"Dispeller of Obstacles" is the first in a new series that will include video, audio, photos, and commentaries to support practice and is the heart essence of the accomplished 9th-century master Padmasambhava. This hidden treasure is a revelation with a rich history that is explained in the book. In addition to the root text and classical commentaries by Chokgyur Lingpa and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, the treasure-revealers themselves, there are also explanations by modern-day masters such as Tulku Urgyen and Orgyen Topgyal Rinpoches. This extensive cycle contains teachings and practices for the preliminaries up to and including Dzogchen. Linking to a fresh treasure has the power to imbue us with hot and juicy blessings that invigorate our being and generate devotion and joy. Just as we prefer to have fresh food, these treasure teachings are endowed with a very special quality that has not been interpolated by anyone else, but has come directly from Padmasambhava by means of one of his disciples appearing as a present-day incarnation. The teaching is then spread to people for their immediate practice.

Tara is an inspirational figure to many practitioners. She embodies the most compelling and vital qualities of the feminine: beauty, grace, and the ability to nurture, care for and protect. In addition, she is a true warrior, vanquishing fear and ignorance. One could say she is the earliest known Buddhist feminist.
Skillful Grace is an entirety of instructions on deity practice centered on the female Buddha Tara. It covers everything from beginning to end. It has all the preliminaries, as well as the main part and the subsequent yogas. There is the outer and inner sadhanas with Tara and her retinue of twenty-one Taras that dispel the various fears. There is also the innermost practice of Tara with consort. It has all the details on the development stage, and describes completion stage both with and without conceptual attributes. Nothing is left out. It is utterly complete with treasure and pith instructions from Tulku Urgyen and Adeu Rinpoche, skillfully arranged by the translation/author team of Erik Pema Kunsang and Marcia Binder Schmidt.
There are many explanations of the different Tara practices. However, Skillful Grace is unique in that it outlines an entire path, taking Tara as support. This book is s divided into three main sections. The first is the root text of this cycle, The Essential Instruction on the Threefold Excellence, according to the mind treasure of the profound essence of Tara as revealed by Chokgyur Lingpa. Following that is a commentary on this root text by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. Next is Jamgon Kongtrul and Adeu Rinpoche's synthesized commentary on the same text. In order to make this work less scholarly and more applicable to practitioners, we decided to paraphrase Jamgon Kongrtul commentary and blend it together with Adeu Rinpoche's teaching.
The book is rounded out with a foreword by Tara Bennett Goleman, author of the best selling book Emotional Alchemy, in depth introduction by Marcia Schmidt, and various appendixes and footnotes.

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche exactly defines deity practice from the Dzogchen perspective, offering key points on how to engage in this discipline as a pure Dzogchen yogi. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche was one of the greatest Dzogchen Masters of the last century. His teaching style was direct, simple, and powerful, a comfortable ambiance created by his compassionate humility that opened one up to being able to absorb his profound words. He was fearless in teaching the view, meditation, and conduct of the Great Perfection, due to the strength of his realization. Although Dzogchen Deity Practice uses the peaceful and wrathful practice as its basis, the efficacy of these teachings on development and completion stage practices apply to many other sadhanas as well. It is a hands on guide to engaging in the skillful methods of Vajrayana that prepare us for this life's experiences as well as what will unfold when we die and are in the intermediate state or the Bardo. The beautiful poetry offered expresses a reality beyond our mundane everyday life and helps our minds to be open and aware.