tradition's progress and evolution. Under the spiritual leadership of the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism has an estimated ten to twenty million adherents worldwide. Written for those new to the topic, but also useful to seasoned Buddhist practitioners and students, this much-needed anthological introduction provides the deepest understanding of the key writings currently available.

This book is unique in the way in which it explains the rich iconography of Tibetan Buddhism in relation to spiritual psychology and the exploration of our inner world. It is a door into the rich and profound symbolism of Tibetan sacred art. The author uses concepts from Western psychotherapy to bridge an understanding of the meaning and functions of these symbols.

As a companion volume to the author's Tsongkhapa's Six Yogas of Naropa from 1996, this book contains translations of six classical Indian and Tibetan texts, his disciple Pandita Naropa, Lama Jey Tsongkhapa, Gyalwa Wensapa, the First Panchen Lama, and Jey Sherab Gyatso. The texts describe the roots and approach to the method of achieving enlightenme

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (1910-1991) was one of the most respected and influential Tibetan Buddhist teachers of our age. There was something remarkable about his presence that impressed everyone who met him - a quality of mind that comes across even in photographs. Here is his memoir of a remarkable life of study, teaching, and solitary retreat, told with a wealth of anecdotes and stories. It will be an inspiration to the readers of his numerous books - as well as to all Buddhist practitioners, who will welcome this rare opportunity to hear the experiences of a highly realized being in his own words. The book also provides an authentic view of Tibetan culture and of the hardships endured by the Tibetans after the Chinese takeover. The second half of the book is a treasury of recollections about Khyentse Rinpoche by his wife; his grandson and heir, Sechen Rabjam Rinpoche; and, other lamas and friends who knew him well.